BECOMING CULTURALLY INCLUSIVE: KEY ELEMENTS TO PROMOTE HEALTHY, LITERATE, AND PRODUCTIVE FAMILIES

SKILL SEMINAR B

Maria D. Chavez, Ed.D.
Family Support America
5945 Isleta SW
Albuquerque, NM 87105

Melanie Goodman, B.S.
County Maternal Child Health Council
1100 South Main, Suite 104
Las Cruces, NM 88005

Gloria Champion, L.S.W., B.A.
Shiprock Home for Women and Children
PO Box 1805
Shiprock, NM 87420

Alice Marie Slaven-Emond, B.S., R.N., M.S.N., F.N.P.
Southwest Health Care Professionals, Inc.
1002 East Cooper Street
Farmington, NM 87401

Mary Dudley, Ph.D.
University of New Mexico
Family Development Program
NM-SSB-26
Albuquerque, NM 87131

BECOMING CULTURALLY INCLUSIVE: KEY ELEMENTS TO PROMOTE HEALTHY, LITERATE, AND PRODUCTIVE FAMILIES

The notion that families should have a legitimate voice in decisions that affect them is the foundation of the family support and family involvement movement. Taking an active role at the decision making table, called participatory design, is essential when it comes to legitimizing families' existence and preserving their life-ways and customs.

Opening up a system to be inclusive of all cultures starts with a fundamental belief that families have strengths and dignity, and should add their opinions to any discussion affecting them. Discussions around this belief are major goals for any program or school district. Once agreed upon, this goal can serve as a beacon of light for examining the way we do business and the way we will proceed with any new endeavor that affects community and families.

Agreeing to a principle of inclusion helps programs stay focused during planning and implementation. Implementing participatory design initiatives can be messy at best because people struggle to give up power and it takes time to work out the process. But programs must reflect the reality of the community and the participation of its families. True ownership regarding change can only occur when the community sees the "stamp" of their involvement being implemented and thus legitimized.

Family support programs have emerged since the 1970s as a spontaneous response to the expressed need if parents for more support and the awareness of people working with families that preventing problems is the most effective approach. Although program settings and the resources they offer families vary widely, one goal is shared by every program: increasing the capacities of all families to nurture their children. Validating parent's cultural mores, seeking their wisdom, and implementing their strategies serves to raise the importance of parental worth and establishes true cultural democracy (shared power).

All family resource programs are based on the assumptions that parents who are confident and competent are more likely to have healthy, productive children. The pervasive, intentional incorporation of family empowerment in all aspects of a program as a way to enhance child development differentiates family resource programs from other services for families.

This seminar will examine some guiding principles and challenges of family support and shared power, which reflect a reliance on partnerships with parents. The session will examine the roots of our beliefs and values in building strong foundations for families based on respect and equality. Ultimately when we build positive relationships, families feel treasured and children benefit. The session will also make the case for family support and present an orientation to Family Support New Mexico's systems change model. Lastly, the session will host a panel overview of programs using successful, culturally-inclusive family support practices in a variety of settings, including an urban Hispanic center, a rural indigent care clinic, a Native American women's shelter, and rural Hispanic and Native American border communities.