FAMILY FOUNDATIONS
Who Is Behind Family Foundations
A program proven to help couples maintain strong family bonds, reduce stress and raise healthy, well-adjusted children.
Mark Feinberg, Ph.D. · Research Professor, Penn State
Mark Feinberg, Ph.D., developed Family Foundations. Trained as a clinical psychologist and family therapist, he is currently a prevention scientist at Penn State University. His core idea was to build a new parent preparation class series around the key foundation of the family: the cooperative, supportive relationship between parents. Many colleagues, professionals and families helped develop and test the program. Childbirth educators Charley Newell and Sherry Turchetta assisted with its early development. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has funded 25 years of rigorous research that has documented the program’s benefits, and results from randomized trials have been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Penn State and the William Penn Foundation have provided funds for development of new adaptations.
Our Core Values
We developed Family Foundations to help create a world where all parents have the tools they need to create strong, cooperative, and lasting parenting partnerships. Building positive parenting teams can help make sure that all kids get the loving support they need from their parents.
The core values that guide our work are…
Family Foundations develops educational and support materials for families with a commitment to making sure they work. This is what sets our program apart from other products and services for new families: we are committed to an evidence-based approach.
We rely on research studies to indicate whether or not our programs are actually beneficial. Just as we all want to know the medicines doctors are prescribing for us have been tested and found safe and effective, the effectiveness of educational and health-promoting programs should be supported by rigorous research.
Some programs that have been widely distributed were actually later found to be harmful to children or families. Because we have conducted research on Family Foundations before offering it to the public, and our results have been published in high-quality, peer-reviewed scientific journals, you can be confident that the program yields the benefits we describe.
Our philosophy in developing materials is that you are the expert on what works best for you and your family. We provide enough flexibility within the materials and exercises so that you can bring your wisdom and values to the experience and develop a path that works for your family. We provide tools and information based on research with families and children, but it is up to you to adapt these tools for your own family’s needs and values.
If you have questions about the program, contact us:
[email protected]
814-954-0262