Families and Schools Together (FAST) is recognized as one of the leading risk prevention and parent involvement programs in the nation. FAST was developed in 1988 by Dr. Lynn McDonald, in Madison Wisconsin. It received numerous awards and honors, including becoming a SAMHSA model program in 2002 and an OJJDP/CSAP best practice family strengthening model program in 1999. Today FAST is being implemented in 45 states and 5 countries and has been shown to be effective across languages, cultures, socio-economic strata, and in both urban and rural settings. Lynn McDonald is a senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin Center for Education Research. Our FAST programs work with parents and schools to build a safety net for children at risk.
     The FAST researchers concluded that the most direct approach to the challenge of children at risk was a prevention strategy that involved parents, and was started at an early age.

     The FAST program has three goals:
1. Build a bond between parents and the child at risk.
2. Build a link between the school to parents.
3. Create and sustain a parent support group that builds partnerships between parents and couples.
     These three goals combine to create a true family and social safety net for a child at risk of academic and lifetime failure.
     Our FAST program is held at elementary school sites. With information distributed to students in the schools, families are invited to attend an eight-week FAST session. A FAST program facilitator follows up with parents by telephone, school visitations and home visits to encourage continuing program attendance.

     The FAST Team is made up of five collaborators: a leader , an instructor, a mental health specialist , a substance abuse and gang specialist and a parent . Additionally there are two support members of the team which include child care workers one of whom is a program auditor.

      Finally, the FAST team is supported by a core of volunteers. A group of fifteen to seventeen students and their families meet at the elementary school one evening a week for eight weeks. Follow the link to learn more about the FAST session: http://www.fastnational.org

     On graduation from the eight-week FAST session, families participate in monthly follow-up meetings for two years as part of the FASTWORKS program. Parent graduates run the two-year follow up meetings themselves, reinforcing the skills they've learned in FAST sessions, and developing leadership ability.

      'The (FAST/FASTWORKS) program develops a support network for the family, empowering the parent to be the primary prevention agent for their own child'. Alliance for Children and Families.