Project Living Well: Modules for Group Best Practices

Partnership for People with Disabilities

Engaging Diverse Families in Leadership for Systemic Change

Presented by:
Diana Autin

Executive Co-Director, SPAN
Board Member, National FFCMH
FFCMH Conference 2015

© SPAN 2015

Centered, Parent Le

Center for Parent Information and Resources

SPAN

ii

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF FAMILIES
For Children's Mental Health

Characteristics of Leadership

  • What is a leader?
  • What is leadership?

"Leaderful” Organizations

  • Clear & compelling vision & mission
  • Passionate & engaged Board
  • Strategic approach to leadership development & engagement
  • Effective communications & marketing
  • Motivated, professional staff

Clear & compelling vision/mission

  • Vision/mission "set the stage" for an organization that values parent leadership development
  • What does your vision/mission statement tell:
    • Parents about your expectations for their leadership?
    • Parents about the opportunities for leadership?
    • Your staff about their role in identifying, recruiting, preparing, & supporting diverse parent leaders?
    • Others about the value you place on parent leadership?

STRATEGIC PLANNING

  • Strategic plans provide the roadmap to achieving the vision & mission
  • What does your strategic plan do to:
    • Integrate parent leadership as an integral component of each major strategic goal/direction?
    • Support parent leadership development & engagement as a key activity/mechanism to achieve the goal?
    • Ensure sufficient funding to sustain parent leadership development & engagement?

Communications/Marketing/Outreach

  • Communications/marketing/outreach activities:
    • Let diverse parents know who you are, what you do, & how they can be involved
    • Let communities understand the value you place on parent leadership
    • Underscore to policymakers & professionals why parent leadership is - & should be a core value
  • How effective is your communications/marketing/ outreach plan in achieving these goals?

Financial Support

  • Fundraising activities (including grantwriting) secure the funds needed to fuel your leadership work
  • What do your grant applications tell funders about:
    • Your commitment to diverse parent leadership as a core value?
    • Your understanding about the resources needed to sustain effective parent leadership development & support?
  • How can you write parent leadership development & support into applications even when it is not a stated focus of the funding opportunity?

Staff & Board Recruitment

  • Your staff & Board provide the personnel needed to achieve your goals
  • How do your staff & Board recruitment policies & practices support your commitment to diverse parent leadership development & support?
  • How do you incorporate parent leadership development & support into Board & staff roles?
  • What does the composition of your Board & staff say to potential parent leaders?

Organizational Self-Assessment

  • Family-Centered Services Self-Assessment
  • Non-Profit Management Self-Assessment
  • Cultural & Linguistic Competence Self-Assessment for Family Organizations
  • Language Access Self-Assessment & Plan
  • Parent Leadership Self-Assessment

Parent Leadership "Formula"

  • Assess agency & staff readiness
  • Improve agency & staff readiness
  • Identify potential parent leaders
  • Recruit diverse parent leaders
  • Prepare diverse parent leaders
  • Provide meaningful leadership roles for parent leaders
  • Support parent leaders
  • Recognize parent leader contributions

Engaging Families as Leaders

  • Involve those most affected
  • Reflect the society we are working for
  • Draw strength from/ be accountable to
  • Gain access & voice
  • Model collaboration
  • Hold selves to high standards

Building New Leadership

  • Nurture it
  • Have a plan to:
    • Identify potential leaders
    • Build capacity
    • Allow mistakes
    • Make the space
    • Provide support
    • Listen, respond

Pathways to Parent Leadership

  • Critical supports:
    • Contact with other parents in leadership roles
    • Opportunities to take on leadership roles, however small, & safe settings to practice them
    • Relationship with respected & trusted person who provides feedback & support
    • Sense of belonging

The Planned Change Process

  1. Exploring
  2. Assessment & Planning
  3. Commitment Building
  4. Implementing Change
  5. Integrating Change
  6. Assessing Progress
  7. Growing

Key Leadership Qualities

  • Challenge the process
  • Inspire shared vision
  • Enable others to act
  • Model the way
  • Encourage the heart

Underlying Principles

  • Strengths Based
  • Family Centered
  • Building empowerment not dependence
  • Relationship-based
  • Solution Focused
  • Continuous Quality Improvement
  • Identify small group of parents from targeted community & community cultural brokers
  • Ask for their help in:
    • Understanding cultural, language, religious impacts (both sources of strength & potential barriers)
    • Developing strategies to reach, engage, & support families from their background
    • Implementing strategies
    • Evaluating progress & planning next steps
  • Provide them with support

Starting place

  • The issue is important to them, their family, & their community
  • They have something to contribute
  • They believe that they will be listened to, their contributions respected, and their participation will make a difference

Why do parents get involved?

