Family Services of North Alabama

Family Services of North Alabama seeks to teach, empower, advocate, and liberate through education, resource networking, and providing advocacy for victims of sexual assault.

The Parenthood Program is a court ordered and voluntary program that is designed to assist fathers (and mothers) to put themselves in a better financial and emotional position to better provide for their children.
The Co-parenting classes provide divorcing parents with the knowledge and tools to raise their children separately in a positive environment. Additionally adding new programs A-reset and paid to learn. These programs allow us to partner with other agencies to accomplish goals and help anyone that needs our services.
The Sexual Assault Support Services (SASS) program currently offers forensic interviews for victims of sexual assault, ages 14-18. We offer forensic interviews and exams, advocacy, and referral services for victims over the ages of 18. Our plan is to continue offering these services but also expand forensic exam services to victims under the age of 14. In 2019 we established the county's fist Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) and recently established the North Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force. The SART team is a multidisciplinary team made up of people, in vital roles, that encounter victims at different stages of the sexual assault response process. This team was created to establish policies and procedures that make sexual assault response more effective and victim centered. It is our vision to expand this team to include a representative from every key agency in each county and to help create policies that are more victim focused. As trafficking throughout the state continues to increase, FSNA will expand our efforts to train the community on sexual violence, how sexual violence relates to human trafficking, and offer more services that are directly designed for victims of sex trafficking.
Our Prevention Education Program is unique in that we not only teach the community how to avoid becoming a victim of sexual violence, we also seek to prevent people from becoming offenders by educating the public. We will continue to go into schools, businesses, churches, and other community agencies to educate faculty, staff, students, pastors, coaches, business owners, and other members of the community on sexual violence/safety in the workplace, becoming an active bystander, healthy and unhealthy relationships, how to recognize the signs, and what to do when someone discloses. We have added two new curriculums. One is designed to train coaches on how to mentor to young male athletes and the other will empower young girls and women. It is our desire that these curriculums will reduce the number of males who offended, promote healthier attitudes toward women, and help women feel more independent and empowered to speak up and speak out. We are also in the process of developing our first Prevention Task Force.
The CAPCAN Program offers internet safety classes for school-age children and their parents.

Family Services of North Alabama (FSNA) is dedicated to achieving its goals through a multifaceted approach:

Parenthood Program: We offer support to parents through court-ordered and voluntary programs, including co-parenting classes that equip divorcing parents with the skills needed to raise their children in a positive environment.

New Initiatives: Our A-reset and Paid to Learn programs, in partnership with other agencies, expand our reach and effectiveness in helping those in need.

Sexual Assault Support Services (SASS): We provide comprehensive support to sexual assault victims, including forensic interviews, exams, advocacy, and referrals. Our Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) creates and implements victim-centered policies, and we are committed to expanding our services to younger victims and enhancing community training on sexual violence and human trafficking.

Prevention Education Program: This program educates the community on preventing sexual violence and offender behavior. We deliver training in various settings, covering essential topics such as safety, healthy relationships, and bystander intervention. Our new curriculums for coaches and young women aim to foster healthier attitudes and empower individuals.

CAPCAN Program: We teach internet safety to children and their parents, promoting safe online practices.

Through these programs, FSNA leverages its comprehensive capabilities to support families, educate the community, and create a safer, more informed environment for all.
We have a fantastic team that works together and sets realistic goals. We support each other. We stay true to company values and focus on our mission.

Within the last few years FSNA has doubled the amount of programs offered and is now a Family Resource network.
Within the past 3 years the SASS Program, both Victim Services and Prevention Education, has been expanded into community corrections, youth detention centers, churches, youth groups, recovery groups, local businesses, and schools where program Directors offer support groups, training, group presentations, counseling, advocacy, and referral services. We have also partnered with all local law enforcement agencies (police departments and sheriff's offices), district attorneys offices, hospitals, and sister agencies - the Department of Human Resources, local Child Advocacy Centers, and numerous other agencies - to form a Sexual Assault Response Team in both counties that we serve. The SART team creates policies and procedures for sexual assault response and discusses ways that we can all work together to better serve victims throughout the community. A few months ago FSNA formed the North Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force to educate, facilitate community awareness, and discuss strategies to prevent human trafficking and assist victims and we are in the process of developing a Prevention Task Force. All 3 teams will work in tandem to increase awareness and services in the communities we serve.