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With the tremendous success of National Council on Family Relation’s (NCFR) first Virtual Family Life Education Summit, held in 2021, NCFR will hold a second Summit on Friday, June 24, 2022. Of respondents who attended the summit, 93% rated it excellent or very good, and evaluation comments indicated that Family Life Education (FLE) practitioners were grateful for the opportunity to connect with one another and to learn and share about best practices specific to FLE. There is clearly interest and support for another summit.

For the first summit, I worked closely with members of the Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) Advisory Board to plan and carry out the event. Members of the Advisory Board will continue to be involved (especially in the review of submissions), but this year I have created a Virtual FLE Summit task force comprising several attendees of the first summit who expressed interest in helping to plan a future event. The task force will free up the Advisory Board’s time to focus on CFLE projects and will help provide an opportunity for more CFLE practitioner members to be involved in the planning and implementation of this important practitioner-focused event. Current task force members include Anita Armstrong, Deb Berke, Mary Bold, Kelly DaCunha, Chinatu Gladrich, Joyce Mayberry, Karen Shirer, and Barbara Sweeney.

We’ll replicate much of the 2021 summit’s successful format but are considering some modifications to the schedule, with the possible inclusion of shorter sessions and more opportunities for interaction. The theme of the 2021 summit, Strengthening & Supporting the Work of Family Life Educators, was intentionally broad to appeal to a wide range of FLE professionals. It drew presentations on such topics as coping with grief, adverse childhood experiences and corporal punishment, trauma-informed FLE, decentering Whiteness, starting and growing an FLE business, using social media, helping parents find trustworthy information, and a number of sessions focused on developing and implementing FLE programing, moving FLE programs online, and outreach and community engagement. We are planning a similarly broad theme for this year’s event in an effort to continue to focus on the foundations of FLE because there is a need for this information. Many FLEs have degrees and training specifically in Family Science, but it is also true that many practitioners come to FLE from different disciplines and through winding career paths. This creates a strong need for professional development opportunities focused on the foundations of FLE. Family Life Educators who didn’t earn a degree in Family Science, and even those who did a few years ago, can benefit from professional development opportunities focused on the FLE content area topics, including family systems, family dynamics, human development, sexuality, interpersonal relationships, family resource management, parenting education, and family law and public policy, as well as on the knowledge and skills involved in the practice of FLE, including conducting a needs assessment, program development, implementation, and evaluation, facilitation skills, group process techniques, marketing, and more.

That isn’t to say that there won’t be sessions that focus on more specific or timely issues, such as working with diverse audiences or practicing FLE in the time of a global pandemic, or ones that dig deeper into particular topics. The task force and CFLE Advisory Board members will be reviewing the call for proposals and submission and review process and are considering identifying tracks in the program to ensure that it provides the best opportunity for practitioners to effectively share their knowledge and experiences through summit sessions.

Over the next month or two, we will be finalizing plans for the 2022 summit. Please watch for the call for proposals and consider sharing your knowledge and expertise through a submission. The 2022 Virtual FLE Summit is a great opportunity for practicing FLEs to support one another and advance the field. It will provide a way for new and experienced FLE practitioners to enhance their knowledge and skills in the practice of FLE.

CFLE Conversations Planned for 2022

Another opportunity for CFLEs to network with and support one another is provided through CFLE Conversations. We held six sessions in 2021 directed at CFLEs working with military families, mental illness, parenting education, domestic violence prevention, community partnerships, and substance abuse prevention. These sessions were well received thanks to the facilitators who did a great job of keeping the conversation going: Ginny Wescott, Mara Briere, Jody Johnston Pawel, Marissa Heim, Joyce Mayberry, and Markell Kunzelman.

We’ll be holding eight CFLE Conversations in 2022. Sessions planned to date include Marriage and Relationship Education (Taliah Ayers), Homelessness (Janeal White), FLE Coaching (Lisa Krause), Self-Employed CFLEs (Susan Meyerle), and Foster Care and Adoption (Evin Richardson). Visit CFLE Benefits section of the NCFR website for more information. Please contact me at [email protected] if you have a suggestion for a topic and/or are interested in facilitating a session.