Families As Partners in Policy

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Families As Partners in Policy
A Curriculum for Families Policy
Groups Developed by

• Trina W. Osher Pat Hunt
• Federation of Families for Childrens Mental
  Health
• with
• Paige Macdonald NY
• Mike Piper WA
• Renata Rhodes WA
• Tessie Schweitzer MS

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This document was developed by the Federation of
Families for Childrens Mental Health as part of
the Targeted Technical Assistance project of the
National Association of State Mental Health
Program Directors (NASMHPD) and the Division of
State and Community Systems Development (Mental
Health Block Grant) of the Center for Mental
Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration, U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services.
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Curriculum Goals

• Establishing common ground
• The role for families and family-run organization
• The paradigm shift
• Policy and where it comes from
• What families contribute to policy work
• Strategies for recruiting, supporting, and
  sustaining families in policy work
• Developing partnerships
• Planning for action

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Module IEstablishing Common Ground
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Definition of Family

• A childs family is the group of individuals who
  support the child emotionally, physically and
  financially.
• A family can include individuals of various ages
  who are biologically related, related by
  marriage, or not related at all.

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Families Provide Children With

• Unconditional love
• Guidance
• Care
• Support
• Nurturing
• Its own values and culture

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FAMILY DRIVEN
Paradigm Shift
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PARADIGM SHIFT The Changing Role for Families
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PARADIGM SHIFT The Changing Role for Families
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STRETCH
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Definition of Policy

• High-level overall plans especially for
  governments that
• embrace general goals and procedures
• are used to guide and determine decisions
• Synonyms Strategy, principle, rule, law

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Policy is Also

• A definite course of action adopted for the sake
  of expediency, or to make things easier
• An action or procedure conforming to or
  considered with wisdom

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POLICY or the lack thereof

• Shapes our everyday experience
• At the grocery store or when we pump gas
• When we make a purchase how we pay for it
• Driving to work
• How when our work is done
• What we must/cannot wear
• If our insurance will pay for the service or not

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Where to Find Policy

• Laws
• Regulations and rules
• Standards guidelines
• Court decisions orders
• Administrative hearings

• Administrative decrees
• Formal agreements
• Grant applications
• Legal interpretations
• Contracts (like for managed care companies,
  community mental health centers, or labor unions)

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Ideas for Policy Change Come From

• Advisory councils
• Appointed commissions
• Beliefs and values
• Class action law suits
• Complaints and grievances
• Due process hearings (IDEA)

• Investigations and audits
• Media reports
• Program evaluation
• Personal experiences
• Research
• Social or economic conditions
• Tragic events or dramatic outcomes

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Source Of SolutionsPolicy Applications

• Family and youth experiences with
• child serving systems
• funding sources
• public and private agencies, and
• providers
• form the basis for establishing or changing
  state and local policies.

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Family Contributions to Policy

• Experience-based knowledge
• Integrity and credibility
• Information that is
• culturally relevant
• reality-based
• from a perspective that no one else has

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Enjoy the Break
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Module IIStrategies for Recruiting, Supporting,
and Sustaining Family Members in Policy Work
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Sample Planning FormatRecruiting and Engaging
Families
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Recruiting Supporting Families

• Use existing opportunities for helping families
  deliver a unified message
• Facilitate
• Support
• Follow through

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Recruiting Families

• Find common hopes concerns.
• Provide clear information about the policy
  groups purpose, authority or level of influence
  accomplishments.
• Learn which specific policies families are
  interested in influencing.
• Ask what they will need to participate.
• Accept the level of involvement they can offer.

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Reaching Out to Family Members

• Establish contact develop relationships

• Indirect methods such as contact with
• state local agencies
• existing groups associations
• Direct methods such as
• sponsoring or attending conferences, forums or
  topical discussions
• hosting celebrations and educational events

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Preparing Family Members to Make INFORMED
Decisions

• Provide information about the policy groups
  mission, structure, protocols, composition,
  membership requirements
• Let families know when where the group meets
  and what expenses (if any) will be covered
• Explain the groups expectations be especially
  realistic about time commitments

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Families Need to Know

• Realities of the political, social, and
  economical environment in which the policy work
  is being done
• Internal external factors that can impact
  priority selection decision making
• Natural allies for the policy work.
• The source and nature of possible opposition for
  the specific policy change

