Family-to-Family Support Program Guidelines Released
By Lisa Kovacs and Candace Lindow-Davies, Hands & Voices HQ
“Once I knew I was not alone, I was prepared to do whatever was needed to help my child.”
“I cried for a while with my supporting parent, dried my tears, and said… what do we do now…?”
“The GBYS program offered me support that I could relate to. After meeting with a Parent Guide, I just knew everything was going to be okay.”
“As a professional, it is extremely helpful to be able to suggest parent-to-parent support for new families. I don’t pretend to understand what it must be like for them, I am just grateful that they are able to get the emotional support from someone who has walked in their shoes.”
These are some of the things we often hear parents and professionals say about parent-to-parent support. The opportunity for a family to meet another family in the journey of raising a child who is d/hh through direct parent-to-parent support can have a profound impact for everyone involved. Raising a child who is d/hh is a delicate, complex and beautiful journey. There is something incredibly unique and important in receiving support from other parents and families who have children that are deaf or hard of hearing and have experiential knowledge of both raising/parenting a child who is deaf or hard of hearing and navigating the systems available to support them.
The “Family-to-Family Support Program Guidelines: Guidelines for Establishing and Maintaining Family-to-Family Support Programs for Families who Have Children who are Deaf / Hard of Hearing (D/HH)” are designed as a resource for anyone interested in playing an active role in the development and implementation of high quality, sustainable parent-to-parent support uniquely for parents who have children who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing (D/HH).
The intended primary audience of the Guidelines are state/territory community organizations who wish to implement a family-to-family support program. Early Hearing Detection & Intervention (EHDI) Programs, Early Intervention Programs, and other stakeholders may also have an interest. Hands & Voices chapters and programs, such as the H&V Guide By your Side (GBYS) program, already have written specific guiding principles and operating policies and procedures they follow and of which these Family-to-Family Support Program Guidelines were derived from. Information about Hands & Voices GBYS can be found at http://www.handsandvoices.org/gbys/index.htm.
Hands & Voices, as an organization with over twenty years of experience as a preeminent family-led and driven organization with specific parent-to-parent support and systems representatives who are experts as parents with children who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing, hope these Guidelines will provide a framework for how to design, deliver and improve parent-to-parent support services.
Creating a family-to-family support program to serve children who are (D/HH) can be a challenging endeavor and requires careful planning, execution and evaluation. Programs must be built on the foundation of respect for informed parent decision-making and delivery of unbiased information to families. We believe underscoring core components of appropriate programming specifically for this population will provide consistent D/HH-focused services for all families.
You will find included in the Guidelines research that supports the need for Family-to-Family Support, information on a newly developed Conceptual Framework of Parent-to-Parent Support by Johnson, Moodie, and Henderson, core components to be included in the design and implementation of a Family-to-Family Support Program and appendices of documents and links to assist with the development or enhancement of Family-to-Family Support Programming.
Hands & Voices appreciates the support of the parent leaders who have reviewed the Guidelines and to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for the opportunity to develop materials under the FL3 Cooperative Agreement.
Ed. Note: Under the FL3 Cooperative Agreement, Hands & Voices HQ is responsible for providing technical assistance to all the EHDI-designated Family-Based Organizations (FBOs) who serve families with children who are D/HH. The Guidelines are one of many resources and opportunities for FBOs to receive FL3 technical assistance. Other opportunities are monthly FL3 Office Hours; Hands & Voices Annual Leadership Conference; periodic webinars conducted by Hands & Voices and hosted by the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management (NCHAM); other written guidance such as Guidelines for Establishing and Maintaining D/HH Mentor, Guide, and Role Model Programs; and research on language, literacy and social emotional development. You can view the Family-to-Family Support Guidelines (and other FL3 resources) on the Hands & Voices FL3 website: https://www.handsandvoices.org/fl3/fl3-docs/Fam-Fam-support-guidelines-8-30-2018.pdf. ~
H&V Communicator – Winter 2019