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The Family Partnership’s new Building for Better Futures center will open with preschool, childcare and therapy services. More family services and the agency’s headquarters also relocated.

The voices of preschool children will ring through The Family Partnership’s new South Minneapolis building on June 4 when the Four Directions multicultural therapeutic preschool re-opens at its new address at 1527 E. Lake Street. The Family Partnership also operates a North Minneapolis preschool and family services building. 

Construction on The Family Partnership’s 48,122 square-foot building began in February 2020 and finished on schedule March 1. The Family Partnership is moving its corporate office and programs from three previous locations into the new facility. The building has 3X more space to better serve families and implement the organization’s two-generation (2Gen) approach.

The new building will include:

In 2012, our board made an intentional decision that rather than families coming to us, our services would locate in the heart of the communities we serve.

Molly Greenman, President and CEO of The Family Partnership,

This video demonstrates how the new building will better facilitate services to families. Learn more about The Family Partnership’s new Building for Better Futures.

We would like to introduce Mikki Mariotti, the New Director of The Family Partnership’s Anti-Sex Trafficking program. We asked Mikki to share why she is passionate about Anti-Sex Trafficking work and how she plans to serve a wide range of people through The Family Partnership’s PRIDE program.

What are your goals as the new PRIDE Director?  

I look forward to using my passion for this work to serve a wide range of people. That includes youth, people from Indigenous backgrounds, all genders, and LGTBQ populations – these are the people most often marginalized by society.

I hope to build a strong and confident team that works cohesively together and fully understands the dynamics of prostitution/sex trafficking, addiction, and domestic violence so that we can better serve individuals who are impacted.

How did your previous work prepare you for this position?

For six years, I worked with the DIGNITY Program operated by Catholic Charities in Phoenix. I started as a volunteer and then became a supervisor and case manager of five long-term housing programs. I also managed and trained hundreds of volunteers. My experience as the program’s outreach coordinator will directly translate to the work that PRIDE does in Minneapolis, as I also supervised the DIGNITY street outreach team.

What makes it is so hard for people to leave commercial sexual exploitation?

Individuals become isolated because traffickers manipulate and control all aspects of their life. The trafficker’s goal is to separate each individual from their support systems and other people, so they become solely dependent on the trafficker.

“Trauma bonds” (the belief that your trafficker is the ONLY one that cares for you) keeps people in the life from leaving abusive relationships with their traffickers. Many individuals also struggle with chemical or relationship addiction, loss of income, or have no place of their own to live.Finally, the trafficker will seek out those who dare to leave.

What is the biggest misconception about sex trafficking?

Most people think it can’t happen to me or my family. But, all age groups, genders and races are recruited into commercial sexual exploitation. I recently had a friend whose daughter quit coming home after work. As I was talking with her, I realized her daughter was being groomed by a trafficker. The trafficker told the girl that she was 18 and didn’t need to tell her mom anything she was doing.

I told my friend to call the FBI and a local intervention program, but initially she replied, “But Mikki, that’s not happening to my daughter. Stop scaring me.” Eventually, my friend did contact the FBI and when her daughter came home, she said to me “Mikki, you were so right.” Isolation from support systems and secrecy are big warning signs. Often it is a choice of no choices as the trafficker grooms their victim to become totally dependent on them.  

You have lived in most major cities in the U.S. and in the Bahamas, what are your ties to Minnesota?

I was born in Korea and adopted at the age of five and a half by a family in White Bear Lake, Minnesota and that is where I lived until I was 18. I came back to Minnesota to visit family and friends when one of my lifelong friends suggested I apply for this position at The Family Partnership. I love Minnesota’s four seasons and visiting the farmers markets.

A message from Molly Greenman:

On April 20, Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all three charges.

No verdict can bring back George Floyd nor erase the trauma caused to his family, African-Americans, and our community. However, we are grateful for this small measure of justice. We have no doubt that this was made possible in part by the activists who took to the streets in collective outrage and grief to demand justice and by all those who have worked tirelessly to assure that Derek Chauvin be held accountable.

While this verdict is a positive step, the journey towards racial justice and equity is long, and our work is not finished. The Family Partnership stands in solidarity with Black and Brown communities and our staff and clients who have experienced violence at the hands of the police. We remain committed to advocating for policy and systems change while working in partnership with communities experiencing disparities to build a more equitable Minnesota.

