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Inherent in establishing a meaningful professional credential is the presence of an effective and comprehensive code of ethics. While there are no hard and fast rules about how often ethical codes should be revised, organizations and professions have an obligation to ensure that their ethical standards of practice are current and relevant. Professional codes of ethics are revised as professions and societies change. As our knowledge of healthy families and healthy family functioning, and societal issues impacting families changes, (e.g., NCFRs 2012 affirmation of same-sex marriage and parenting; separation of parents and children at the border; hate speech; #metoo; refusal to serve clients that don’t fit with one’s beliefs or values; off duty behavior, and increased scrutiny due to social media), it can be necessary to expand or alter the boundaries of professional practice. In 2017, members of the Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) Advisory Board determined that a revision of the CFLE Code of Ethics was in order, both to assist practitioners in dealing with these more complex societal issues, and to provide guidance in enforcing CFLE certification and re-certification standards.

History

The CFLE credential, first launched in 1985, did not have a Code of Ethics until 2009 when it adopted the principles included within the Minnesota Council on Family Relations (MNCFR) Ethical Thinking and Practice for Parent and Family Life Educators (MNCFR, 2016) process. In the mid-1990s, members of the MNCFR Ethics Committee created an ethical thinking and practice case study process through a series of state and national focus groups. Included within the relational ethics approach was the identification of 30 principles centered around the parent and Family Life Educator’s relationship with parents and families; children and youth; colleagues and the profession; and community and society.

NCFR Director of Family Life Education, Dawn Cassidy, participated in the creation of the ethical thinking and practice process as a member of the MNCFR Ethics Committee, with the understanding that the resulting process could be used for the CFLE credential.

It is important to clarify that the MNCFR Ethical Thinking and Practice for Parent and Family Life Educators is not a code of ethics but rather, a process, including case studies, that can be used by Family Life Education professionals to effectively and professionally deal with ethical issues and dilemmas. However, the principles included within the MNCFR process provide guidance regarding ethical behavior that was relevant to CFLEs. In 2009, NCFR officially adopted the principles sited within the MNCFR process as the CFLE Code of Ethics. New and renewing CFLEs were required to sign the CFLE Code of Ethics statement.

While the CFLE Code of Ethics proved useful, concern was expressed that the principles were heavily focused on parent education and did not reflect the full range of content or the audiences included within the practice of Family Life Education. While many CFLEs are involved in parent education, many work directly with individuals, couples, or the elderly, and around a broad range of issues outside of parenting including finances, sexuality, relationships, substance abuse, and homelessness.

The MNCFR ethical guidelines process was focused more specifically on the parent/child relationship due to the active involvement of many members of MNCFR in the practice of parent education. The state of Minnesota was a leader in formally recognizing parenting education as a profession with the implementation of a state-wide Parent and Family Education license required to teach in the Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) program. This focus on parent education was reflected in the MNCFR ethical guidelines’ principles. An example of the parenting focus was Principle I.3. We will respect cultural beliefs, backgrounds and differences and engage in practice that is sensitive to the diversity of child-rearing values and goals. The focus on child-rearing limited the meaning of the principle in a manner appropriate for parent education, but not necessarily, Family Life Education.

The Process

Over the course of an 18-month period, the ethics subcommittee of the CFLE Advisory Board met virtually and at the 2017 conference with the goal of modifying the existing principles to better reflect the broad practice of Family Life Education. Working sessions were held with sub-committee members and representatives from MNCFR. Collaboration between the FLE Ethics Subcommittee and members of MNCFR was an essential component of the revision process.

A first step included a review of various professional ethical codes to verify that the CFLE code covered behaviors common to helping professions. The codes studied included the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Code of Ethics, the American Psychological Association's Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, the National Association for the Education of Young Children Code of Ethical Conduct, the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists Code of Ethics, the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics, and the National Council on Family Relations Ethical Principles and Guidelines for Family Scientists.

