Safe Families of Morrison County

Morrison county believes in families and is dedicated to providing services to promote strong families. SFMC exists to promote awareness in several areas such as positive parenting, safety issues, and basic health. SFMC provides literature for families at several local events and also provides training for all 4^th graders throughout the district on a variety of topics such as bullying and child safety.

Click on LOCAL LINKS (above) to see many valuable websites for family resources.

Some of the activities and programs sponsored by Safe Families of Morrison County .

Circle of Parents  - A parent support group. Check it out! The group is held every Tuesday, at TCC site - 501 LeMeiur Street, Little Falls, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.  Free childcare is provided, and occasional meals and snacks are served, as the group decides.

“When times are tough with parenting, I think about the parent support group and am able to take a deep breath and know that I am not alone.”   Circle of Parents is a parent support group led by parents with the guidance of a trained facilitator.  All programs are free, confidential, non-judgmental, and designed to promote positive parenting.  This program was recently initiated here in Morrison County.  

Love and Logic is program for parents and leaders who work with kids on using love and logic when dealing with the day to day issues that can come up. contact mccicknelson@integra.net     www.loveandlogic.com

Talking About Touching (TAT) is a personal safety curriculum taught by classroom teachers to students in Kindergarten through third grade.  School districts in Morrison County  have made a commitment to teaching Talking About Touching with the Morrison County Child Protection Team providing annual training to new teachers and community agencies.  The Team purchases TAT kits  when needed and has provided supplemental materials to enrich the 30-45 minute lessons.  Teachers determine how frequently the lessons will be taught with 15 lessons in Kindergarten, 13 lessons in grade one, 14 lessons in grade two, and 13 lessons in grade three.  
Talking and Touching was first introduced in Morrison County schools in 1989 and has made a significant impact on our children knowing how to distinguish safe from unsafe touch, how to report and who to report unsafe touch to.   TAT builds on family safety rules 1) another person should never touch your private body parts except for health reasons, 2) if anyone tries to break this rule, so NO and tell someone, 3) anytime you feel uncomfortable or mixed up about a touch, you can say NO and talk to a trusted adult about it.  Parent letters are sent home to encourage parent support and teaching of the concepts in the family.
For more information on the curriculum Talking About Touching published by the Committee For Children ...www.cfchildren.org  or contact Anita Larsen at alarsen@lfalls.k12.mn.us.

Second Step is a violence prevention curriculum taught by classroom teachers to students in grades fourth and fifth in Morrison County.   This curriculum is sponsored by the Morrison County Child Protection team and was implemented January, 2007 to replace the outdated Talking About Touching in those grade levels.   Second Steps has 23 lessons in three units; Empathy Training, Impulse Control and Problem Solving, and Anger Management taught weekly or bi-weekly for 30-40 minutes.  This curriculum is evidence based with a focus on social and emotional learning through modeling, role play, cueing, coaching, and storytelling/discussion.   Parent letters are sent home before each unit to encourage parent participation and discussion.  Annual new teacher and community training is sponsored by the Morrison County Child Protection Team. 
For more information on the curriculum Second Step published by the Committee For Children ...www.cfchildren.org  or contact Anita Larsen at alarsen@lfalls.k12.mn.us.