RELEASE: December 7, 2004

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Commissioner Honors Reuniting DYFS families

HAMILTON – Commissioner James M. Davy recently awarded graduation certificates to families who have completed a special training program aimed at helping them reunite successfully after DYFS intervention.

“Congratulations. You should be proud of the hard work you put in to improving yourselves and the dynamics of your family as it prepares to reunite,” Commissioner Davy told the graduates of the Strengthening Families program.

“Your commitment shows how much you love your children and care about your family's future,” Davy said. “You are your children's role model in the fight against substance abuse and all abuse.”

“Tonight is really a new beginning for each family. You take with you a commitment to each other to support each other and gain strength from each other,” Davy said.

The graduation ceremony at the Bromley Center honored 12 Mercer County families who have participated in Strengthening Families, a 14-week program that teaches the whole family better communication and coping skills to make their reunion successful, safe and healthy.

“I like that we learn how to talk to our children and come together to talk out our problems,” one mother said.

“They help me make my anger go away and help be find a better way to solving problems,” one pre-teen girl said.

The program, conducted through the Mercer County Council on Alcoholism under Executive Director Geetha Arulmohan, is sponsored through a $65,000 grant from the Department's Division of Addiction Services. Referrals to the program are made by the Mercer DYFS District Office, which works closely with the participants.

“The skills you learned over the 14 weeks will allow each of you to reduce your risk of being swayed by negative influences,” the Commissioner said as area DYFS and Council workers applauded. “Parents learned to give positive attention and use effective discipline. Children learned to express their feelings in a positive way and learned coping and refusal skills to make healthy decisions.”

Strengthening families is an evidence-based program that has been found to effective in reducing multiple risk factors for later drug abuse, mental health problems, delinquency, and physical abuse, according to Assistant Commissioner Carolann Kane-Cavaiola, who heads DAS.

Parents who have completed the program have learned new parenting skills and built better relationships with their children. Youth who complete the program have significantly lower rates of substance abuse and fewer problems in school.

The eight families honored are the first of twenty-one (21) families who will participate in the Mercer program through this contract that will end June 30, 2005 .

The program was started in 2001 . There are 22 active Strengthening Programs throughout the state and 10 new ones starting in January.

“As the father of two teenagers, I know it is no easy task to raise children. But I'm glad you have allowed us to share with you some skills that are proven to help us meet this important challenge,”

Commissioner Davy said. “Stronger families mean a stronger society where children are safe and healthy.”

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