Family-Centred Practices Families are valued as integral to the Program. Families are involved in the planning, development and implementation of the Program. Activities and services are developed in response to the needs and interests of families. The Program is accessible and welcoming to families. Staff members develop and sustain constructive relationships with families. The Program models family-centred practices with staff members and in its administrative practices. The Program considers staff members’ own family needs and interests, such as child care, flexible schedules for working parents, and dependent benefits. Family-centred Practices reflects FRP-BC Valued Practices: Promote Engagement Promote Family Development Strengthen Communities Refer to “Working to Make A Difference” and “Strengthening Communities” at . Standard 1 Family Centred Approaches Program encourages families to participate in Program development and implementation. Standard 2 Family Support & Strengthening Program recognizes and affirms families’ strengths and resilience, and is responsive to their concerns, needs and priorities. Standard 3 Encourage Family Development Program offers participants/clients the opportunity to participate together through activities that involve both children and their parents/caregivers. Standard 4 Value in Diversity Program has a written plan that enables staff and volunteers to promote an environment valuing diversity in all its forms. This plan describes practices that encourage tolerance, honesty, respect and openness. Standard 5 Ethical Conduct Standards focus on how the Program demonstrates their attention to participant/ client rights and how the Program ensures that participants/ clients, as well as staff understand those rights. FAMILY-CENTRED APPROACHES Standard 1 Recognizing family-centred approaches and Family-Centred Approaches
Program recognizes and affirms families’ strengths and resilience, and is responsive to their concerns and priorities Basic Benchmark Quality Indicator Staff members work with family members in relationships based on equality and respect, to identify their strengths, resilience, and resources. Program has a suggestion box available for confidential feedback. Formal structure Increased accessibility Relevance Innovation and Promising Practices Staff members, working with family members in relationships based on equality and respect, implement a formal process to access and document families’ strengths, resilience, and resources. Staff conducts annual program evaluations with participant input. Program design and/or content reflect families priorities. How do we do it? Potential Action Items: Enter your documentation, photos and other proof of the above standard here. To add more pages, place your cursor where the new page is desired and select Insert, then Blank Page. Note that the cursor must be within a highlighted area.
POSITIVE APPROACHES Standard 1.2 Program uses positive approaches to guide group interaction and individual behaviour Basic Benchmark Quality Indicator Program has participant guidelines. Agency has positive discipline guidelines for parents posted on a large sign in the Family Centre playroom: corporal punishment; interventions that involve withholding nutrition or hydration, or that inflict physical or psychological pain; isolation; ignoring the child; group punishment for individual behaviour; labelling a child ‘good’ or ‘bad’; the use of demeaning, shaming or degrading language or activities; punitive overuse of time outs. Formal structure Increased accessibility Relevance Innovation and Promising Practices Agency has a descriptive Discipline Policy for licensed Programs, which also guides other non-licensed programming such as parent-child drop-ins. Participant agreement outlining respectful interactions with families. Program goes over group etiquette regularly and/or posts guidelines in the facility. How do we do it? Potential Action Items:
appropriate services in a timely fashion. How do we do it? Potential Action Items: Enter your documentation, photos and other proof of the above standard here. To add more pages, place your cursor where the new page is desired and select Insert, then Blank Page. Note that the cursor must be within a highlighted area. DEVELOPMENT OF LIFE SKILLS Standard 2.2 Staff provides programs and services that promote and assist in the development of life skills. Basic Benchmark Quality Indicator Programs and services promote and assist in the development of life skills by providing a clear outline of the additional programming and services offered by the agency or by providing families with referrals to potential resources available by other agencies in the community that can best meet their needs. Formal structure Increased accessibility Relevance Innovation and Promising Practices Program offers or refers to life skills development programming to attending families such as household management, budgeting, affordable meal preparation, wellness and self-care programming. Staff partner with other programs that support family
INFORMAL NETWORKS Standard 2.5 Program staff help families to identify, develop and expand their informal networks, including connections within their family, with friends, neighbours and community members. Basic Benchmark Quality Indicator Program staff strive to help families/participants identify, develop and expand their informal networks to include connections within their families, friends, neighbourhoods, and community members. Facilitated through: Drop-in times offered at a frequency that facilitates parents to develop friendships. Staff encourages introductions and an orientation for newcomers. Social connections are promoted amongst members/ participants. Formal structure Increased accessibility Relevance Innovation and Promising Practices Program has a clear and distinct outline on how to connect families to additional informal networks by engaging in some/all of the following: Volunteer parent mentors, who have been trained and mentored, to help families feel welcomed and connected into the Program environment. A comfortable area is available with coffee and snacks. This helps facilitate interaction between parent/caregiver to parent /caregiver communications. Community maps, and/or orientation. Create opportunities for participants to meet outside of the program. How do we do it? Potential Action Items:
Potential Action Items: Enter your documentation, photos and other proof of the above standard here. To add more pages, place your cursor where the new page is desired and select Insert, then Blank Page. Note that the cursor must be within a highlighted area. CULTURAL DIVERSITY Standard 4.3 Program utilizes resources and décor that reflect cultural diversity. Basic Benchmark Quality Indicator Program includes resources in languages that reflect the population in their community. Formal structure Increased accessibility Relevance Innovation and Promising Practices Program is reflective of the cultural diversity of the community while maintaining Canadian family values that includes all contexts of family diversities. Toys and dress-up clothes are culturally diverse. Posters on diversity displayed.
ETHICAL CONDUCT Standard 5 Ethical Conduct Family Resource Programs protect the legal and ethical rights of all participants through informing families of their rights and ensuring fair and equitable treatment for all who use these programs, particularly vulnerable populations. Standards focus on how Programs demonstrate their attention to participant’s rights and how Family Resource Programs ensure that participants, as well as staff, understand those rights. This section describes the Standards that must be followed to ensure that participants’ rights are respected and that the Program runs in an ethical and professional manner. For example: Family Resource Program staff recognizes the importance of maintaining their professional role as distinct from other relationships they may have with participants. Parents can trust staff to maintain confidentiality and professional boundaries. Programs maintain a culture that reinforces the professional nature of the relationship between staff and participating families. Ethical Conduct 5.1 Professional Boundaries Staff maintains appropriate professional boundaries in their relationships with families. 5.2 Rights and Responsibilities Program maintains written summary of participant’s rights responsibilities that are communicated to families. 5.3 Complaint Process Program has a formal complaint process which is communicated to families. 5.4 Confidentiality Policy Program has a confidentiality policy which is communicated to families.
PROFESSIONAL BOUNDARIES Standard 5.1 Program staff maintains appropriate professional boundaries in their relationships with participating families. Basic Benchmark Quality Indicator Program has a policy on Ethical Conduct. Program has Confidentiality policy Interview questions address Ethics and Boundaries. References are checked Annual performance evaluations. Formal structure Increased accessibility Relevance Innovation and Promising Practices Staff s trained on Working with Families. Staff collects feedback from participants on their performance. Staff has a Code of Ethics. How do we do it? Potential Action Items:
Family-Centred Practices Module 1 Agency: Use this tool to track your progress and ensure compliance with each Standard. STANDARD Doesn’t Meet 0 Meets Standard 1 Exceeds Standard 2 NOTES 1. Family-centred Approaches Build on family strengths Positive approaches Positive interactions 2. Family Support and Strengthening 2.1. Self-sufficiency and self-efficacy 2.2. Development of life skills 2.3. Access to food 2.4. Resource library 2.5. Informal networks 2.6. Community services and supports 2.7. Child development/behaviour issues