About Us

About Us

Welcome to the Self Help Inc.Coordinated Family and Community Engagement (SHI/CFCE) program!  Our programs mission is to strengthen families and children through information and education to help all families and children advance to their full potential! We are committed to the Strengthening Families approach in servicing families.  At the center of the Strengthening Families Approach are the Five Protective Factors: parental resilience, social connections, concrete support in times of need, knowledge of parenting and child development, and social and emotional competence of children.  Our highly caring and committed staff work tirelessly to provide services to families that are high quality and FREE!

The Coordinated Family and Community Engagement (CFCE) is a program of Self Help, Inc. which was incorporated on June 21, 1965. Self Help Inc. was established during President Johnson’s “War on Poverty” like most other existing Community Action Agencies. Self Help Inc. currently serves residents in 31 cities and towns located in Plymouth, Bristol and Norfolk counties. Annually Self Help Inc. serves over 10,000 households and provides programs and services that Self Help Inc. designed to meet the most pressing needs of residents of our service area. Some programs such as Head Start have been with us since 1965 and continue to grow and impact low income families with preschool children. Other programs such as Fuel Assistance, Coordinated Family and Community Engagement and Lead Abatement services were developed to meet specific needs identified in our service area through Community Action Planning. CFCE was formerly called, Community Partnerships for Children, which was first funded by the former Department of Education Early Learning Services (now Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) in 1996 to increase the availability, affordability and quality of programs within and across communities in a way that is both responsive to the needs of working parents and to the healthy development of children. The focus of the program was on expanding affordable child care opportunities to three and four year old children of low to moderate income working families. The overall goal of the program was for communities to identify and serve more children of working families whose income is below the statewide median income level than are currently participating in part-time or full-time high quality preschool programs. Over the years the program focus has changed as the governing agency and state priorities have changed. The goals for today’s program, now called Coordinated Family and Community Engagement can be viewed below.

Coordinated Family and Community Engagement Programs (CFCE)CFCE Brochure

Coordinated Family and Community Engagement Programs (CFCE), which are funded through the MA Department of Early Education and Care, are locally based programs serving families with children birth through school age. The FY2010 Coordinated Family and Community Engagement Grant was a consolidation of the Community Partnerships for Children Programs (CPC), Massachusetts Family Network Programs (MFN), Parent Child Home Programs (PCHP) and Joint Family Support Programs (JFSP).

There are five main goals of the CFCE program:

  • Increase knowledge of and accessibility to high-quality early education and care programs and services for families with children prenatal through school-age.
  • Promote parent education, family engagement and early literacy.
  • Facilitate collaboration and community planning between local early education and care partners and other community stake holders, including parents.
  • Provide support and information to families with children transitioning between and among early education and care settings, home and school, and
  • Support early education and care programs across the public and private sectors in delivering high-quality services.

Through direct services and/or referrals, local CFCE programs provide a variety of services, which include:

Providing families access to:

    • child development information;
    • transition information and supports;
    • assistance with meeting basic needs;
    • timely support in periods of family crisis;
    • high quality, specific and up-to-date information and referrals.
    • family literacy and school readiness activities;
    • family and community events;
    • parent leadership opportunities; and
  • information about early education and care opportunities and other community resources that support parents in their role as their child’s first teacher.

Providing the early education and care community with:

    • support in identifying program quality needs and accessing training and other professional development opportunities;
    • opportunities to share best practices and coordinate resources, and
  • linkages to technical assistance and local resources to assist them in meeting quality standards

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