With the permission and involvement of members of the MNCFR Ethics Committee, the MNCFR principles and relational ethics approach remained as the foundation of the new Code. However, one of the more significant changes included replacement of the MNCFR categories: Relationships with parents and families and Relationships with children and youth with: Relationships with Individuals and Families. The following explanation was provided: “the term ‘individual’ is used in this document to include children, youth, and adults, with the understanding that there are unique and qualitatively different stages of development for each of these groups.” The MNCFR categories of Relationships with: colleagues and the profession; and Relationships with community and society were carried over to the revised code.

Additionally, some principles were modified to apply to a broader audience. In the example noted earlier the principle: We will respect cultural beliefs, backgrounds and differences and engage in practice that is sensitive to the diversity of child-rearing values and goals, was changed to: The Family Life Educator will respect cultural beliefs, backgrounds, and differences, and engage in practice that is responsive to diversity.

With much editing from various sub-committee members, emergence of a new code of ethics began to take shape. A final step included the creation of a preamble to provide context and clarify the purpose of the Code and to recognize the inclusion of core values throughout all principles: do no harm, respect diversity and practice cultural competence, engage in ethical decision-making, practice with integrity, recognize and build on individual and family strengths, and practice with humility and warmth.

Once the CFLE Ethics Subcommittee finalized the draft, the Code was disseminated to the full CFLE Advisory Board. The CFLE Advisory Board endorsed the changes proposed by the Ethics Subcommittee in May of 2018. The new CFLE Code of Professional Ethics is available on the NCFR website https://www.ncfr.org/cfle-certification/cfle-code-ethics.

Now that the CFLE Code of Ethics has been updated, the CFLE Advisory Board will begin work on creation of an enforcement process to be used in the event that the practice of a CFLE is called into question. 

The CFLE Code of Professional Ethics, which identifies nationally recognized and endorsed standards of conduct, can effectively be used in conjunction with the MNCFR ethical guidelines process to assist CFLEs, and all Family Life Educators for that matter, to practice to the highest standards.

Dorothy Berglund, Ph.D., CFLE, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Family Studies at the Mississippi University for Women.

Bryce Dickey, M.S., CFLE, is an Associate Professor in Family and Consumer Sciences at Western Michigan University

Susan Meyerle, Ph.D., CFLE, is the founder of Life Resources, LLC counseling center.

Dawn Cassidy, M.Ed., CFLE, is Director of Family Life Education for the National Council on Family Relations.

Acknowledgments:

CFLE Advisory Board subcommittee: Dorothy Berglund, Ph.D., CFLE, Bryce Dickey, M.S., CFLE, Susan Meyerle, Ph.D., CFLE, & Ahlishia Shipley, Ph.D., CFLE.

Special acknowledgement to Betty Cooke and Glen Palm, and all members of the MNCFR Ethics Committee for their work in creating the original Ethical Thinking and Practice Guidelines and for their collaboration with the CFLE Advisory Board subcommittee.

References

American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Code of Ethics
https://higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/AAFCS/1c95de14-d78f-40b8-a6ef-a1fb628c68fe/UploadedImages/About/AAFCS_Code_of_Ethics_2013.pdf

American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
https://www.aamft.org/Legal_Ethics/Code_of_Ethics.aspx?WebsiteKey=8e8c9bd6-0b71-4cd1-a5ab-013b5f855b01

American Psychological Association Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct.
https://www.apa.org/ethics/code/ethics-code-2017.pdf

Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board. Early Childhood Family Education.
https://mn.gov/pelsb/aspiring-educators/requirements/

National Association for the Education of Young Children Code of Ethical Conduct.
https://www.naeyc.org/resources/position-statements/ethical-conduct

National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics
https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics

National Council on Family Relations Ethical Principles and Guidelines for Family Scientists
https://www.ncfr.org/sites/default/files/ncfr_ethical_guidelines_0.pdf