Family Strengthening
Another Road to Safety
The Another Road to Safety (ARS) Program was developed to improve outcomes for families by strengthening the well-being of vulnerable families, helping children remain safely in their homes through strong community-based services and support, and enhancing child safety and protection.
Families may access ARS services through referrals from the Department of Children and Family Services for child safety concerns and/or risks, referrals from community service providers for child safety concerns and/or connections to resources, or self-referrals for appropriate program services.
ARS provides individualized family support through Parent Partners and Family Support Specialists, each bringing unique skills to their work with families. Staff work directly with families to develop a plan that addresses parenting challenges, child safety, and/or difficult life circumstances. ARS also provides intensive case management, connecting families with a broad range of community resources to promote family success, stability, and safety.
To guide this individualized support, ARS emphasizes strengthening protective factors, including parental resilience, social connections, knowledge of parenting and child development, concrete support in times of need, and children’s social and emotional competence. Staff use motivational interviewing to explore families’ strengths, priorities, and readiness for change, supporting families identify their own goals and taking steps toward them.
ARS provides community-based services throughout Alameda County to meet families’ needs. Services are voluntary and available for up to 6 months. They include face-to-face visits in the home or community, as well as home-based and virtual parent support and education. Services to families are provided in both English and Spanish.
Goals of the program include:
Preventing child abuse and neglect by addressing safety concerns identified by Child Welfare or community partners
Strengthening parenting skills and confidence
Connecting families with community resources and social supports
ARS also offers Parent Cafés and Fatherhood Support Groups. These cafés and groups offer informal opportunities for parents to connect with others in their community and build natural support networks.
Parent Education Services
Operated under a contract with the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) of Alameda County.
Parent Education Services (PES) classes are designed to equip parents with a variety of parenting skills to increase the parent’s capacity to better manage family issues. The program focuses on assisting parents in the development of positive relationships, attitudes and conduct and to learn techniques that promote their child’s development and potential. The main goal of the program is to increase the knowledge, skills, and confidence of parents while reducing the prevalence of mental health, emotional, and behavioral problems in children and adolescents.
Through this series of classes, parents will learn:
Broad parenting interventions
Causes of their child’s behavior problems
How to set goals for their children
Strategies that promote child development
How to manage misbehavior
How to develop a positive relationship with their child
Cognitive and behavioral strategies to manage their own mood and how to cope with everyday stress
A variety of positive communication, problem solving, and conflict resolution skills to enhance their parenting and co-parenting skills
Anger management techniq
Triple P - Positive Parenting Program
What is Triple P?
The Triple P – Positive Parenting Program® is one of the world’s most effective parenting programs. This 16-week interactive course is facilitated by Triple P Trained instructors and is one of the few based on evidence from ongoing scientific research. There have been more than 200 evaluation papers, including 104 randomized controlled studies, showing that Triple P works for most families in a variety of cultures, countries and family situations.
Triple P works by giving parents the skills to raise confident, healthy children and teenagers, and to build stronger family relationships. It also helps parents manage misbehavior and prevent problems occurring in the first place. But it doesn’t tell people how to parent. Rather, it gives them simple and practical strategies they can adapt to suit their own values, beliefs and needs.
All referrals are made by Child Welfare Workers. For questions, please call 510-570-6511.