Meaningful Family and Community
Engagement
NDTAC Topical Call December 10, 2013
Topical Call Agenda
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 Welcome and Introductions
 The Importance of Family/Community Engagement
 How Family/Community Engagement Relates to
Positive Youth Outcomes
 The Role of Families/Caregivers in the Intake Process
 Exemplary Strategies/Practices for Family/Community
Engagement
 The Role of State TIPD Coordinators
 Next Topical Calls
The Importance of Family/Community
Engagement
Research has shown that there are many benefits when
families/caregivers are involved in their child’s education:
 Students are more willing to learn, and they feel better
about themselves
 They get better grades and attend school more regularly
 They are more likely to graduate from grade school or high
school and are more likely to continue their education
 They are less likely to use drugs and alcohol, and they have
fewer instances of violent behavior and suspensions
(Henderson & Mapp,2002)
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The Importance of Family/Community
Engagement
 Family/caregiver visitation of youth who are systeminvolved is associated with improved behavior and school
performance
 Programs that work with families (e.g. develop effective
parenting skills, provide reinforcement) have shown success
in reducing problem behaviors and increasing school success
 Families/caregivers are potentially the most reliable sources
of information about their child’s strengths, needs, and
experiences and thus should be included in decision-making
(Agudelo, 2013; Garfinkel, 2010)
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The Importance of Family/Community
Engagement
 Karen Francis joins us today to talk about the necessity
for meaningful family and community engagement and to
share strategies for success in this effort
 Karen’s background
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Featured Presentation
Engaging Families and Communities
to Facilitate
Positive Youth Outcomes
Karen Francis, Ph.D.
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Objectives
During this presentation we will:
 Discuss how systems, facilities, and programs can plan
for meaningful family and community engagement
 Explore the role of family members and caregivers from
the moment a youth becomes involved with the justice
system
 Discuss examples of successful strategies and programs
and, hopefully, have you share some of your successes
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Polling Question
In what region of the US are you located?
 Northeast/Mid Atlantic
 Midwest
 South/Southeast
 West/Northwest/Mountain
 Southwest
 Alaska/Hawaii
 Territories
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What is Family Engagement?
 Family engagement is the collaboration
between families and systems (schools)
that drives student achievement and
positive outcomes.
(Adapted from: Flamboyan Foundation http://flamboyanfoundation.org/areas-of-focus/family-engagement)/
 Family involvement is correlated with
successful transition and reduced
recidivism.
(Dague & Tolin, 1996, Palmer, 1996)
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Voices from Family Members
 Parents cite discomfort when engaging facility staff
as an explanation for their absence
 Parents do not feel that institutions are very
welcoming
 Parents experience long delays without explanation
before being allowed to meet with their children
 Parents experience barriers to visitation such as
distance from facility and access to transportation
 Parents not being contacted when issues/incidents
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Polling Question
What types of family engagement activities/strategies does
your facility implement? Please identify as many as apply:
 Facility hosting meet and greets for parents and family
members
 Providing written information to families that is easy to
understand and in their native language
 Providing families with regular updates about their child and
educational needs
 Providing transportation services for families visits
 Creating a welcoming environment for families
 Other strategies
 None at all
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Family Engagement
 Requires mutual respect and meaningful
partnerships between families and professionals
 Involve families as key stakeholders, whether they
are helping tailor their child's individualized plan of
care or helping design, build, or maintain the system
of care
 Involve families in policy development, care
coordination, evaluation, strategic planning, service
provision, individual and system advocacy
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“Family-Driven Care”
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Family-driven means families have a primary decisionmaking role in the care of their own children, as well as
the policies and procedures governing care for all
children in their community. This includes:
 Choosing supports, services and providers
 Setting goals
 Designing and implementing programs
 Monitoring outcomes
 Partnering in funding decisions, and
 Determining the effectiveness of all efforts to promote
the mental health and well-being of children and youth.