  • Multiple opportunities for participation
  • The level of participation can vary as needed
  • Families receive sufficient advance notice
  • Family participation is facilitated
  • Families are listened to; their ideas are supported & respected
  • Families do not experience retribution as a result of their participation
  • Family participation has an impact
  • Family participation is consciously & visibly appreciated

How do parent leaders stay involved?

  • Tangible (stipends, provision of or reimbursement for childcare and transportation and reimbursement for lost wages).
  • Emotional (respect, understanding, validation, and ongoing support to fulfill their roles, including times of transition and crisis).
  • Environmental (training, equality with service providers, and full inclusion in activities)

Primary Supports Needed

  • Level 1: Strengthening individual parent knowledge & skills
  • Level 2: Promoting community education
  • Level 3: Educating Providers
  • Level 4: Fostering coalitions & networks
  • Level 5: Changing organizational practices
  • Level 6: Influencing policy & legislation

Levels of Focus for Parent Leaders

Token vs. Meaningful Involvement

  • No preparation or information given prior to participation
  • No meaningful role in meeting or forum
  • Often one time only participation
  • Professionals talk “around parents” using acronyms and terminology unfamiliar to them

vs.

  • Adequate notice of the meeting and material supports are provided to assist parent attendance
  • Materials and/or an orientation is provided prior to the meeting
  • Parent input is valued and individuals work with parents to clarify terminology, systems and policies
  • Follow-up is provided

Leaders Know Themselves

  • Who am I?
  • What am I doing here?
  • What are my:
    • Goals, purposes, expectations, motivations
  • What strengths & challenges do I bring?
  • How can I best use my leadership skills?
  • How can I make space for others?

Advocacy Leadership Knowledge

  • Laws & regulations
  • How institutions work
  • Key decision-makers
  • Formal & informal decision making
  • Facts; current status
  • Barriers & solutions
  • Qualities of effective systems
  • Existing resources

Focus on Empowerment

  • Educate
  • Build knowledge
  • Build skills
  • Engage
  • Build trust
  • Build self-confidence
  • Enhance effectiveness
  • Build mentoring
  • Build opportunities

Agencies:

  • Explore past history
  • Are you ready for full transparency
  • Leadership support in all directions
  • Willingness to be flexible
  • Your budget is your policy statement!

Readiness Factors

  • Commit to cultivating family leaders
  • Articulate the value statement
  • Clear expectations, roles and outcomes
  • Flexible scheduling and meeting formats
  • Engage in inter-agency data sharing

Sustainability Strategies

  • Assure & continue to enhance competence
  • Cross-agency impact reporting
  • Implement corporate leadership strategies
  • Leadership vs. Management
  • Family leaders bring life to your mission
  • Family engagement & leadership activities embedded in ALL grant proposals

Sustainability Strategies

Data Conflicts

Interest Conflicts

Structural Conflicts

Value Conflicts

Relationship Conflicts

Spheres of Conflict

What is our action plan for involvement?

  • We know the why, we need to plan the:
    • Who?
    • What?
    • When?
    • Where?
    • How?

Action Planning

Action Planning

  • Steps of Action Planning
    • Reaching out to parents to participate in the Action Planning process
    • Conduct the organizational self assessment with parent participation
    • Prioritize areas of needed improvement
    • Develop a plan, in partnership with families, to address prioritized needs

Making It Real

  • Identify a potential parent leader
  • How are they currently involved?
  • What leadership characteristics do they have?
  • What is one new leadership role to which you could immediately introduce this parent?
  • What development or support will they need?
  • What’s the first step you will take - & when?

Be the pebble in the pond…causing ripples that spread in all directions!

Debriefing

  • What worked?
  • What could have gone better?

Key Resources