FAMFT Distinguished Community Service Award presented to the Broward County School District

Tommie Boyd, Ph.D., Chair, Department of Family Therapy, associate professor; Anne Rambo, Ph.D, associate professor, Department of Family Therapy; Laurel Thompson, Ph.D., director, Student Support Department, Broward County Public Schools, Renae Lapin, Psy.D., family counselor, Broward County Family Counseling Program, DFT Alumni; Mary Hale Haniff, Ph.D., Speech Diagnostician, Broward County Schools, FAMFT President, DFT Alumni.

The Florida Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (FAMFT) recently presented its Distinguished Community Service Award to the Broward County School District. During ceremonies at the 2010 FAMFT Annual Conference held in Deerfield Beach, Tommie V. Boyd, Ph.D., SHSS associate professor, chair of NSU’s Department of Family Therapy, former president of FAMFT, presented the school district representatives with the award.

In presenting the award, Boyd noted that each year, FAMFT presents a Community Service Award to a community partner who has been exceptional in supporting and collaborating with the field of marriage and family therapy. “Over the past years, the Broward County School District has promoted the affiliation of mental health professionals in work within the schools. Across the state, there are a variety of schools who utilize family therapists, and in particular in Broward County, the inclusion of our professionals has been outstanding,” said Boyd. “We, as marriage and family therapists, are delighted to recognize the Broward County Schools for their 25 years of dedication and commitment to the mental health and wellbeing of students and their families here in the Broward area.”

The Family Therapy graduate training programs at NSU place approximately 50 students each year in communities of interest, and in particular, the school systems. Masters and doctoral level interns are placed in schools to support students, families, teachers, and administrators. Some of the projects Family Therapy faculty and students have developed and promoted in the Broward County School District include: 

• The SUPERB (Students United with parents and Educators to Resolve Bullying) anti-bullying program. This program began in 2002 and continues with over 15 students placed in the Broward School System each year. This year SUPERB has expanded further into a more open ended family and child counseling program.
• The WOWW project (Working on What Works)

Other schools Family Therapy students are placed to work with children and their families include:

• Northside Elementary School
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School
• Arthur Ashe Middle School
• Sunland Part Elementary School
• International Charter School
• Lycee Franco-Americain Private School, which supports a large international population of children who come from other countries resulting from the 2004 Haitian mudslides and the more recent Haitian earthquake. The placement of Family Therapy students here creates a supportive and therapeutic environment for these children and their families.
• And many other schools that request family therapy services

The Broward School Board of Broward County has achieved an unsurpassed number of highly successful Family Counseling Programs throughout the county. A statewide search of Family Counseling in other school districts concluded there were few, if any, programs available within the schools outside of Broward County. Findings include:

• These programs provide a wealth of documented statistics with hard data to support success.
• All school-aged children and their families have an opportunity to receive FREE Family Counseling services in Broward County.
• Systemic models of service drive these programs with involvement from a variety of school staff in addition to family members.
• Broward County has proven that a short term solution can address many school and family related issues which interfere with school success and happiness for students.
• School based Family Counseling services embedded within the school system exponentially increases the protective factors for students and families while decreasing the risk factors associated with school success and happiness for children.