About Family Focus USA
Family Focus USA is a member organization of Family Focus International which was first founded in 2001 by a group of parents and business people concerned about the increasing incidence of children living in impoverishment in industrialized, or first world, countries and the apparent lack of local community understanding and appropriate response to meeting their needs.“Giving our own children a fair go!” became the rally cry for this early band of volunteers who gave of their time and own resources to find effective ways in which children living in impoverishment could be provided with assistance that would enable them to change the focus of their lives towards self improvement and positive life outcomes.
Central to the development of the organization’s responses to children in need has been the core belief that the most effective means of changing a person’s life direction is by providing them with the skills and abilities that enable them to create their own strategies and solutions for life success. Accordingly, Family Focus USA, its members and supporters, see themselves in the business of giving people a “hand-up” and not a “hand out”. In response to the needs of American children, this philosophy often requires intensive support of the child’s family as a whole. In order to alleviate the impoverished conditions which impact on the child it is often necessary to provide the child’s parents with the skills and abilities that enable the family as a whole to escape the bondages of impoverishment. In this way a positive focus is provided for all family members and creates a family foundation upon which the children are more appropriately able to access the many opportunities provided by American society.
Family Focus is very mush based on the premise, "think globally but act locally". Whilst we recognize that there is severe poverty in most Third World countries such situations will never be resolved in these countries until the issues of political corruption, mismanagement, human rights and democracy are dealt with in a proper and lasting way. Then, and only then, can the issue of poverty in these countries be overcome. But what about poverty in First World nations? How is it that countries with sound fiscal policy, democratic processes and growing industries can allow their children to live in poverty?
Family Focus believes that poverty can only be solved by the local community. The role of Government is not to overcome poverty. The role of Government is to provide the structure and environment in which its citizens can prosper and grow through sound, democratic fiscal policies. It is the role of the community, of people acting locally, to overcome poverty - not through hand outs but by providing those in the community in need with the support, motivation and training that will enable them to overcome the barriers they are experiencing and gain self sufficiency.
In 2005, due to the growth of demand for and the nature of the services required, Family Focus undertook a series of external reviews to determine the best means by which the organization could proceed into the future. As a result of these reviews Family Focus restructured to become a registered public company , and has established additional service and administrative centers in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Australia to better enable increased service response by local communities in 2006-2008.
While this has increased the legal compliance and liability requirements of the organization, the Board of Directors of Family Focus, ably supported by its Community Advisory Committees (composed of interested and qualified members of the public) in each geographic region served, remains committed to the core values and focus of the founding members. Furthermore, while the expansion of service response has necessitated the employment of staff and a more ‘corporate’ style approach to matters of funding and finances, both salaried personnel and volunteers remain focused on the founding vision and mission that is the purpose of Family Focus.