Iowa Ag Connection - Brown Attains Certified Family Life Educator Designation

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Brown Attains Certified Family Life Educator Designation
Iowa Ag Connection - 09/18/2017

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Specialist David Brown has attained the designation of Certified Family Life Educator offered through the National Council on Family Relations. This credential for family life education professionals is recognized internationally.

Brown completed the association's national exam and 1,600 hours of applied experience in family life education to achieve the CFLE status. The NCFR sponsored program encourages applications from professionals who have preparation and experience in family life education settings, including formal teaching, research/scholarship, community education, public information and education, curriculum and resource development, health care, military family support, and ministry.

Brown, of Boone, is a human sciences specialist in family life. He serves Audubon, Buena Vista, Calhoun, Carroll, Cherokee, Crawford, Greene, Guthrie, Ida, Pocahontas, Sac and Shelby counties.

Certified Family Life Educators focus on healthy family functioning within a family systems perspective and provide a primarily preventive approach. The goal of family life education is to teach and foster this knowledge and these skills to enable individuals and families to function optimally. Family life education professionals consider societal issues, including economics, education, work-family issues, parenting, sexuality and gender, within the context of the family. They believe that societal problems such as substance abuse, domestic violence, unemployment, debt and child abuse can be more effectively addressed from a perspective that considers the individual and family as part of larger systems.

Brown, who is also a licensed marital and family therapist, has been a human sciences specialist in family life with ISU Extension and Outreach since January 2014. Previously he served as the director of psychological health for the 132nd Fighter Wing of the Iowa Air National Guard, as a military and family life consultant for the Iowa National Guard, and a county extension education director with ISU Extension and Outreach.

The National Council on Family Relations, founded in 1938, is the oldest nonprofit, nonpartisan, multidisciplinary professional association focused solely on family research, practice and education.

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