NCJ Number
193914
Date Published
2002
Length
230 pages
Annotation
This participant workbook for a training course in collaboration skill-building is designed to help trainees acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to develop collaboration among educational and human service institutions in a community to better serve children and their families.
Abstract
Materials intended to provide an overview of collaboration include an outline of flaws in the current system of services for children and families, a listing of the characteristics of a pro-family service system, a checklist of questions to help make service delivery choices for a pro-family system, sample target outcomes, a guide for systems change, and guidelines for developing a pro-family system of education and human services. Workbook materials on "Leadership" contain a list of the characteristics of an effective collaborative leader, an overview of how individuals in various leadership positions view their involvement in collaborative efforts, a glossary of collaborative language, and a listing of 104 resources on leadership. Another section of the workbook contains materials on acting as a facilitator at collaboration meetings. Following a listing of a facilitator's tasks, suggestions are offered for learning to be "unconditionally constructive," which involves encouraging the other side to act constructively in response. Other topics covered in this section are collaborative ground rules, how collaborative partners can learn about each other, conflict management, and involving the right partners. Evaluation procedures for a collaboration are addressed in the concluding section of the workbook.