Parent Services Project is pleased to share our new tagline: Families lead, kids succeed. After several months of communications work and planning with our consultant, Lightbox Collaborative, we are excited to begin using this tagline which highlights so well the essence of our work – and what research shows makes such a difference for all children in their homes, schools and communities: family leadership. You will see more of our tagline and new communications materials in the coming months, as we update our website and training materials and launch a facebook page. Stay tuned and let us know what you think!
On May 24, 2013, 16 Marin promotores met with city and county decision-makers to demystify the process about how decisions are made on issues they care about. Parent Services Project and Novato Youth Center facilitated the roundtable discussion. Our guests included Supervisor Steve Kinsey, Novato City Councilmember Eric Lucan, San Rafael City Councilmember Kate Colin, San Rafael City Manager Nancy Mackle, and Assistant Director of Marin Health and Human Services/First 5 Marin Chair, Heather Ravani. Promotores shared their efforts to prevent underage drinking, increase neighborhood safety, and ensure healthy homes in local apartments, and received helpful information to move their agendas forward. Our local decision-makers also had a great opportunity to hear from grassroots leaders. Follow up activities are already in the works.
In our first year of a three year grant with the CA Office of Child Abuse Prevention, we provided parent leadership training in six counties, with a total of 116 family leaders participating! Here, we highlight the accomplishments of Tulare County, where PSP partnered with PACE (Parents & Agencies Collaborating Effectively) to provide training to 26 family leaders. PACE parents are now participating in Child Welfare Services System Improvement Plan workgroups, are involved in developing a Parent Handbook for families entering the Child Welfare System, and were highlighted in a local parenting magazine. PACE is incorporating aspects of Leaders for Change in their meetings, and satellite PACE groups are forming in the cities of Woodlake, Farmersville, Visalia, and Lindsay to support family leadership. In coming months we will highlight work in additional counties, as well as our evaluation findings.
This year Parent Services Project supported San Rafael City Schools’ Family Engagement Task Force. 25 parents and 14 staff from 9 elementary, middle and high school sites participated. Task Force members reviewed the district’s current Parent Involvement policy and felt it was not accessible or representative of what they believed the district’s “family engagement vision” should be. Over many months, members worked together to craft new language for a policy, which focuses on four main areas: student success, welcoming environment, shared responsibility for leadership, and communication. The SRCS School Board unanimously adopted the policy on May 20, 2013.