Greater Insights for Stronger Policies.
We're engaging with Ohio parents and families to form policies and practices that work for them, their children, and the community. We invest in and listen to families, especially those with young children, because we recognize they are the true experts in their lives. That is why we built an infrastructure to center the voices of Ohio families in public policy formation. Our very own Family Action Network informs our policy agenda.
BOTTOM LINE: When you involve families in the policy formation process, you will build an approach that is more efficient, more effective, and more likely to make a positive impact. When families continue to be engaged, policy improvements lead to a higher level of adoption and activation.
Why Family Voices Matter:
FAMILY VOICE
Rapidly Changing State Policies
As federal funding shifts, states need to quickly respond and adapt. This means that we’re on the brink of policy innovation and, optimistically, it gives us an opportunity for those policies to be developed with family perspectives and experiences.
Increasing Effectiveness
With budgets becoming tighter and more complicated, the need for resource efficiency and policy effectiveness is greater than ever. To guard against costly missteps, listening to community voices can ensure the policies and programs are adopted, activated, and managed as they were intended.
Local
Solutions
Families who share their personal stories and experiences play a vital role in supporting advocacy efforts through Groundwork Ohio’s Family Action Network. By sharing their stories, they contribute unique perspectives that help shape policies and initiatives designed to improve the lives of children and families across the state.
Generational
Impact
Families feel the impact today— children live the Impact tomorrow. Young children cannot advocate for themselves... they count on the adults in their lives to advocate for their health, development, and the family’s wellbeing. Including parents in policy ensures a likelihood to achieve future impact.
How Can You Support Family Voice Engagement?
We’ve learned how to amplify family voice for policy formation, and we can help you engage families for stronger policy outcomes. Our family engagement and activation model can be applied for valuable family- and child-serving policies in Ohio.
Let’s work together to support your family engagement goals:
1.
Design the project
identifying the community-based partners who work with families and setting the engagement model.
2.
Conduct participatory research
using a guided protocol and expert facilitation skills, such as community listening sessions, small group discussion, input surveys, and interviews with families utilizing family voice best practices.
3.
Summarize our learnings
documenting the process, and identifying themes from the families.
4.
Identify potential strategies
and recommendations elevated by community members. Return to the same community to ensure that we accurately identified themes and strategies communicated by families.
5.
Produce reports
and accompanying documentation (such as video) centering the voices of families alongside a series of recommendations, data and research to be shared with the community.
6.
Recommend potential families
to engage in our process and develop deeper relationships with them to provide a pathway to sustain ongoing engagement.
You + Groundwork Ohio = Family Voice Engagement
Using Groundwork Ohio’s expertise and experience, especially informed by the Family Voice Network, we will collaboratively build a family voice engagement project and platform to fit your needs.
