A Family’s Guide to Family Engagement

Parents who take an active role in creating their child’s plan for services and supports will feel included and be better prepared to advocate for their child’s needs. This guide will give parents the tools they need to understand how to engage with teams to be an effective advocate for their child. Professionals who treat parents as respected partners and experts on their child will facilitate better planning, decision-making and support for families and better educational and developmental outcomes for children.

In addition to information about family engagement, perspectives from families, perspectives from professionals and questions to consider gauge how well family engagement is working. There are resources on many topics to support family engagement work. We hope this guide is used to strengthen family engagement, support confident parents, build strong relationships and engage in effective team decision-making.

• Welcome and Introduction
• Chapter 1: Lived Experience
• Chapter 2: Fostering Family Engagement
• Chapter 3: What to Do When you Suspect a Delay
• Chapter 4: Understanding Differences Between Medical Diagnoses and Educational Eligibility
• Chapter 5: Understanding the Evaluation Process
• Chapter 6A: You Have Rights: IDEA Law Ages 0-3 (Early Intervention)
• Chapter 6B: You Have Rights: IDEA Law Ages 3-21
• Chapter 7: Partnering With Your Child’s Team
• Chapter 8: Child Assessment Eligibility Determination: Ways to Participate
• Chapter 9: Successful IFSP, Medical, 504, and IEP Teams
• Chapter 10: Empowering Your Child
• Chapter 11: Finding Support for Your Family
• Chapter 12: What to do When You Experience Discrimination
• General Resources
• Glossary and Acronym List
• Helpful Organizations
• Template Forms and Notes

The information in this resource guide was assembled by the Ohio Early Childhood Inclusion Indicators Cohort Team and was made possible through a grant from National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center. The members of the Cohort Team include parents of children with delays, disabilities, and complex medical issues, and representatives from the following organizations:

• Burbank Early Childhood School
• Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center
• Groundwork Ohio
• Disability Rights Ohio
• Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence (OCALI)
• Ohio Head Start Association, Inc.
• Ohio Coalition for the Education of Children with Disabilities (OCECD)
• Ohio Department of Education and Workforce
• Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities
• Ohio Department of Job & Family Services
• Ohio Department of Medicaid
• Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services
• Ohio Department of Health
• State Support Team Region 4
• University of Toledo
• Ohio Parent Mentor Project