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Supporting Family Participation

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Many family members are interested in participation in a variety of activities critical to the success of inclusion efforts. However, sometimes families need to be recruited. They may not know how to be involved or what they could offer until the program reaches out to them. To facilitate meaningful involvement of all families consider the following strategies:
  1. Develop and maintain a broad view of participation.
  2. Foster the value of family participation on your team. Recognize family members as assets-not tokens. Include them as colleagues with expertise, not just as a parent or just a consumer, but rather as a collaborator with common goals and critical expertise.
  3. Provide leadership training for family members. Consider as appropriate the benefits of one-to-one and/or parent-to-parent support. Provide a mentor of the parent's choosing in the beginning stages to share information.
  4. Include family members in the agenda. They have talents and experiences that the team can use beyond being a parent of a child with a disability.
  5. Tailor written materials to families. Use non professional terminology, examples and personal experiences.
  6. Address the unique needs of families from under represented groups:
    • collaborate with established community organizations to make contacts and identify mentors;
    • provide translators if needed; and
    • compensate family members for expenses incurred if necessary.
  7. Help family members share strategies they have used to meet challenges. Encourage the family to share stories that support the success of their efforts.
  8. Invest in the family members as experts and leaders by supporting their participation at conferences and workshops where they can acquire information and develop new skills.
  9. Be aware of parental burn-out and actively seek method to prevent any one parent assuming too much for too ling.
  10. Schedule meeting times so working family members can attend. Invite more than one parent from a family. A spouse or partner, a grandfather or an aunt, or a family friend can provide insight from another perspective for the group and provide support or transportation for the primary caregiver.
  11. Develop innovative and "normalized" strategies to help families overcome transportation barriers. Encourage car pooling, provide taxi or bus coupons, or rent a vehicle for a family when asking them to drive a distance. Provide transportation expenses "up front" for the family rather than asking them to wait for reimbursement.
  12. Arrange meetings for families in locations where children can be involved in activities with other children, such as at a child care program, community recreation center, or at the YMCA. Consider holding meetings at times or places that family members have other appointments such as at WIC or health clinics. Attend to personal comfort. Arrange comfortable chairs and refreshments.
  13. Always remember to use group process strategies that foster involvement of family members, but that give them options for determining their own level of participation-how much and when.
  14. Make the meeting time count. Instead of minutes, develop action plans that specify who will do what and when. This will help the family see the value of their participation.
  15. Vary the format of the meeting from the traditional staffing or business meeting approach. Include an educational component to some of the meetings. Develop a focus group discussion on an issue or concern.
  16. Increase personal contacts with family members. Follow up with a phone call, or a thank you note or letter.
  17. Evaluate the stakeholders or staff meeting including the family's participation. Ask their opinions about what works and what doesn't. Respect their opinions and feedback. Due to a variety of logistics and social reasons, we most often find mothers rather than fathers at the team meetings and involved in school programs. Following is a list of strategies targeted specifically to involving fathers developed by James May. Involving fathers is important for all children and programs and should not be neglected in inclusive programs.
    • As an agency, carefully design programs, brochures and newsletters which appeal to fathers. Watch the language used; it is attractive, appropriate, engaging? Consider the time and nature of the programs offered (i.e., do you have early morning, late afternoon, Saturday IEP conferences?)
    • Mass mailing produces limited results­too anonymous. Do 1:1 as much as possible, both on the telephone and person-to-person. Meet for a cup of coffee, a lunch together­whatever seems appropriate.
    • Invite dads into the therapy classroom and day care centers. Have special events specifically oriented towards fathers and their unique needs (i.e., "Pops and Tots Night"). Make the programs "hands on" as much as possible. Encourage involvement; let them teach/share what they know, and help them develop new parenting skills.
    • Take the children to the fathers. If appropriate-bring the children to the work site. Or plan a field trip day where dad can accompany the group with his child.
    • When calling home, do not always ask for the mother. Make a point to ask for dad too or engage him when he answers the phone. Help him be increasingly responsible for the well being of his child. Encourage both parents to be active participants in decisions regarding the child's welfare.
    • In regards to the above, do not let dad off the hook. Request his presence; personally ask him to be at a conference or meeting. Show him places he can be involved with his child. Do know you are going to hit some stone walls here, but it can be accomplished! So often how you make the original contract with the family during intake sets the tone for the father's involvement, or lack of it. Expect dad to play an active role in the child's service delivery plan.