National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health
Engaging Families:
 Emphasizes a respect for their capabilities and
their role as part of the solution to addressing
the needs of youth
 Helps ensure sensitivity to cultural, service,
and support needs
 Supports the idea that - When families take
an active interest in their child’s learning,
students display a more positive attitude
toward school, and show more positive
outcomes
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Premise for Family Engagement
 All parents have dreams for their children and
want what’s best for them
 All parents have the capacity to support their
child’s learning, and treatment
 Parents and facility staff (educational program
staff) should be equal partners
 The responsibility for building partnerships
rests primarily with the system and facility
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Reasons for Family Inclusion
Reasons for including families in the juvenile
justice process include:
 The family is most familiar with the
child/youth
 The family is a large part of the environment
into which the child/youth will
transition/return
 The family can be a strong element to reduce
recidivism
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Working Closely with Families – What
Does It Take ?
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 Need to work within youth/families’ context
 Harness positive energy of families as part of the
solution, instead of blaming as part of the
‘problem’
 Utilize knowledge and skills of the parents
(experts)
 Guidance to parent in addressing challenging
behavior needs to be tailored, creating service
approaches that will work for this family in these
circumstances
Trina Osher, “What Families Think of the Juvenile Justice System:
Findings from the OJJDP Multi-State Study,” FOCAL POINT (Summer 2006), Portland State University Research and Training Center on Family
Support and Children’s Mental Health
Considerations for Implementing
Effective Family Engagement Strategies
 The cultural perspectives of families and the
community
 Understanding perceptions about the dynamics of
power/authority
 Accessibility and creating a welcoming environment
 Facilitating language access
 Perspectives that families have about the juvenile
justice system, their acceptance for participation,
and how welcome their participation is
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Strategies for Engaging Families
 Ensure that facility and educational program staff
are able to communicate effectively with families
 Share information about the school and student
progress with parents
 Provide opportunities for families to visit their
children and become familiar with the staff and
facility
 Ensure that the facility and teachers are meeting
the needs of families and students
 Empower families to help their students be
successful in and out of the facility
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What Does Family Engagement Look
Like?
 Any coordinators or subgrantees care to share examples
of what how family/community engagement has been
implemented in your programs or facilities?
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The Role of State TIPD Coordinators
Strategies that TIPD coordinators can use include:
 Encourage subgrantees to include family/caretaker
engagement as a part of their TIPD applications
 Section I in the Nonregulatory Guidance states that "an SA [State agency]
must assure that it will work with parents to secure their assistance in
improving their children's and youth's educational achievement and, as
appropriate, preventing further involvement in delinquent activities…an SA,
to the extent possible, must give parents the opportunity to participate in
their children's and youth's educational plans.”
 Include family/caregiver engagement as part of your
monitoring plan
 Support, to the extent feasible, use of TIPD funds to
encourage family/caregiver engagement in programs and
facilities
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Q&A
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Next Topical Calls
 Preparing Youth for the World of Work, December 18
 Innovative Use of Funds, January 8
 Meaningful Family/Community Engagement, March 18
 Reminder: This and future topical call presentations and
recordings will be available on the newly revised and
revamped ND Communities website at
http://www.ndcommunities.org/
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Resources
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Available on the NDTAC website:
 NDTAC Toolkit: Facility Toolkit for Engaging Families in Their
Child's Education at a Juvenile Justice Facility
 NDTAC Guide: Family Guide to Getting Involved in Your
Child's Education at a Juvenile Justice Facility
Additional Resources
 Agudelo, S. V. (April 2013). The impact of family visitation in
incarcerated youth’s behavior and school performance:
Findings from the families as partners project. VERA
Institute of Justice, New York.
Resources
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 Flamboyan Foundation.
http://flamboyanfoundation.org/areas-of-focus/familyengagement)/
 Garfinkel, L. (November 2010). Improving family involvement
for juvenile offenders with emotional/behavioral disorders and
related disabilities. Behavioral Disorders, 36(1), 52-60.
 Henderson, A. T., & Mapp, K. L. (2002). A new wave of
evidence: The impact of school, family, and community
connections on students’ achievement. Austin, TX: National
Center for Family & Community Connections With Schools.
Retrieved from
http://www.sedl.org/connections/resources/evidence.pdf
Resources
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 National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health
(http://www.ffcmh.org/)
 Dague, B. & Tolin, C. (April, 1996). Developing parent
supports within the juvenile justice setting: One
 community’s experience. Presentation at Family Strengths
meeting, Portland State University, Portland, OR.
 Palmer, T. (1996). Programmatic and nonprogrammatic
aspects of successful interventions. In A. T. Harland (Ed.),
Choosing correctional options that work: Defining the demand
and evaluating the supply (pp.131–182). Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage.