I know some of us are missing the direct link, so how about:

In the right column, together with "universal news", "From the IC staff" and "recent discussions" add:

"recent family discussions". (Or just call it "Family Forum")

Some additional suggestions:
1/ Make it possible to pin certain topics as leader, such as family bank or daily plan. (and make sure it directs to the last post)
2/ Make it say "New" if there's a new post - it would make leader's job to get messages across a lot easier.