Engaging families as experts: collaborative family program development

This article presents the collaborative family program development (CFPD) model, a collaborative research-based approach to creating community-based programs for families. In this approach, families are viewed as experts on the nature of their challenges and on what they desire in a program. This approach is particularly useful in developing programs for families who have experienced social oppression and who may have been reluctant to participate in programs created for them by professionals without their consultation. In contrast, when professionals adopt the stance of respectful learners, families respond by actively engaging in the program development research and in the program created from it. This article describes the nature and complexities of a collaborative program development stance, the unique contribution to community-based program development offered by a family systems focus, and the 10 steps in the CFPD approach. These 10 steps guide movement from initiating the project and forming collaborative professional partnerships to engaging cultural consultants; conducting in-depth research to understand the problems, resources, contexts, and recommendations from the perspective of families who will receive the program and from the perspective of front-line professionals working with these families; transforming research findings into program contents and formats; and implementing, evaluating, revising, and replicating the program. The approach is illustrated by a program called Fresh Start for Families, developed and replicated for families in New York City who are homeless and attempting to move from welfare to work.