LOCAL AGENDA OUTCOMES:
Building societies that care for families ...

FAMILY FORWARD
Founders Andrea Paluso and Sharon Bernstein

A dog friendly coffee shop has biscuits at the counter and water on the sidewalk. A family friendly café offers smiles at the counter and crayons in a corner. Family friendly is pleasant. But, something more than friendliness and crayons at the counter is needed. Can we offer more than "family friendly" to those who are spending their livelihoods struggling to care for families? Andrea and Sharon believe we need a Family Forward society.

IMAGINE: Society that actively values and supports the work of caring for family.

Family Forward is a national organization and network that will create, gather, and disseminate research, actionable projects, and information to state-focused affiliates. A "Family Forward brand" is under development to support a network of family forward workplaces, communities, and government. Family Forwards builds momentum toward improved policies through on-the-ground activities within states. Family Forward shifts the focus from commercialized care to one in which the work of caring for family is valued in our society as a human activity. We need a cultural shift in workplaces and communities at the same time that we work for legislative and policy change.

MISSION AND ACTIONS: Building workplaces, communities and policies that value and support families.

Family Forward works at three key levels at once: the workplace, the community, and government policy.  Family Forward work will establish a Family Forward Workplaces Network that will recognize employers that value families by embracing employees’ caretaking responsibilities, encouraging work-life balance, and developing long-term economic security for all workers.  Family Forward communities will develop and support programs that foster meaningful parent engagement in politics, policy-making, and community development through training, mentorship, and education programs.  Family Forward government will establish a shared vision and agenda with strong advocacy partners to develop, promote, and achieve a long-term Family Forward agenda for states and the nation.

Strategies for Success

• Engage parents and other caregivers in learning about the economics and politics of family-raising, the crisis of care, and how they can make a difference in their communities and in policy.
• Workplace network membership and certification fees.
• Workshop and consulting fees for employers, city and county certification fees, and workshop fees for parent and caretaker programs.
• Leverage existing organizations that address some of these family policy issues on a national level; others that provide needed services to children or the elderly; and others that engage parents in online political engagemen