Recently, at the residential treatment center I work at we had an issue. Part of our programming includes a school that educates children who cannot be served in their home district due to extreme behaviors. Many of our students have experienced past trauma, failed parenting and multiple systemic placements. The problem we were having recently was not with the youth himself. It was with the parent who failed to respond to communication and was not making themselves available for treatment team meetings or therapy. Whether this behavior was due to personal issues, such as substance abuse or mental health struggles, or economic reasons, such as single parenting working long hours to make ends meet, as an agency we’ve seen this problem many times and required a discussion of whether or not we could continue serving this child. Like so many other programs working with at-risk youth, this child’s participation was in jeopardy because we require parental involvement.
The correlation between parental involvement and child success is undeniable. Decades of research has shown when children have healthy parents, clear structure and unconditional support, their risk of delinquency goes down significantly. Numerous studies prove when programs serving at-risk youth treat parents as partners, the outcomes greatly improve. It’s for this reason that so many programs require parental involvement although it can be difficult to achieve and many children fall through the cracks because their parent will not or cannot participate. Unfortunately, those children who have parents who are least likely to participate are the ones who often need programs the most. For this reason, it is important that we, as juvenile justice professionals working together, whether in a school, detention, social or child welfare setting do our best to identify as many strategies for improving parental involvement by addressing their needs, casting the largest net we can and creating as many opportunities for success as possible.
Defining Involvement
As we’ve discussed, most programs require parental involvement, but many have different definitions, some not clearly defined, of what the term involvement needs. Historically, and to the detriment and exclusion of many at-risk children, programs define involvement by the level of active participation. Vandegrift and Green, in their article, “Rethinking Parent Involvement,” define this kind of active participation as doing something that is observable. Are the parents coming into the classroom setting to read? Are they showing up at the juvenile center for group meetings or activities? In the past being seen was synonymous with being involved. To meet the needs of kids, this has to be redefined. In Vandegrift and Green’s article they identified four types of parental involvement: supportive and active, supportive and inactive, not supportive and active and not supportive and inactive. They outlined each of these types and warned professionals that what you see is not always what you get, as in the case of the not supportive but active participant who may be showing up to events but is not supportive in the home setting. Each program must define what they consider involvement, but before they can determine this it’s important to address parental needs.
Matching Programs with Parents
First, communication is essential. Parents must be viewed as partners not additional clients. Most programs are geared towards serving the needs of at-risk youth and although it might seem reasonable that the parents are an extension of this service technically they are not clients. We are working together to serve the needs of the child. As a program, we must find ways to communicate with the parent beyond paperwork. Second, programs must understand their parental population. Vandegrift and Green explain, “To effectively ‘involve’ parents is to meet them where they are.” They go on to explain a program which encourages participation in parent-child reading to a population of parents that had limited English. Once they recognized that what the parents needed to be successful was proficient English skills, they began offering ESL. Parents who began the program reading at a 2nd or 3rd grade level were now able to participate in their children’s education reducing risk and increasing their “involvement”. Vandegrift and Green explain the important of this strategy:
The success of any one parent involvement strategy depends on how well it matches up with an individual parent's needs. The secret is to know who your parents are and to have in a school's repertoire as many options for involvement as possible. Doing so ensures an appropriate match between a parent's level of commitment and willingness and ability to be involved. Some parents may respond best to take-home activities or home visits that allow them to be involved without going to the school; others may appreciate the opportunity to make connections with other parents at the school through nonthreatening events such as awards nights and suppers.
Parent Advocate
Another successful strategy to improving communication, meeting parents where they are and increasing involvement is employing a parent advocate. Advocates have their thumb on the pulse of the community. They can do home visits where a needs assessment is completed. Many at-risk homes need to have their basic needs met before they can focus on their children’s programs. Vandegrift and Green describe one advocate who understood this, “Mrs. Brown and her school district have recognized that it is impossible to solicit involvement from parents who are worried about their own survival. She has helped parents obtain bedding, clothes, food, medical care, and counseling. In addition, she has helped them register for GED and ESL classes at the college.” A parent advocate is such an essential and often unrecognized role, but the importance of having someone who is solely focused on communication and helping parents as partners cannot be overstated.
Begin at the Beginning
Most programs are focused on the end game. We have to be. Most of our funding requires that we focus backwards, from the goal to the measurable objectives to meet that goal to the design of the program. We know we want to reduce juvenile delinquency. We know we want to increase success in education, occupation and life skills. We know what we want to “do”. But, before we can get to the end, we have to start at the beginning and often there is foundational work that needs to be done. “While getting all parents actively involved in their children's education and the schools is a valuable goal, it may be an unrealistic starting point for improving parent involvement, especially among populations at risk,” explains Vandegrift and Green. “Results from the Arizona At-Risk Pilot Project suggest that the most effective means to involve parents are ones that (1) establish a personal rapport between someone from the school and the parent and (2) do not initially require high levels of commitment or participation. Something as simple as a friendly conversation with the classroom teacher can go a long way toward building parent support.” It’s imperative that programs dealing with at-risk children have parental involvement to increase success, but we must do all we can to adequately define and support that involvement.
My program reassesses and struggles with how to continue serving the needs of children with barriers to parental involvement daily. It’s heart breaking when a child can no longer access our services because of their parents. It too often feels like we are turning our backs on a child that already faces so many obstacles in life. At the same time, I understand that without the parental support the child cannot utilize the tools of our program to be successful and unfortunately, there are too many children waiting for a spot to leave one languishing. Thankfully, there are things we can do to begin at the beginning and meet the parent’s needs as a partner. Vandegrift and Green sum this up beautifully, “The ‘ideal parent,’ one who is willing and able to participate and is committed to his or her child's education, is a rare breed among at-risk populations. But there are many things schools can do to improve parent involvement. Assess parents' needs. Get to know them individually. Offer a broad range of activities to encourage support and participation, including nonthreatening, low-commitment opportunities. Personalize home-school communications. Making parents feel comfortable is an important step toward improving parent involvement!” This advice applies to all programs that serve children. We can all make a different by redefining involvement and spreading our arms a little wider.
Michelle Perin
Michelle Perin has been a freelance writer since 2000. In December 2010, she earned her Master’s degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Indiana State University.
