School-family project prepares for national rollout

The U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance has awarded $1.8 million to UW–Madison senior scientist Lynn McDonald for her research project, The Families and Schools Together Project: Building Relationships.

McDonald developed the FAST program in 1991 to support the development of relationships among parents, schools, and the community to enhance children’s academic and social performance.

The federal grant will help FAST launch as a major national initiative. FAST already has been introduced to more than 600 schools in 38 states and four Indian nations.

The U.S. Department of Justice in a recent report recognizes the FAST Program as addressing “the urgent social problems of youth violence and chronic juvenile delinquency by building and enhancing youth’s relationships with their families, peers, teachers, school staff, and other members of the community.”

Such relationships form a “social safety net” for young, at-risk children that helps them to succeed at home, in school, and in the community, the government agency says.

FAST meetings are structured around social activities for parents and families. In the eight-week program, families gather together for a family meal and a variety of social activities, which include music, drawing, family games, children’s sports, a parent group, and a chance for parents to interact with each other.

It is hoped that students, after participating in the FAST program, will experience fewer social or behavioral difficulties, which may also promote children’s academic performance, and that the FAST parents will have become friends and will offer social support for one another over time.

“Communities across the country should insist upon and work toward excellence in helping children to succeed at school and at home, reduce drug and alcohol abuse, and reduce stress and social isolation,” Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson says. “Families and Schools Together (FAST) and other programs supported by the Federal government have shown that prevention is possible and models of excellence are available.”

With Wisconsin Sen. Herb Kohl’s support, McDonald says, FAST has had national recognition and federal research and development support since 1991. In addition to duties at UW–Madison’s Wisconsin Center for Education Research, McDonald is a part-time faculty member at Madison’s Edgewood College and board president of FAST International.