Family support services
Family support services means community-based services to promote the well-being of children and families designed to increase the strength and stability of families (including adoptive, foster, and extended families), to increase parents' confidence and competence in their parenting abilities, to afford children a stable and supportive family environment, and otherwise to enhance child development. Family support services may include: (1) Services, including in-home visits, parent support groups, and other programs designed to improve parenting skills (by reinforcing parents' confidence in their strengths, and helping them to identify where improvement is needed and to obtain assistance in improving those skills) with respect to matters such as child development, family budgeting, coping with stress, health, and nutrition; (2) Respite care of children to provide temporary relief for parents and other caregivers; (3) Structured activities involving parents and children to strengthen the parent-child relationship; (4) Drop-in centers to afford families opportunities for informal interaction with other families and with program staff; (5) Transportation, information and referral services to afford families access to other community services, including child care, health care, nutrition programs, adult education literacy programs, legal services, and counseling and mentoring services; and (6) Early developmental screening of children to assess the needs of such children, and assistance to families in securing specific services to meet these needs.