Cuyahoga County FamilySpace Program

About the Program

Category: Children and Youth

Year: 2023

The Cuyahoga County Office of Early Childhood (Invest in Children) launched FamilySpace in 2022 by organizing a partnership among five organizations to offer safe and fun spaces for families with children birth through age 5 to meet, socialize and receive information and services based on their needs and interests.  FamilySpace is unique in its structure as a collaboration among both county government, city government, and private agencies – including two with a limited history of prior collaboration with each other, and in the high importance given to including “family voice” in the program’s design and implementation.FamilySpace is a weekly time and space in select local libraries where families with young children can come together to connect with other families going through similar experiences to learn, share and grow together.  A trained staff person also assists with connecting families to resources and services.

Supporting equity and inclusion, each of the current four locations is led by a Neighborhood-based Parent Advisory Committee that informs programming to make certain it is responsive to family interests and needs, which may differ in each neighborhood.