Mission & Purpose | Principles & Values | Staff Directory I Directions

Principles & Values

Today many individuals, families and communities are feeling badly bruised by the tumult. The broad currents of the economy's transition to new levels of competition and automation have left many people struggling desperately to salvage an endangered present or future status. Their fears and anxieties, in turn, play a role in the clamor to redesign political and social arrangements such as health care, education, welfare and various regulatory activities.

Connecticut's family service agencies are grappling with these issues. As organizations that serve a wide range of people and depend on local citizens as volunteers, supporters and directors, we hear the anxieties of the middle class as well as the fears of people who are stuck in poverty. We recognize that there are good reasons to re-evaluate the programs that our society has relied on to help people, because some have had disappointing or totally unintended results.

The decisions that all levels of government make about these programs will have profound effects on many families and on our communities. Though the pragmatic issues decision makers face are daunting, the fundamental issues involve values. A sound sense of values is indispensable to effective policy-making.

As human service professionals who have dealt with both the benefits and the damage of traditional programs, the Connecticut Council of Family Service Agencies' experience and research suggests the following principles as a guide in evaluating and creating local, state and national policies that affect individuals, families and communities:

1. The ultimate goal of policy decisions is the common good, which requires compromise and sacrifices by all community members. Our society is highly pluralistic, and each group has it own agenda, its own "entitlements". However, since our resources are finite, we must deal with the fact that everyone can't get everything all the time. It's necessary to prioritize needs and resource allocation with the common good as the goal, while resisting singular interests which tend to polarize people.
   
2. We should expect people to strive for personal responsibility and economic self-sufficiency, but we should be honest and reasonable in recognizing limitations. Our ways of helping people should not encourage dependency, but they should be based on a realistic view of factors people may not be able to control. Whenever possible, social programs should be aimed at helping them deal with these factors.
   
3. Everyone should have an opportunity to work. The social and economic costs of joblessness are huge, and dealing with them is one of the basic responsibilities of government. The demand that people support themselves should be paired with policies that increase opportunities for employment, ranging from education and training, to child care and health care, to government-created jobs, in some situations.
   
4. Opportunity must be equally available to everyone. Racism and its effects still restrict the potential of many minority people. Thanks to legal advances in recent decades, blatant discrimination plays a less prominent role, but the heritage of poverty and segregation still plays itself out in the widening gap between our wealthy suburbs and impoverished cities. We must deal seriously with that heritage in order to make opportunity real for Americans of all backgrounds.
   
5. Citizens should contribute to their communities through their active involvement. People can help to build healthy communities through various kinds of service, and such involvements have the added benefit of building a cohesion that transcends categories like economic class or ethnic background. Public policy should promote and expect citizen involvement.
   
6. Babies need to bond with their parents, and families and policy makers should incorporate that need in their planning. Though there is no "one right way" to structure family time and caregiving, the needs of very young children should be the highest priority in decision making by and about families.
   
7. Healthy children need consistent care, nurturance, and guidance which is best provided through the involvement of two mature adult parents. It is difficult, if not impossible, for unmarried and unprepared teens to provide children this level of care. While we need to recognize and deal with the many reasons for the increase in unmarried mothers and fathers, it is time to state that having a baby under such circumstances is a bad decision and a wrong one. Public policy in this area should be based on the best interest of children -- discouraging unwed pregnancies but providing for the needs of babies that are born. It will require creativity and skill to walk the thin line between encouraging unwed motherhood/fatherhood and providing necessary support. This is the challenge that must be seriously confronted.
   
8. Families are stronger when fathers are actively and consistently in their children's lives. We support the fact that children are better off when their fathers as well as mothers provide both financial support and emotional nurturance, and who serve as positive role models in every aspect of life.
   
9. The safety of families in their homes, schools, neighborhoods, and communities should be assured. Children and families deserve to be protected from violence and abuse of all kinds. Young children and teenagers deserve protection from sexual exploitation. Balanced approaches of education and law enforcement should focus families and communities on building healthy relationships through non-violent, non-abusive forms of conflict resolution and stress management.
   
10. Children need to complete their education. This statement implies both a personal and a societal responsibility. While young people should be expected to complete their schooling, we should place a high priority on improving educational opportunities.
    
11. Married couples with children should make every effort to preserve their marriages and avoid divorce. We recognize that unhappy marriages often have damaging effects on children. We don't advocate tougher divorce laws or a return to adversarial divorce. On a moral level, however, the weight of public policy could encourage parents to work as hard as possible to provide an intact, nurturing family for their children. Under no circumstances should violence or abuse be tolerated in marriage and family life.
    
12. Children should care for their aging parents to the best of their ability. Most families prefer to care for their aging members rather than consigning them to institutional care. However, the financial and emotional burdens may be too heavy for caregivers to handle without support. Public policy should encourage and assist families who are caring for their elderly parents.