Spotlight on FACTT

The center would like to shine a spotlight on a unique and innovative committee of which it is a member—the Family-Agency Collaborative Training Team (FACTT). Founded in 2007, FACTT’s mission is to unify efforts that support the growth and maintenance of North Carolina family trainer development and family-agency training partnerships. Other FACTT members include agencies like social services, mental health, and public health; schools; parent and youth advocacy groups; university partners; and family and youth partners.

FACTT’s accomplishments to date include developing and delivering a workshop for training partnership teams called Co-Training Heart to Heart. Partnership teams consist of two or more trainers—at least one who represents experience within a particular system (e.g., social services) and one who has been a recipient of that system’s services, policies, or research. They deliver training materials and model how systems, communities, and families can interact to provide positive outcomes for children and families. Heart to Heart is designed to help training partners develop their skills in order to deliver informative, insightful, and balanced presentations. Since its pilot, Heart to Heart has been held ten times across the state, reaching over 130 trainers.

In addition to continuing to offer Heart to Heart, FACTT has other projects in the pipeline, such as an on-demand online training in development called Guidance for Partnership Training. This training is designed to further support the development of partnership training teams. It will include core skills and knowledge for all training partners, as well as a module designed specifically for youth/family partner trainers, such as information on business contracting, and another for agency trainers. FACTT will also be tabling at this year’s System of Care conference in Greensboro on May 19^th and 20^th.