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We Are Connected

All parents need emotional support. Social connections (supportive friends, family, neighbors, and community groups) help parents care for their children and themselves.

Social connections support children in multiple ways. A parent's positive relationships give children access to other caring adults, model important relational skills, and increase the likelihood that children will benefit from involvement in positive activities.

Building positive relationships may require extra effort for some families—including those who are new to a community, recently divorced, or first-time parents. Additionally, some parents may need to develop self-confidence and social skills before they can expand their social networks.

Key Points to Cover

Key Points to Cover
All parents need support sometimes.
  • Draw a circle on a piece of paper, and put your name or family name in the center of the circle.
  • This is a tool to help parents "map" their sources of social support.
  • There is no wrong way to complete this worksheet.
Support can come from family, friends, neighbors, or other helpful people.
  • Ask: Who are the people in your circle of support?
  • If needed, prompt for names of friends, family, neighbors, and helping professionals.
  • Add their names in circles or other shapes around the center circle of the ecomap.
Social support can be found by belonging to groups.
  • Ask: What groups or organizations are part of your family's life? (e.g. faith communities, schools, workplaces, community centers)
  • Add them in the circles where they belong.
Not all connections are equally supportive.
  • Ask: How well do each of these connections support you as a parent?
  • Show differences with different colors, solid vs. dotted lines, or arrows indicating which direction(s) support flows.
  • Ask: Looking at this map, what do you notice about the connections in your life?
  • It may be important to take some time to process your feelings about the current amount of social support in your life.
Making new connections can be challenging, but it is possible.
  • Ask: Would you like to have more support? How do you go about making new connections? What are the challenges?
  • Ask: What is one thing you can commit to doing this week to strengthen your social connections?

Social Connections

All families need support. Connecting with others helps to build a strong support system.

Draw a circle with your name in the middle, and use the guidelines above to complete a visual map of your social network:

____[Name]_______'s Support System

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

One thing I will do this week to strengthen my connection to others is:
__________________________________________________________________________________

Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2021). We are connected: Guide for professionals. Retrieved May 30, 2022, from https://www.childwelfare.gov

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