The community and family networks which helped sustain earlier generations have become scarcer for growing numbers of young parent...s. Those who lack links to these traditional sources of support are hard-pressed to find other resources, given the emphasis in our society on providing treatment services, rather than preventive services and support for health maintenance and well-being.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
But however the forms of family life have changed and the number expanded, the role of the family has remained constant and it con...tinues to be the major institution through which children pass en route to adulthood.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
While each child is born with his or her own distinct genetic potential for physical, social, emotional and cognitive development,... the possibilities for reaching that potential remain tied to early life experiences and the parent-child relationship within the family.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
American families, however, without exception, experience a double message in our society, one that claims a commitment to familie...s and stresses the importance of raising bright, stable, productive citizens, yet remains so bound by an ideal of "rugged individualism" that parents receive little support in their task from the public or private sectors.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
We have fought too much rhetoric and red tape to be lulled and comforted by a paid political advertisement showing a candidate tos...sing his grandchild in the air while a disembodied voice espouses "family values" in the background.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Awareness has changed so that every act for children, every piece of legislation recognizes that children are part of families and... that it is within families that children grow and thrive--or don't.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Parents need all the help they can get. The strongest as well as the most fragile family requires a vital network of social suppor...ts.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
We reiterate the values [of the family support movement]. We believe that we cannot exist each unto ourselves, that commitment and... a sense of obligation to the welfare of others, to the community, and to the nation are ingredients of being human. We believe that our obligation as members of the community and nation include caring about the next generation. If we care about our own children, we need to care about all children because all will be citizens of this country. We believe that parents want to be good parents. When a child is born, each new mother and father begin their most important life's work, and it is our job to ensure those parents have the concrete and emotional support to be the best parents they can be.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Because it's not only that a child is inseparable from the family in which he lives, but that the lives of families are determined... by the community in which they live and the cultural tradition from which they come.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »