Family Centered Services

13 Key Elements of Family-Centered Services
4 Myths and Misconceptions About Family-Centered Services

By federal and state laws, the Individualized Family Service Plan is intended to document the delivery of community-based, interagency services for families with young children who have disabilities.

An ecological perspective on the role of families in raising and influencing children lays the foundation for the use of an Individualized Family Service Process to develop, coordinate and implement these Family-Centered Services .

The phrase "Family-Centered Services" reflects a way of coordinating and delivering assistance and support to families with children who have disabilities. It is based upon an understanding of the complexity that exists within individual families and the ways decisions and services will influence each member of the family and the unit as a whole.

The child with a disability may be a catalyst for parent-professional interaction but does not remain the sole focus of services. Family-centered services respect the strengths and resourcefulness of all families and aims to support and encourage families in their efforts to independently meet the needs of their child with disabilities and all its members in ways that they define as functional and appropriate for them.

A philosophy of family centered service promises openness and flexibility to accommodate diversity in family beliefs, values and functioning styles and the changes families undergo continually as they cope with expected and unexpected life events.

History: Family-Centered Services represent a relatively new era in providing services to persons with disabilities (from Shirley Kramer, a parent of a child with disabilities, 1997) .

• Era 1: To be a family, the member with disabilities must exit the family (Thank goodness we are past that!)
  
  
• Era 2: In order to have a disabled member in the family, many special treatments will be needed by special people (professionals), in special places and require the family's life style to change to match plans outlined by the professionals. (Do you think we are past this everywhere?)
  
  
• Era 3: (current): The child with the disability and their family are capable of growing in natural ways, preferable to them with tailored supports from friends, community, extended family and some specialized professionals they seek out for help.

Family-Centered Services are a vehicle for 'helping' families who have children with disabilities. Effective 'helping' is the act of enabling and empowering individuals (or families) to become better able to solve problems, meet needs or achieve aspirations. This is done by promoting acquisition of competencies that support and strengthen family functioning in a way that permits a greater sense of individual control over the family's developmental course. (Carl Dunst, 1988)

Two Important Terms: