Summary:
Partnerships with parents are integral to promoting better outcomes for families and communities. The strongest prevention programs facilitate parent leadership at all levels of the ecological model, from self-leadership to broad policy changes. The transformation of a parent’s self-image from a service recipient to a positive change agent provides lasting benefits for the entire system.
Who better understands how to empower resiliency, build social connections, increase knowledge, meet emergent needs and engage in successful outreach approaches than parents working in partnership with others?
Application:
This guide, Building and Sustaining Effective Parent Partnerships: Stages of Development, is part of a series of resources developed by the Alliance and the National Parent Partnership Council to support CTFs, their partners and grantees and parents in creating powerful partnerships to support positive outcomes for children and families.
Partnerships with parents amplify family strengthening efforts. These partnerships develop in four distinct stages: self-leadership, participation, community involvement and mentorship.
The experiences, wisdom and skills of parents are affirmed through relationships individually, in the community, society and through public policy. Parent stories bring valuable knowledge and resources to programs and agencies with the potential to improve policies, programs and evaluation.
