Introduction

The Far North Family Support Guide to Family and Professional Partnerships is the result of the collaborative effort of the Governor’s Council on Disabilities and Special Education, The University Center for Human Development, Stone Soup Group and PARENTS Inc.

Family partnerships

There is a growing acceptance that families and professionals working together as partners, rather than client and provider, are the best resource for children and family members with disabilities. However, the partnership framework is radically different from the family/provider association in which most professionals and families were educated. Providers, for the most part, have not had opportunities to learn to work with families in collaborative ways. For families as well, the development of effective team-style relationships with professionals requires learning new skills and adapting long held attitudes.

Bringing these two unique perspectives together to form a shared pool of support means building partnerships. This manual was written to provide a foundation for establishing collegial family and professional alliances. The manual is divided into three sections: Building Parent & Professional Partnerships, Understanding Basic Systems and Best Outcomes: Person Centered and Self-directed. While the guide is most useful in the early stages of establishing a partnership, the material is applicable to family and professional relationships at any point.

Acknowledgements

The following people were key contributors to the Far North Parent-Professional Partnerships Guide:

Kathy Fitzgerald – Center for Human Development

Pam Shackelford – Stone Soup Group

Darcy Mollett – Governor's Council on Disabilities & Special Education

Theresa Hansen – Center for Human Development

April Warwick – Center for Human Development

Carl Evertsbusch – Center for Human Development

Other Contributors:

Theresa Holt – Disability Law Center

Sanja Bolling – PARENTS Inc.

Far North Council Members:

Sam Bush, Vickie Horodyski, Karen Kuhnert, Naomi Malhoney, Jodi Rumph, Parent and Family Contributors, Lisa Fleischer, and Karen Morgan

Funding Sources for Far North Manual:

This guide would not have been possible without the financial assistance of the United States Federal Administration on Developmental Disabilities, Administration for Children and Families, Grant number 90Df007A, Projects of National Significance.

Additional funding from the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority.

Description

This manual contains an overview of strategies used to develop family and professional partnerships. Each section may be used independently and we encourage you to reproduce the letters, memos and forms for your personal use. The manual is divided into three sections: Building Partnerships, Understanding Basic Systems and Best Outcomes.

Section One: Building Parent-Professional Partnerships

covers four topics to consider when building working relationships—cultural differences, communication and negotiation, problem solving and record keeping.

Section Two: Understanding Basic Systems

this section explains two complicated systems, the education system and the developmental disabilities system.

Section Three: Best Outcomes: Person-centered and Self-directed

discusses positive results for families working within systems and provides an example of a best outcome with behavior modification called Positive Behavioral Support.

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