For over 30 years, Sheree Press and Bernadette “Bee” Darrow have run a program aimed at preventing child abuse and neglect. February of 2025 will mark 15 years of their program, Family Focus, coming under the umbrella of Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) thanks in part to some out-of-the-box thinking from Virginia State University (VSU)’s Special Assistant to the Associate Administrator Doris Heath, who at the time was a local extension agent familiar with Family Focus. Previously, the program was a part of the Virginia Mental Health System’s Prevention services  when funding issues forced a temporary closure of the program. After years of struggling to grow and applying for grants acting as financial band-aids for their critical work, Press and Darrow are driving program growth to expand their impact. “We’re at the moment of growth for the first time in 14 years,” says Darrow. “We joined the VCE Human Development Team and the VSU Extension Program Team during the pandemic. We’ve been uplifted and elevated as people and a program more in the last four years than ever.”

Both part-time program assistants, Press and Darrow credit their ability to run Family Focus under VCE to hard work, grit, dedicated staff, a dose of luck, community grants and support, philanthropic support,  and of course the support of the administrations at VSU and Virginia Tech . Their goal is to educate, support, and strengthen families with research-based prevention measures to reduce rates of child abuse and neglect. Family Focus offers science-backed parent/child playgroups, parenting classes, and a curriculum called Al’s Pals: Kids Making Healthy Choices. Additionally, Press and Darrow help families access assistance. “We try to hear the need and fill the need,” says Darrow. “We’re parenting and early childhood educators, but we also help families find resources in the community.” They’ve spent decades building a foundation of community partnerships and resources, like their partnership with Child Development Resources (CDR), a non-profit that provides early intervention services for families of children with developmental delays and disabilities. Family Focus and CDR refer families to one another’s services and have previously offered collaborative programs to reach more people.

Family Focus operates in James City County and York County, where the team offers over 100 playgroups a year over 40 weeks at parenting centersin each county. They are a part of the Family and Consumer Sciences Program and work closely with 4-H. However, Family Focus serves children who are too young for 4-H and who are at critical ages for abuse and neglect prevention. “Any child under 5 is at risk for abuse and neglect,” Darrow explains. “If you add risk factors such as disabilities, developmental delays, low income, and a lack of community resources, those children are at the highest risk.” Through playgroups and parenting classes, Family Focus addresses the six Protective Factors, as defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP), which provides federal funds to states like Virginia and its Department of Social Services who in turn offer prevention grants   to communities. The six Protective Factors are:

·       Knowledge of parenting and child development

·       Concrete support for parents

·       Resiliency

·       Nurturing and attachment

·       Social  connection

·       Children’s social and emotional competence.

“Everything is rooted in research, the common Protective Factors, and the study of adverse childhood experiences,” says Press. “We’ve built, sharpened, and strengthened the parenting toolbox, as we call it.” Parenting classes help parents understand how to care for and nurture children and the importance of emotional safety for healthy development. With contacts and community partnerships, Family Focus can help struggling families access resources like food and clothing to meet their basic needs. Teaching parents and children resilience skills and emotional and social competence, or, as Press puts it, “fancy words for helping children use manners, take turns, be patient, and understand the needs of others,” helps families navigate challenges as they arise. By far, one of the most essential elements of Family Focus is social support.

“One of the strongest pieces is simply bringing families together in group settings to build connection and reduce isolation,” says Press. “When we measure our impacts, the number one benefit participants cite is that they were so glad to find a group where they could bring their young children and meet other people with kids the same age, who are like-minded.” At playgroups, children and families do arts and crafts, listen to a story, and enjoy music and snacks. And it’s not only parents who come; grandparents, nannies, and other caregivers are actively involved in the playgroups.

The playgroups are more than just activity time; they are the foundation of a community where every caregiver can feel that they aren’t alone and have support. As a testament to the power of this community, participants who were children in the program years ago now bring their children. Press reports that parents routinely express sentiments like, “I’m not the only one who struggles with a child who has temper tantrums or a child with speech delays.” At playgroups, there are role model parents and families who are living examples of parenting in a nurturing way that centers attachment, from which their peers and other caregivers can learn.  

While it may sound like holding over 100 playgroups a year is already a lot, Family Focus is at a point of growth. On October 9, Family Focus launched a new partnership with the James City County Public School System to bring Family Focus into the Bright Beginnings program at Norge Elementary School, where every student’s family is low-income. Here, Press and Darrow teach 4-H Yoga to early elementary classes, helping students learn to connect with their bodies and cultivate mindfulness. They piloted their 4-HYoga classes  at   J. Blaine Blyton Elementary School, making  Norge Elementary  the second school to welcome this primary prevention program into its classrooms. “We’re always willing to try new things. We love to pilot; that’s why we’re piloting 4-H Yoga in the early childhood classrooms,” says Darrow.

Family Focus has been invited into a neighborhood for the first time to partner with James City County’s Community Housing Partners. The Family Focus team will bring the parent and child playgroups to the neighborhood’s community center, and already scheduled eight playgroups between October and the end of 2024. In 2025, Family Focus will address more of the six Protective Factors in this community by offering six parenting groups. “There’s beauty in prevention and education, and we’re doing everything we can in the hopes that we’re helping grow those big, deep roots so that this program’s impact will be lifelong within families,” Press says. “It certainly has impacted us for our lifetimes.”

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