We also know that many in our communities may need support given the intensity and impact of the trial. We encourage you to take care of yourself and seek the support you need. 

Stay safe. Take care of yourself. Take care of each other.

In honor of International Trans* Day of Visibility (March 31) we are sharing frequently asked questions about our Transgender Mental Health services to increase awareness of these important services to our diverse and remarkable Trans* community.

What is the guiding philosophy of Transgender Mental Health at The Family Partnership?

We believe that a person’s gender identity is theirs to define and express, whether or not they pursue or even want medical procedures such as hormone therapy or surgery. We use an informed consent model.

Who does The Family Partnership serve?

We work with children, adolescents, adults and families.  We offer therapy in English, Spanish, Hmong and Creole.

What Transgender Mental Health specific services does The Family Partnership provide?

Wherever a person is on their gender journey – from just starting to explore gender to already living their most gender-authentic life – we support their goals and help them manage the stresses of life in a respectful, affirming therapy environment. Therapists provide support for a lot situations and feelings that can arise from striving to live a gender-authentic life in our culture, including:

Can you share an example that demonstrates how The Family Partnership supports and honors the voices and experiences of transgender individuals and their families?

Yes! Here is one family’s story: Bob and Mary came to The Family Partnership seeking family therapy for themselves and their adult daughter, Sarah. Sarah had come out as Trans* and Bob and Mary were facing a steep learning curve. Through therapy, Bob and Mary learned how to be strong Trans* allies and support Sarah during her transition. This helped Sarah regain trust in her parents. All three developed important emotional regulation and communication skills, to improve the quality of their relationships. After a year and a half working together in family therapy, they felt ready to navigate family life on their own. Sarah returned to college, and Bob and Mary could not be prouder of her. 

What is the process to obtain services?

To schedule an appointment or make a referral, please call our intake line at 612.728.2061 (English) or 612.728.2089 (Español).

Trans* definition includes terms like ambisexual, asexual, bi-gender and heterosocial. It is a collection that reflects our “increasingly complex understanding of these two distinct aspects of human experience,” says Oxford English Dictionary lexicographer Jonathan Dent.

The Constellation Fund Heroes breakfast February 10 celebrated The Family Partnership as one of the 2021 non-profit “SuperHeroes” grantees. The Constellation Fund supports non-profit organizations that “fight poverty and create impact” in the Twin Cities area.

The Constellation Fund described our Superpower as “Building partnerships based on trust to clear the path for family success”. This statement both describes how we do our work – in partnership with families, funders and other organizations – and our mission, to improve family health and well-being.

With the Constellation Fund’s support, we are partnering on a project to develop a more robust data-driven service model within our mental health programs. The Constellation Fund’s rigorous evidence-based approach matches our approach to creating change.

The Family Partnership developed and successfully piloted a new Executive Functioning Across Generations© curriculum designed to boost executive functioning and self-regulation skills with Minneapolis preschoolers and their caregivers.

Now, The Family Partnership is scaling up the preschool version of the intervention through large pilots with two Head Start centers of Family Service of San Antonio.

New partnerships with the Harvard Center on the Developing Child – Frontiers of Innovation (FOI) and the Children’s Home Society of America are testing the feasibility and scalability of new adaptations of the curriculum for virtual service delivery in home visiting and parent education programs.   

Using FOI’s IDEAS Impact Framework™, a science-based innovation approach to program development, testing, and evaluation, organizations in four states (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Delaware) are using rigorous evaluation measurement strategies for the pilots of the virtual home visiting and virtual parenting group adaptations. Pilots are occurring in 2020-2021. Through them, The Family Partnership and its partners continue to innovate in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, safely expanding service delivery while infusing cutting-edge brain science-informed strategies that increase program quality and impact. 

The Family Partnership will also be offering home visiting organizations across Minnesota the opportunity to pilot the virtual home visiting adaptation of Executive Functioning Across Generations© in a second wave of pilots in 2021. We are pleased to have the MN Coalition for Targeted Home Visiting as a partner in recruiting home visiting program sites for this effort.  

Why Innovation is Needed – and What Comes Next

It often takes 20 years for research findings to translate into practical improvements in human services. While there have been many research projects in the last 50 years exploring innovations in the early childhood field, the most significant and promising practice innovations are over 40 years old – well before all the recent discoveries in emerging brain science. 

That is why Harvard Center on the Developing Child launched the Frontiers of Innovation initiative: to accelerate the translation from scientific discovery to practical application in the early childhood field. The goal is to accelerate incorporation of brain science into early childhood practice through small scale pilots that facilitate fast cycle evaluation, quick modification of approaches to increase impact even further, and scaling the strategies that prove effective. 

The Family Partnership became a Frontiers of Innovation partner in 2020, joining an international community of researchers, practitioners, and evaluators seeking to innovate and accelerate our impact on children and families. We are thrilled that The Family Partnership is now part of the FOI community, and that the further development of Executive Functioning Across Generations will benefit from this opportunity. 

Interested in learning more?  

Contact us for information on piloting or scheduling a presentation: 

John Everett Till
Senior Vice President of Strategy and Innovation, The Family Partnership
Email: jtill@thefamilypartnership.org

The international spotlight turned to Minneapolis after George Floyd’s death, followed by a community rising up to demand justice and police reforms. News media coverage highlighted the “Minnesota Paradox” – that our state is top ranked for both “livability”, and for racial disparities.

Today, The Family Partnership’s mission is more relevant than ever – advocating for systemic change while building a path forward for individuals and families living in poverty and experiencing trauma.

In fact, our services are intentionally located in communities disproportionately affected by racially motivated housing policies that led to intergenerational cycles of poverty and inequality – North Minneapolis and the South Minneapolis Powderhorn and Phillips neighborhoods.

Our approach is to partner with individuals and families and build upon their inherent strengths. Using a whole family, multi-generational approach, we work to eliminate barriers and build tools for people to move forward.

Here are a few ways that The Family Partnership’s services make a difference for racial equity:

Advocacy

We worked to rid the Powderhorn Neighborhood of slumlords and with the third precinct police to change the way the officers interact with victims of sex trafficking. Our PRIDE program hosts expungement clinics with legal partners so survivors of sex trafficking can remove criminal charges – vital to gaining housing, employment or educational opportunities.

Early Education and Care

Our multicultural North Minneapolis preschool and South Minneapolis Four Directions Family Center offer highly rated education based on the latest scientific evidence. We also offer developmental screenings and on-site therapies to identify and address any barriers to learning.

Mental Health Therapies

Our School Linked Mental Health and Multi-Systemic Therapies work to break the school to prison pipeline. These programs keep teenagers out of the criminal justice system, which disproportionately affects people of color.

Our advanced standing master’s degree students in our Diversity Social Work Advancement Program (DSWAP) offer underrepresented communities (BIPOC, new immigrants, refugees and LGBTQ+) access to outpatient therapy at low or no cost.

Family Home Visiting

Our Family Home Visiting programs educate and empower caregivers to gain skills and strengthen the health and well-being of their family.  In part, we help new parents establish healthy bonds for child development, connect caregivers to community resources, and even partner to assist parents in the requirements to resolve an open child protection case and keep their family together.

For more than 142 years, The Family Partnership has advocated for and provided services to families facing the greatest disparities in our community.

To invest in our work, make a donation here.

National pilot sites will begin testing a brain science-informed curriculum developed by The Family Partnership this fall.

The two-generation (2Gen) Executive Functioning Across Generations© program model is designed to boost children’s and their caregivers’ executive functioning and self-regulation skills for greater success in school and life.

Frontiers of Innovation (FOI), the R&D platform of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, is supporting the national pilots in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Delaware with funding from the Hemera Foundation. The goal of FOI is to accelerate the development and adoption of science-based innovations that achieve breakthrough impact at scale for young children and families facing adversity.

The Family Partnership developed and successfully piloted the Executive Functioning Across Generations© curriculum with its preschoolers and caregivers from 2017-2019, leading to national interest in further trials. Last year, The Family Partnership and three Children’s Home Society of America organizations were awarded a planning grant by FOI. Together the organizations attended a workshop on the IDEAS Impact FrameworkTM, a science-based innovation approach to program development, testing, and evaluation, and used that experience to develop precise evaluation measurement strategies for the original curriculum and the home visiting and parent education adaptations.

