Parent Leadership

Prevent Child Abuse Tennessee works collaboratively with Child Abuse Prevention Programs across the state to engage families in planning, service delivery and advocacy of services and programs throughout Tennessee, especially those impacting young children (0 to 5).  Developing leadership skills in families gives them tools to advocate for their own children and to speak in behalf of other families at local, regional and state levels.  Programs that meaningfully engage families in program design and evaluation; create a resource network of families supporting families and build leadership skills in families have shown to strengthen families.

Through parent engagement, communities build protective factors and lower risk factors, thus helping prevent child abuse and neglect. Through a regional network of Family Leadership Advisory Council members and the statewide Tennessee Parent Leadership Team, PCAT works with parents and practitioners to identify barriers to service, increase family participation within programs and provide an opportunity for parent voices to be heard by policy makers and statewide collaborations.

PCAT provides training and technical assistance visits to agencies interested in implementing parent leadership as a part of their programming.  For more information, please contact Carla Snodgrass at Carla.Snodgrass@pcat.org.

To find out more about the Tennessee Parent Leadership Team, and how you can become involved, contact our office at 615-383-0994.

Prevent Child Abuse Tennessee also serves as the National Parent Leadership Coordinator to help Child Abuse Prevention programs across the country establish parent leadership.  Through FRIENDS National Resource Center and the National Circle of Parents, PCAT staff provide training and technical assistance to agencies, parents, and professionals in every state.  To learn more, visit www.friendsnrc.org