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What Families Need for Consistent Effective
Participation

• Tangible, practical flexible resources
• Training technical assistance for all group
  members including role clarification
• Logistical supports
• Peers at the table
• Validation appreciation

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Sustaining Family Involvement

• Effective leadership
• Valid, universal information in a format and
  language that is understandable
• Data explanations of its implications to
  support decision making
• Consistent communication
• Full diverse complement of family members
• Group accountability

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Sustaining Family Involvement

• Staff support
• Sense of purpose, acceptance , and accomplishment
• Resources for group activities
• Connections to one another and the agencies or
  organizations they are affiliated with
• Strategic planning that guides the work
• Collaborative working relationships

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Enjoy Lunch!
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Module IIIPartnerships
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Sample Planning FormatBuilding Partnerships
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What Can Partnerships do?

• Increase resources
• Make everyone part of the solution
• Expand the base of influence
• Reduce isolation misunderstanding
• Create common agenda and interdependence
• Increase visibility
• Improve access to community supports
• Produce change
• Provide for better outcomes

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Building the Partnerships Environment

• Create the right environment for the work
• Share the vision and have a common mission
• Listen, LISTEN, LISTEN!!!
• Suspend judgment
• Honor ALL perspectives
• Respect and value diversity
• Provide opportunities for learning
• Foster autonomy
• Encourage curiosity and creativity

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Supporting the Partnerships Training
Technical Assistance

• Build trust
• Recognize conflicts of interest
• Discard personal or agency agendas that get in
  the way
• Understand the external environment(s)
• Promote accountability

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Supporting the Partnerships Information

• Must be shared
• Must be understandable to all
• Accommodate diverse learning styles
• Include data to help stay focused and keep
  personalities out of the work
• Must be relevant and current
• Process must be inclusive

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Preserving the PartnershipsStrategies

• Co-sponsor activities
• Present at one anothers conferences
• Offer win-win solutions and create incentives for
  their adoption
• Develop strategic alliances
• Follow through with commitments

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Preserving the Partnerships More Strategies

• Regularly revisit shared values principles to
  maintain focus and drive collaborative work
• Demonstrate Brandless Loyalty
• Celebrate accomplishments!

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Enjoy the Break
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Module IVStrategies for Action
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Moving Forward

• Use experience to fuel action
• Turn wisdom into results
• Focus your passion on changing policy

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Steps for Changing Policy

• Choose and clearly define the issue
• Shape your story
• Support the position DATA COUNTS do your
  homework
• Establish communication lines
• Monitor implementation keep records and track
  progress

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Identify Natural Allies

• Look for the merchants!
• Reach out to others who are interested in the
  issue.
• Peer to peer recruitment
• Keep the high road

BEST
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Working with Resistance

• Establish honor ground rules such as
• Respecting others views
• Recognize understand fears
• Establish trust- build agreement one point at a
  time
• Promote model accountability
• Be prepared for alert to divide conquer
  strategies
• Stick to the topic and move forward
• Demonstrate win-win solutions

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Define the Issue

• Define the ULTIMATE policy change and the
  incremental steps to reach it
• Specify who will benefit and who will not
  from the change
• Change as little as possible
• Safeguard what is good
• Look for unintended consequences
• Attend to cultural influences and impact on
  minorities in the community

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Shape Your Story

• DO
• Stay focused
• Keep it short
• Keep it simple
• Be factual
• Build on one anothers experiences

• DONT
• Get distracted
• Embarrass anyone
• Blame specific people, agencies or funding
  sources

• Story Outline
• State the point up front
• Give a short chronology of events
• Point out particular things that need to change
• Lay out your solution
• Restate the point ASK for ACTION

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Support the Position

• Use existing reports, data circumstances
  (remember waiting lists, unmet needs, litigation)
• Refer to formal recommendations from task
  forces,advisory committees, mental health
  councils, and other groups studying childrens
  mental health
• Build on existing state and local plans for
  childrens mental health and other services
• Review fiscal and program audits and monitoring
  reports

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Use Communication Networks
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Move Forward Together

• Use universal and jargon free language
• Agree on terminology and definitions
• Jointly own the issue and new policy no single
  partner takes personal credit
• Understand, respect, and work with protocols and
  processes of all partners
• Get continuous community and stakeholder feedback
  and buy-in

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Celebrate Success!!
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