Virtual Pilots Begin October – December

Now TFP, Children’s Wisconsin and Nebraska Children’s Home Society will begin testing virtual delivery of the curriculum with 10 families each in their respective home visiting programs. In 2021, Children and Families First of Delaware will pilot a virtual parenting group adaptation with 10 families.

“Families may feel more isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic, but we are innovating to make sure children learn the essential skills needed for healthy development, while parents are safe and supported in their role as their child’s primary caregiver,” said John Everett Till, VP of Strategy and Innovation at TFP. “By working with children and parents together, home visiting and parent education staff can reinforce the ‘serve and return’ interaction skills that help build executive functioning – the core capabilities that ’stick’ with children and families for life.”

The upcoming pilots of Executive Functioning Across Generations© sets the stage for eventual use of the program model in preschools, home visiting programs, and parenting groups locally and nationally to reach high-risk families and promote healthy development for more children.

Why Executive Functioning?  

Research shows that adversity experienced in early childhood can have a cumulative negative impact on a child’s brain development if these experiences are not buffered by a supportive relationship with an adult. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) within the family include child abuse, neglect or household dysfunction (such as seeing a caregiver struggle with mental illness, addiction, or incarceration). In addition, toxic stress can occur from external factors such as community poverty, neighborhood violence, racism and discrimination, and/or a lack of family services and resources

The Family Partnership curriculum intervenes to build executive functioning – the essential skills that everyone needs to stay on track with goals, imagine consequences of actions and inhibit impulsive behavior.

How the Curriculum Works

The Family Partnership curriculum, developed by Dr. Chris Wing, focuses on language to build executive functioning in both parents/caregivers and children. The curriculum first establishes “Internal State Words” for thoughts, feelings, sensory perceptions, physical sensations and moral concepts. As children learn, they can use these words to identify and express themselves and develop personal narratives about their experiences. As parents’ skills related to executive function and self-regulation increase, they are able to model use of these language skills with their children. The parents also increase their ability to recognize and respond to their children and provide supportive relationships.

For more information contact: 
Stephanie Goodwin
Email: sgoodwin@thefamilypartnership.org 

UPDATE 9/17/20: Hedi’s story was featured on Kare11 and you can see it here.

A year ago, Hedi Moussavi was near death. Now, he is running his 50th marathon in Minneapolis on August 28 in honor of the memory of George Floyd.

Prior to mid-May, Hedi had never run more than 7 miles. But, on the anniversary of a spinal infection that nearly took his life in 2019, he looked for meaning for his existence, and set a goal to complete 50 marathons in 3-4 months. The idea came from a “feeling of helplessness” during this challenging year.

“I am trying to run an 8:46 per mile pace in honor of George Floyd, Minneapolis, the BLM movement and every group that’s been oppressed and continually beaten down by the system,” said Hedi.

This (run) is proof that no matter how hard someone might be beaten down in life,…nothing is more powerful than the human heart, and the infinite energy of love, compassion and dedication to a higher purpose.

Hedi Moussavi

Raising Money for TFP

Hedi has asked on his social media feed for donations of any amount that he will match up to $1,310 (50th marathon X 26.2 miles) for The Family Partnership. You can donate online here and please note in the “In honor/memory of: 50 marathon Hedi”.  

“I was so fortunate to have access to a good health care plan, to have amazing parents that took care of me, and a great support system that boosted my spirits when I was emotionally down,” said Hedi. “I realize that many don’t have these necessities. This is why it is important for me to support and raise awareness for an organization like The Family Partnership.”

As a volunteer on The Family Partnership’s strategic planning committee, Hedi knows our programs provide services to families in the hardest hit areas of Minneapolis – the Lake Street neighborhoods and North Minneapolis.

“We must continue to push for equality and justice whenever we can, because everyone deserves a chance at this life,” said Hedi. “Children are the future of this planet, and we need to provide them (regardless of background) with the tools to live a balanced, healthy, and beautiful life.”

We will provide an update on his 50th run!

UPDATE: Congratulations to Hedi on completing his 50th marathon on Friday, August 28th, with a time of 8:58 minutes/mile!

Photos courtesy of Hedi Moussavi