    • Encourage mom to encourage dad. Ask her what it would take for dad to be more actively involved with his child. Cite research showing the value and impact of fathers being involved parents (Brazelton, Pruett, Cummings)
    • Have specific programs for fathers only. Speak to the practical and real issues so important to men (financial matters, education, vocational options, etc.) Develop a "core group" of 3 or 4 men who will take responsibility for the group and its success. Give them group skills and resource assistance. Having an active, ongoing fathers' group is a means of providing men personal support and educational awareness in a "safe" setting. Men supporting other men can be a powerful vehicle for change. As a staff, always refer men to the group and the dads who run it.
    • Sponsor meetings organized and chaired by fathers. Have male professionals speak. Help break down the old myth that only women work in the special education field.
    • Remember that men often come together through social occasions. Do not assume social events are of little or no value. They allow men to share ideas in a relaxed manner, as well as build trust for future meetings. Consider sponsoring a barbecue, a trip to the zoo or swimming pool, or an evening of Monday night football with pretzels and pop.
    • Have a staff in-service training directly focused on fathers. Share information about men, have a dad speak, consider ways the staff can further assist men in better engaging with their special needs children. As a staff, actually role play some of the identified concerns. Take it beyond theory. Anticipate problems and identify concerns indigenous to your agency, area and parent body; have answers ready for them.
    • Make sure that fathers are part of a well throughout program of services for the entire family. Do not make the mistake of having a dad's group and assuming that is enough. All staff need to see fathers as critically important to the well being of the child. Men need to be involved at all levels of service delivery.
    • Consider evening or weekend classes in parenting specifically aimed at fathers. Find out what they need to learn rather than assume any one curriculum is correct. If possible, have those classes run by men trained in the field of early childhood education. Pay particular attention to single parent dads and minority fathers, often neglected populations.
    • Offer a dad a ride to a session; give a dad the feeling he is not alone, that there is someone he can count on.
    • Work to gain television and newspaper coverage. It is often easy to access, and it will bring excellent results. Have a follow-up story done whenever possible. Reporters love to have firsthand father interviews, including pictures (father-child interaction).
    • Help men find "means of ownership" for the group. Have them be responsible for making coffee, calling speakers (if inclined to do so), sending out reminder letters, setting up chairs, running an activity, etc. Make their involvement appropriate and helpful.
    • Strategically involve men in recruiting other men to the group, through 1:1 contact, visitation to agencies, calls to prospects, etc. Fathers recruiting other fathers is credible and effective.
    • Appeal to the practical, pragmatic side of men by completing a project (e.g., building therapy blocks, making switches, starting a horticulture garden, developing a resource guide, having a clean up day, etc.).
    • Have name tags with father's and child's name on it­in big bold print. This helps new dads join in, relax and lessens the "embarrassment factor" regarding names.
    • Avoid group stagnation through repetitious discussions, "moan and groan" sessions, lack of things to do. Ask the men for suggestions, get feedback about the group, always let them know it is their group.
    • Be aware of the developmental nature of groups. Do not force ideas of feelings; know where your group is in its growth. Patience is a key.
    • Create a norm of confidentiality for the men. What transpires in the group must stay in the group.
    • None of the above will ever replace simple friendliness, concern, and a chance to speak and be listened to. They are the hallmarks of any successful group. Each of us needs to feel understood and appreciated. Another emerging role for family members is that of "training partners" or co-instructors for staff development activities. Family members are key to the success of delivering training to new community sites and new staff at old sites. There are many ways families can be involved. Consider the following:
      • Determining training needs. Families can help determine training needs of providers by participating in focus groups, surveys, interviews, or brainstorming sessions.
      • Designing and producing training programs. Families should be invited to participate in the development of the training design. They can brainstorm activities, produce media and materials, and review and comment on drafts of curricula and materials.
      • Conducting training programs. Families can be involved in many ways-conducting programs independently or as co-trainers; participating on panels; being available as information resources; offering a consumer's point of view.
      • Receiving training. Families should be invited to attend when training sessions are offered. Families and providers can better understand each others' roles when they spend time together in learning activities.
      • Evaluating training. Families can help evaluate training programs by attending pilot sessions, reviewing materials, and conducting pre- and post-training surveys.
 
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