CARE History

In the early 1990s, NVFS staff began to notice an alarming increase in the number of clients whose work-related issues were exacerbating difficult family situations and leading to family breakdown, substance abuse, and domestic violence. NVFS staff and board members began to explore how NVFS could help change the work climate to relieve work-related stress on families.

Board members — many of them business leaders — empathized with the plight of these families and were also concerned about family stress from a business standpoint. They recognized that businesses strengthen families when they adopt policies that support family life and help employees balance the demands of work and home.

NVFS enlisted the support of the business community, creating the CARE Advisory Committee in 1992. The CARE Advisory Committee established the annual CARE Awards program with four primary goals:

1. To recognize Northern Virginia companies who are leaders in providing family-friendly benefits and policies that help their employees meet the challenges of balancing work and life
2. To encourage companies to institute family-friendly programs by exposing them to ideas and thoughtful discussions with business leaders who have
   already embraced such policies
3. To strengthen families by promoting family-friendly policies among businesses
4. To build awareness and support among the business community of NVFS programs

The CARE program has helped change the business climate in Northern Virginia by exposing business leaders to new ideas and providing specific, workable steps to follow for making important workplace changes. Because of the CARE program, many business leaders have begun to think seriously about ways family-friendly policies can impact the day-to-day operation of their businesses and how they can be implemented in companies of any size and configuration.

2022 Best Practices

2021 CARE Report

CARE Video Playlist