Parent Engagement

Parent engagement emerges on a continuum from parent involvement to parent leadership. The opportunity to harness the power of parents is premised on an understanding of the developmental stages parents may need to travel through to realize their power to catalyze change for themselves, their children, and their community. Institutions interested in supporting parent engagement and its emergence must acknowledge the historical barriers that have conspired against this engagement. These institutions must also recognize the developmental stages they must travel to genuinely support parent engagement. The principles used to guide our effort to promote our consultation objectives related to the advancement of parent engagement include:

Power in the Wisdom of the Group

We believe that decision-making is better when multiple perspectives are brought to the table and given voice in an open and non-judgmental forum.

Parents as First Teachers

Parents are their children’s first teachers, and as such, parents must be honored and recognized for the special role they play in their child’s life.

Shared Leadership and Parents as Partners

Institutions, professionals, and youth and family serving agencies must share decision-making processes and authority with parents who possess important information and are connected to the unique opportunities to produce positive outcomes for their children.

Customized, Top-Quality Solutions

When developing results-driven solutions utilizing best-of-breed strategies to promote parent engagement, we recognize that each community offers a unique set of assets and challenges. We partner with our clients to produce highly customized approaches that are outcome-oriented and quality driven. The quality of the outcomes requires a total commitment on the part of our clients and the objectivity of our team of consultants. [MORE]