Parent/Professional Collaborations

1. Parent/Professional Collaborations State Leaders Summit Lisa Crawford - Texas Team May 2008

2. A parent perspective:Why are we here? • Learn from other state teams • Shared passions and goals • Encouragement to persevere • Explore the unknown, try something different!

3. Why I’m Here

4. Texas “TNAC” Team • Texas National Agenda Collaborative

5. Collaboration vs. Cooperation • The fundamental difference between collaboration and cooperation is the level of formality in the relationships between agencies or stakeholders.

6. Collaboration • Collaboration involves agencies coming together and fundamentally changing their individual approaches to a goal to allow for the sharing of resources and responsibilities.

7. Cooperation • Cooperation is an informal arrangement in which the individual agencies or stakeholders maintain their separate mandates and responsibilities, but do some work together to meet a common goal.

8. Current Parent/Professional partnerships in Texas • Parent Liaison position funded by Texas Education Agency through federal funds. 1st year goal of creating parent network resulted in a start-up Texas chapter of Hands & Voices • FWR on campus now expanded into Mobile Family Retreats at regional deaf ed programs. 2 locations in ‘08

9. Current Parent/Professional partnerships in Texas • Parent reps on State EHDI Council- partnering with TX Hands & Voices and Parent to Parent • Parent Involvement committee for bi-annual statewide deaf ed conference • Parent reps on Deaf Ed State Plan committee

10. Future Parent/Professional partnerships in Texas • Goals include: Strengthening partnerships with entities that receive state and federal funds designated to support “Parent Involvement”.

11. Future Parent/Professional partnerships in Texas Regional Centers focused on Parent Involvement Coordination DARS/DHHS - Communication Access - Parent training TSBVI - Deaf/blind Parent leadership program TSD/State Outreach Office - Family Involvement Center (TSD Foundation, grant $)

12. Future Parent/Professional partnerships in Texas • Goals include: Strengthening partnerships with non-profits and private entities in Texas that focus on parent support or DHH adults

13. Future Parent/Professional partnerships in Texas • Parent Training & Information (PTI) Projects (Partners Resource Network) • Texas Hands & Voices • Texas Parent to Parent • Various local parent groups - many modality specific • TX Adult DHH support/advocacy groups. Ex. TX HLAA, TLDHHC

14. Do not depend on the hope of results-- When you are doing the sort of work you have taken on, you may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and achieve no worth at all, if not perhaps, results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you will start more and more to concentrate not on the results, but on the value, the rightness and the truth of the work itself.” - Thomas Merton

15. Soapbox Moment • Majority of parent concerns relate to the unintended effects of NCLB.Ex. Cluster Site disbandment • Challenge to all state teams - Make changes intended to improve deaf education. Keep the positive intent of the law but maintain options in deaf ed services.

16. End of Soapbox Moment Thanks for Listening!