FAMILY SUPPORT COMMUNITIES

Strengthening Families Through Community: Introducing Family Support Communities

Communities have a unique ability to build resilience by offering meaningful opportunities, connections, and supports—especially for parents. Mobilizing local resources and creating strong networks are essential to promoting child and family well-being. Maine Children's Trust is excited to share that we are piloting four Family Support Communities. Strong communities are built on connection, trust, and shared responsibility. Family Support Communities are local initiatives where families can access support before challenges become crises.


Family Support Communities ensure families have access to coordinated, high-quality support identified and shaped by the local community. Built on a collective impact model, this approach recognizes that every individual and family experiences challenges—and that early support leads to better outcomes for children, adults, and communities.


Family Support Communities utilizes Chapin Hall's research entitled, A Framework for Building Community Networks to Support Families to:


  • Center community members' voices to co-create solutions
  • Build on existing strengths and relationships within the community
  • Invest in people and systems to create equitable, adaptable, and sustainable supports
  • Promote collective action that enables communities to respond effectively over time
  • Collaborate on evaluation and learning to ensure strategies evolve with community needs

This investment in prevention allows us to build on local strengths, uplift community voices, and work together to ensure every family has the foundation they need to thrive.

2025-2026 Family Support Communities

Franklin County Children's Task Force's approach is to bring together all voices of Franklin County to create a coordinated support community that identifies priorities, builds solutions and connects families to meaningful services and resources.


Kennebec Valley Community Action Program is prioritizing creating a resource distribution hub for concrete supports in Kennebec and Somerset Counties


Healthy Kids has focused on six historically underserved neighborhoods where they will travel and meet with families to identify community needs.


Community Concepts, Inc. has opened a Family Resource Center in Lewiston that delivers family support, resources, referrals and community engagement.