Family Strengthening

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Rainbow Family League

Rainbow Family League is a program that aims to help families have conversations about race, racism, gender, LGBTQ inclusion, diversity and standing up against unfairness.

The 2023-24 RFL Season is accomplished in partnership with Dr. Lori A Watson of Race Work and Napa Valley Unified School District.

Program Story

First 5 Napa County is committed to strengthening our community, parents, and caregivers with a lens of equity, respect, and social inclusion so that ALL our children are happy, healthy, and grow up with a sense of belonging.

Rainbow Family League (RFL) is a bilingual parent/caregiver education program that supports families in talking about:

Self and family identity
Recognizing similarities and differences
Understanding fairness
Understanding advocacy and allyship

Our facilitators support each “team” of families for a 6 month season through providing:

Equipment (including diverse children’s books with discussion prompts and family activities)
Coaching and practice opportunities
Community building (teammates will have the opportunity to gather virtually and in person to work on a variety of projects around our league’s themes)

Program Scope

Rainbow Family League teams embark on a 6 month long “season” that includes up to 4 virtual “team practice sessions” and 2 in person practice sessions.

Participating families receive monthly “equipment bags” delivered to their home to practice the skills our team is learning with their families. Each equipment bag includes 2 diverse children’s books, a packet of family activities, and craft materials/supplies to complete the activities.

The practice session presentations and discussions paired with the children’s books and family activities aim to support parents/caregivers in becoming more confident and courageous when talking about race, racism, LGBTQ inclusion, and advocacy with their children.

Ultimately, we aim for these families to become actively anti-racist and join First 5 Napa County in creating a more inclusive community for all.

During the 2023-24 school year, First 5 Napa County is partnering with Napa Valley Unified School district to bring RFL to the district’s TK families!

Evaluation

During the 2022-23 school year, Rainbow Family League had 21 participating families from the City of Napa, Angwin, and American Canyon. First 5 Napa County distributed 294 diverse and inclusive children’s books to the families through the monthly “equipment bags.”

Because of their participation in Rainbow Family League 2022-23 participants reported:

90% Feel a sense of belonging in their community
80% Feel more civically engaged

Grown Up Impact

ALL Grown Ups saw growth in confidence in:

Talking about diverse families with their child
Talking about race/racism with their child
Talking about race/racism with other adults
Speaking up against unfairness and discrimination

ALL Grown Ups felt they have fewer biases around race after RFL

90% of Grown Ups reported a growth in their own knowledge around race/racism and understanding of LGBTQ and gender diverse children & adults.

Child Impact

88% of Families report after participating in RFL their child is:

More empathetic
Using accurate language to describe human differences
Recognizing unfairness and has language to describe it
Able to stand up for others in the face of discrimination

What Families Are Saying...

"Talking to my kids about race is important to me, but I didn’t know how to do it without passing [on] my personal negative experiences. RFL really helped me navigate through this journey with great reading materials for the whole family and a cohort community to educate me constantly on how we cannot just learn about racism but how to be anti-racist"

“RFL is a rare gift. There are few opportunities for caregivers to come together and not only acknowledge we live in a highly racialized society with loads of accompanying injustices, but also enter into age-appropriate conversations with our children about how unfairness shows up in the world”

“On a personal level, it allowed me to reflect in much more detail on how much privilege I inherit and how much I take for granted. It forced me to reflect in much more detail on the perceptions of others."

"I can't speak highly enough about this program. The zoom sessions led by Dr. Lori A Watson and Lilea Duran are top notch; informative as well as interactive and enjoyable. The books and activities are so well done, complete with age appropriate discussion questions and activities for all ages to easily engage. The best part is our family learned more ways to embrace diversity, speak up, and connect with like minded families locally."

Family Strengthening

What We Fund