Resources

“In this efficacy trial, the Family Leadership Training Institute was found to have a substantial impact on civic knowledge, confidence, and engagement; effects related to civic engagement endured for as much as 5 years…

This is the only evaluation so far of a family leadership program to include a comparison group and assess long-term outcomes. Thus, a case can be made that participation in FLTI—which emphasizes empowerment, leadership development, civic engagement, and collective well-being—does contribute to greater social capital (Van De Valk & Constas, 2011) as well as community health (Bloemraad & Terriquez, 2016).”

The participants took part in the 2016 pilot program, encouraging each other to act on issues that impact their families and to become leaders in their communities.

They now have the skills and knowledge to influence issues and policies that affect their families, from neighbourhood to state level. Parent Leadership Training is run in partnership with the Parent Leadership Training Institute (PLTI) from Connecticut US and the Family Inclusion Network SEQ.

The Family Inclusion Network – South East Queensland (FIN SEQ) operating under the auspices of Micah Projects conducted a Parent Leadership training initiative in Brisbane. The pilot operated over a 15 week period between August 28, 2016 and November 30, 2016.

At the commencement of the program participants were asked to complete a survey and at the completion of the program, participants were asked to complete a ‘post’ survey. This analysis focuses on a comparison of the pre and post surveys.

Since completing the Parent Leadership training parents continue on their leadership journeys and continue to influence change in their families and communities. Feel free to contact us if you have an interest in their projects or would like to mentor emerging parent leaders in future classes.

Through a self-administered survey, parents whose children were subject to statutory child protection intervention were asked about their satisfaction with aspects of service delivery. The survey was conducted in two waves during 2016.

Systematically obtaining client opinions about human services is a mechanism to give a voice to clients in performance measurement, and is essential to continuous improvement and ongoing quality assurance. It is also consistent with the principle of recognising service users as active agents in interventions and promoting their autonomy.

In 2014 and early 2015 Family Inclusion Strategies in the Hunter Inc (FISH) held two landmark research and practice forums designed to explore the importance of family inclusion in child protection and out of home care practice and of family relationships for children in care. The forums included the voices of parents and carers with children in care and dramatically highlighted the need for this research. The research team was formed following those events.

The Toolkit was commissioned by First 5 LA’s Partnerships For Families, Los Angeles, USA as a quick and easy guide to help support and sustain parent engagement. It provides how to’s for implementing three powerful strategies communities can use to maintain and grow parent engagement work that is already underway: Creating a Parent Engagement 1) Roadmap, 2) Checklist and 3) Support Network.

The review seeks to define successful participatory processes that may influence service and policy design and lead to improved outcomes for families and children experiencing disadvantage in Brisbane. Exemplars of parental engagement models most relevant to the Giving a Voice to Vulnerable Families project have been outlined through these findings.