Engaging Family Members as Partners
Parents and caregivers are crucial partners in the work to support children. The Strengthening Families™ approach advocates for a shared partnership with families that values the knowledge, skills and insight that parents bring to the table. As we walk alongside caregivers to support their children, we honor their self-determination and role as leaders in their families and the community. Efforts to build effective systems and advocate for policies that support families should be planned, implemented and evaluated not only with family member input but also with caregivers in leadership roles. Explore the resources below to learn how family members are engaged as leaders in this work.
From National Strengthening Families Partners
- The Children’s Trust Fund Alliance provides many resources related to family engagement and leadership in their Partnering with Parents page, including the Building and Sustaining Effective Parent Partnerships document and information about their various parent groups. The Parent Voice page includes parent-developed resources that will help community members engage in meaningful conversations about supporting families.
- Find resources to guide collaboration with family members on the Center for the Study of Social Policy’s Building Parent Partnerships. CSSP’s initiative Early Childhood Learning and Innovation Network for Communities (EC-LINC) produced the Parent Engagement and Leadership Assessment Guide and Toolkit. The EC-LINC also hosts the Parent Leader Network.
- The FRIENDS National Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention’s Parent Leadership page has resources to strengthen family member involvement in all aspects of programming.
- The Engaging Families page from Child Welfare Information Gateway features resources, webinars and podcasts to support partnering with families in meaningful ways in child welfare work.
Pennsylvania Resources
- The Pennsylvania Department of Education, Office of Child Development and Early Learning, and the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education created a Family Engagement Coalition that developed the Birth through College, Career and Community Ready Family Engagement Framework to guide the effective partnerships with family members in the Commonwealth.
- The Pennsylvania PTA is a volunteer organization comprised of parents, family members and educators committed to providing support and programming to children and youth in Pennsylvania, as well as advocating on their behalf.