Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance
#ProtectPAKids
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance'(PFSA) work centers around the prevention of child abuse and neglect as it manifests itself throughout the State, with the overall goal of keeping Pennsylvania's children safe. With 40 children deceased and nearly 5000 substantiated reports of child abuse recorded in the past year there is a great deal of work to be accomplished. Pennsylvania Family Support Alliances' (PFSA) Mission is to provide education, support and training programs to make Pennsylvania safe for children. PFSA's Vision is that all children will grow and thrive free from abuse and neglect.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Recognizing and Reporting Child Abuse
Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance partners with organizations to teach parents positive parenting techniques and educate professional, volunteers and community members how to recognize and report child abuse.
We train thousands of professional and volunteers annually and help communities understand their social responsibility for protecting children. Our programs provide tools essential to impacting future generations. In doing so, parents learn to be better parents and communities are better able to protect children.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
PR Daily's Nonprofit PR Awards 2018
External reviews

Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Pa Family Support Alliances' programs and services are created to keep Pennsylvania's children safe from abuse and neglect.
All PFSA does is based on our core values of being: Responsive . Passionate . Reliable . Professional . Visionary . Collaborative . Inclusive
PFSA's Goals:
1. To expand the reach and quality of community-based education programs that meet Family First requirements.
( #familyfirstpa.org is a campaign to celebrate, recognize and support the families that depend on each other, and critical Pennsylvania services, to thrive. With critical services in place, families can earn a living, care for each other, and make things work.)
2. To enhance infrastructure and capacity to manage growth
3. To influence and drive public policy to protect Pennsylvania children
4. To diversify PFSA's funding base
5. To leverage increased recognition of PFSA expertise to prevent child abuse
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
PFSA has embraced the following strategies to reach our goals:
Goal 1
Expand Mandated Reporter Training offerings
Increase PFSA's network of community-based child abuse prevention agencies
Strengthen support for Families in Recovery
Develop the capacity of ACT parent education program to reach more people
Conduct statewide needs assessment to identify program service gaps
Establish a minimum of 2 regional advisory committees to assist in crow system training
Goal 2
Redesign and launch a new website with increased functionality for all end users
Upgrade information systems capabilities
Complete governance goals to strengthen board leadership
Goal 3
Monitor and introduce legislation focused on protecting children from abuse and neglect
Establish and strengthen relationships with legislative leadership within House Children and Youth, Senate Aging and Youth Judiciary Committees
Goal 4
Introduce a minimum of 2 regional advisory councils
Expand PFSA individual donor base
Increase funds raised through special events
Goal 5
Expand PFSA's rebranding efforts to increase stake holder engagement
Continue to establish PFSA as a thought leader and a subject matter expert resource
Strengthen staff communications capacity and participation
Increase brand awareness through expanded social media presence
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Pa Family Support Alliance is well positioned to be successful in reaching our goals.
We have a small staff component, however, they and our independent contractor trainers are all highly skilled and each bring a great depth of experience and dedication to support PFSA's mission and vision. Given our size and experience we are agile to respond to needs and opportunities presented across the Commonwealth.
PFSA is know for the high quality of our work in all areas of our program service. In fact, PFSA has been selected by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services as the state's mandated reporter training provider for education, community service, early education, and religious professionals.
The PFSA board of directors is knowledgeable of finances and management as well as, possessing a dedication to address the issues of child maltreatment which we work to alleviate daily.
Pa Family Support Alliance has a strong financial position and is well managed. We are poised to increase our budget in the coming year due to the ability to utilize our expertise addressing the issues related to abuse and grandparent kin programs offering possible expansion by PA departments.
PFSA is increasing our collaborations with community-based child abuse prevention agencies across the Commonwealth which will enhance our capacity to provide education, support and training.
PFSA's president, Angela Liddle, MPA, is a highly skilled nonprofit manager, who has been at PFSA' helm for 25 years. Ms. Liddle is well-known as a leader in the field of child welfare and protection. She is sought out for advice and for service on statewide committees and task forces. She presently serves on the national board of The National Alliance of Children's Trust and Prevention Funds.
