Family Focus Resource Center

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Family Empowerment Team in Action (FETA)

Family Empowerment Team in Action

What is FETA?

The Family Empowerment Team in Action (FETA) was a two and a half year partnership between North Los Angeles County Regional Center (NLACRC) and California State University, Northridge (CSUN). The goal of the program, which ended in December 2019, was to assist families who have challenges in accessing and utilizing Regional Center services. It was a free and voluntary program for families.

Who contributed to FETA?

The FETA team consisted of 7 social work students from CSUN called “Navigators,” 3 professors, and staff from the Family Focus Resource Center. The team worked with families identified by Regional Center to help them better understand Regional Center services and meet their family and child’s goals.

How does FETA Work?

While many families receive Regional Center services, there are many families who need them but cannot access those services due to challenges and barriers such as housing, immigration, cultural differences, lack of trust with providers, and difficulty communicating with “the system.”

Once a family became a part of FETA, they were assigned a Master of Social Work student intern (Navigator) that attends California State University, Northridge. The Navigator provided extra support to see what barriers/challenges a family may be facing and they will assist in addressing those barriers with advocacy, supporting cultural lens, and navigating any challenges the family may have with Regional Center or other provider services.

What lessons were learned from FETA?

We learned a great deal about the challenges and barriers that families face when seeking services for their family member with a developmental disability. We also gained understanding of Cultural Competency, and developed a 3 part series of videos discussing the topic. You can view the videos here:

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eWb7N6MJ8A

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbNq4PoSfyo

Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_su7i9T9_M&t=361s