Peer to Peer Session on Parent Leadership

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Peer to Peer Session on Parent Leadership

• Jim Redmon, Kansas Childrens Cabinet and Trust
  Fund
• Jackie Counts, Institute of Educational Research
  Public Service, University of Kansas
• Vicky Roper, Kansas Childrens Service League

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About the Kansas Strengthening Families Plan

• Part of the states vision to reduce the
  likelihood of child abuse and neglect, and to
  make Kansas the best place to raise a child
• Initiated and led by the Childrens Cabinet
• Managed by the University of Kansas
• Over 80 stakeholders, including a 14-member
  Leadership Team

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Kansas Parent Initiative

• State need for designing a system that promotes
  authentic parent leadership and involvement with
  appropriate support and training
• KECCS has partnered with CBCAP grantees and the
  Kansas Strengthening Families Plan (KSFP) to move
  forward with planning and implementation of
  parent leadership and development.

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Definitions

• Parent Involvement
• Parents investment of financial, emotional, and
  personal resources in their children at school,
  child care, or at home.
• Parent Leadership
• Parent committed to making positive changes in
  their family and community, representing a
  parent voice, speaking from personal experience
  in using resources/services to strengthen his or
  her family.

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Previous Research

• Parent involvement at an early age is related to
  life satisfaction at later stages in life.
• Parent involvement at home was predicted by
  parent perceptions of child invitations,
  self-efficacy, and self perceived time and energy
  for involvement.
• The number of other parents or adults each mother
  spoke with predicted their involvement at home
  and at school.
• Parent involvement in preschool and early
  childhood years is connected to higher academic
  success for the child.

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Implications of Previous Research

• Parent should be invited more to be involved.
• Building a good relationship with the child care
  provider is important.
• Building a support system for parents to
  communicate with one another can open
  opportunities for involvement.

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Kansas Parent Initiative

• Planning phase
• Step 1 Environmental Scan of current status of
  parent leadership/involvement in agencies across
  state
• Step 2 Focus groups to gather input and support
  from parents in defining future roles and
  structure of parent leadership/involvement

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Kansas Parent Initiative

• Researchers hope to
• Gain deeper understanding of parent definitions
  of involvement and access supports to get
  resources needed to help nurture their children
• Gain deeper understanding of how agencies utilize
  parent input and make programmatic changes in
  response
• Inform strategies in KECCS and KSFP to involve
  families at multiple levels
• Inform agency strategies to utilize parent input
  and deepen parent involvement.

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KCSL Prevention Programs

• KCSL is the states Circle of Parents and PCAA
  chapter parent and practitioner on the
  Strengthening Families Plan Leadership Team
• Funded Programs through Kansas Childrens Cabinet
  and Trust Fund
• 24/7 Parent Helpline
• Community Resource Library
• Circle of Parents Support Groups
• Online Learning for Child Care Providers
• Mandated Reporter Training
• Child Abuse Prevention Month Activities
• Governors Conference for the Prevention of
  Child Abuse
• PREPARE Pre-Natal/Other Parent Education Classes
• Healthy Families Home Visitation Programs
• Counseling Services
• Wichita Child Abuse Fatalities Community
  Response Team

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Circle of Parents Support Groups

• Primary vehicle for Parent Leadership
• Has a Parent Advisory Council with by-laws
• Utilizes Message Boards on Agency Website for
  Focus Areas
• Parents produce an annual newsletter
• Parents review agency materials
• Also use as a platform for respite care, healthy
  marriage workshops and fatherhood

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Parent Leadership Ambassador Training

• A KCSL Parent and Practitioner Team attended
  Parent Leadership Ambassador Training (PLAT) in
  Fall, 2006 with a Kansas Child Welfare Parent and
  Practitioner Team.
• 2 Significant Outcomes
• Higher Impact Parent Leadership
• Conference
• Child Welfare PALS Training

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Parent Leadership Conference

• High Impact empowering parents to better
  advocate for their children in their schools and
  communities
• Planners and Supporters
• Kansas Childrens Cabinet and Trust Fund
• Families Together
• Head Start State Collaboration
• Kansas Association of Child Care and Resource
• Referral Agencies
• Kansas Childrens Service League
• Kansas Family Advisory Network, Inc.
• Kansas Head Start Association
• Kansas Parent Information Resource Center
• Kansas State Department of Education Migrant
  Education
• State Interagency Coordination Council

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Parent Leadership Conference

• This conference was very successful in 2008
• Increased from 88 parents in 2007 to 158 in
  2008.
• Brought in migrant parents to participate in the
  conference by having Spanish translators speak
  into headsets at the keynotes and some workshops.
• Parents participated on keynote panel (became
  mentors during the conference), in workshops,
  facilitated new world café discussions, gave
  testimony at the end.
• Kansas State Dept. of Education Migrant Program,
  Kansas Childrens Cabinet and Trust Fund, Kansas
  Headstart Collaboration and Kansas Parent
  Information Resource Center funded hotel costs,
  mileage, meals, child care, translators, keynote
  speakers, entertainment and headsets for the
  parent participants.

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Parent Leadership Within Child Welfare

• Kansas was one of nine states who received
  Federal funds from the Childrens Bureau through
  the Improving Child Welfare Outcomes through
  Systems of Care Program. Funding was from
  2003-2008.
• Family Involvement was a guiding principle.
  Kansas hosted the grantees at a Child Welfare
  Family Involvement Summit in 2006.
• Kansas became the first state in the nation to
  form a consumer run child welfare 501 (c) (3),
  the Kansas Family Advisory Network. The two
  practitioners who attended PLAT were
  incorporators. The child welfare attendees put
  together a curriculum that KFAN is using within
  child welfare on Partnering and Leadership
  Strategies (PALS) that is based on PLAT.
• KFAN became one sustaining piece form the grant.