With increased awareness of the incidence of child abuse and neglect present in Pennsylvania and across the United States we anticipate being called on to do much more in the future to keep kids safe.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
PA Family Support Alliance has made great strides throughout our organization developing a broad array of programs all designed to touch parents, employees, or volunteers to help prevent abuse and neglect and keep kids safe.
We have recently rebranded, our Logo and adapted our materials, both for education, and for public relations, all consciously reflecting the diversity of the populations we serve and those who face the issues we address.
We are in the process of redesigning our website to align it with our branding and PFSA's expanded and improved programs and resources, providing rich opportunities to encourage philanthropy, all this to increase functionality for our end users.
The Families in Recovery: Strengthening Connections One Day at a Time is being piloted across the Commonwealth. This comprehensive experiential and educational program attends to a variety of challenges and experiences common to parents in recovery, including: identifying strengths, needs and resiliencies; exploring healthy parenting in balance with recovery needs, understanding the person-focused and family-centered change process; promoting healthy parenting and communication styles; developing healthy coping skills and modeling self-care; coping with guild, shame and stigma; and developing a personalized family blueprint for overall wellness. After the conclusion of the pilot it FIR will be available throughout the State.
PFSA's ACT Raising Safe Kids Evidence-Based Parenting Program prepares child and family professionals to conduct the 9 -week parenting program. ACT is a national, evidence-based, parent education program designed by the American Psychological Association that focuses on adults who care for and teach children from birth to 8 years old.
Our largest program, Mandated Reporter Training (MRT) has grown to serve more than 25,000 persons annually with thousands more accessing our online program. A second course to include more advanced information is being designed for those who are renewing.
PFSA is also increasing MRT Train-the-Trainer opportunities and adding the a Families in Recovery Train-the-Trainer model in the future.
PFSA has been and will expand media exposure both public and social to stress the importance of child abuse prevention.
PFSA is adding a 2019 Pittsburgh Blue Ribbon Champion Award Event in Pittsburgh. The successful event held at the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg had drawn many participants and a great deal of media coverage, with additional events being planned in the future.
PFSA offered discussion sessions across the Commonwealth featuring grandparents caring for grandchildren unexpectedly as a result of the opioid epidemic. This awareness campaign involving legislators throughout the state resulted in the passage of HB 1539 to provide temporary emergency guardianship and HB 2133 tp create a Kinship Caregiver Navigator program. PFSA will continue to monitor legislation and advocate to keep kids safe.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance
Board of directorsas of 10/08/2019
Ms Jennifer Doyle
The Foundation for Enhancing Communities
Term: 2015 - 2019
Erica M. Weiler-Timmins, Ph.D
MIlton Hershey School
Michael Suchanick, CPA
retired Hospital & Healthcare Association of PA
Britta Schatz
Vice President & Chief Information Officer Penn National Insurance
Terry L. Clark
Administrator York County Children, Youth & Families
Maureen F Fairbanks
Capital BlueCross
MIchael T. Gaines, MBA
Exec. Director Bradley H. Foulk Children's Advocacy Center
Suzanne Kinsky, MPH, Ph.D.
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Center for High Value Healthcare
Anita Kulick
President & CEO Educating Communities for Parenting
John Lawn
President & COO Hershey Entertainment & Resorts, Inc.
Sean M. McCormack, Esq.
Dauphin County Chief Deputy District Attorney
James Redmond, MBA
University of Pittsburgh Health Policy Institute
Kathy Scullin
Geisinger Health System
Cecelia Connelly-Weida Ph.D.
Associate Dean, Lehigh Carbon Community College
J. Paul Helvy, Esq.
McNees Wallace and Nurick LLC
Jennifer Clarke, Child Abuse Pediatrician
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh UPMC Division of Child Advocacy
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 09/25/2019GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.