The Family Re-Union Initiative: A Springboard for Family-Centered Community Building, Locally and Nationally

• Published in: Family process Vol. 41; no. 4; pp. 569 - 578
• Main Authors: Erickson, Martha Farrell, Louv, Richard
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2002; Blackwell
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Community action; Community Development; Community Health Planning - organization & administration; Education, Professional; Educational Programs; Families & family life; Family centred care; Family Health; Family Policy; Health Plan Implementation - organization & administration; Humans; Medical sciences; Mental health; Prevention. Health policy. Planification; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Social Change; Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry; United States; USA; United States; North America; America; Social environment; Human; Health policy; Social interaction; Mental health; Family environment; Community participation; Citizenship; Familial relation; Educational schedule; Public health
• ISSN: 0014-7370; 1545-5300
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1545-5300.2002.00569.x

Family Re‐Union is an ongoing conference series and family policy initiative launched in 1992 by Al and Tipper Gore. It has been the springboard for a new wave of family‐centered community building efforts, including the development of an educational program to prepare a new generation of community builders. We summarize the history of this family‐centered community building movement and discuss how it builds upon and differs from earlier approaches to community development. We describe Family Re‐Union and some of the ongoing work it has fueled. And we suggest ways family professionals can take part in this work.