Parent Voices Matter: Cultivating Resilient Parent Advisory Committees

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Parent Advisory Committees are powerful structures for ensuring that families help shape the programs, systems, and supports intended to serve them. When families are meaningfully involved in planning, administration, and decision-making, programs are better positioned to remain responsive, relevant, and connected to community needs.

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Parent Voices Matter: Cultivating Resilient Parent Advisory Committees advances the work from family engagement to authentic partnership. This training re-centers lived experience as expertise and supports a shift from consultation to co-creation, where parents are equipped and supported to lead, advise, and sustain change within their communities.

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Grounded in the nationally adopted Standards of Quality for Family Strengthening & Support and the Principles of Family Support Practice, this training provides a practical framework for developing or strengthening Parent Advisory Committees across a variety of program and community contexts. Participants will explore the purpose and value of PACs, common challenges to implementation, and strategies for building the trust, clarity, and shared leadership needed for PACs to thrive.

The training integrates examples and perspectives from multiple Parent Advisory Committee models, offering adaptable lessons for different communities and program structures. Participants will hear directly from parent leaders about the challenges, rewards, and impact of parent leadership, reinforcing the importance of lived experience in shaping effective programs. The training is co-facilitated by experienced trainers who model the power of staff-parent partnership and shared leadership.

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Participants consistently report the training’s value, with 96% indicating that it enhanced their knowledge and skills for developing and sustaining Parent Advisory Committees.

 

Topics Covered:

• The purpose and value of Parent Advisory Committees

• Parent leadership development

• Shared decision-making and authentic partnership

• PAC roles, structure, membership, and expectations

• Strategies for launching or strengthening a PAC

• Examples and lessons from multiple PAC models

• Parent leader perspectives on participation, leadership, and partnership

• Common implementation challenges and strategies to address them

• Action planning for PAC development or improvement

 

Recommended Participants:
This training is designed for program managers, coordinators, and direct service staff who work with or aim to develop a Parent Advisory Committee. Teams are strongly encouraged to participate together, especially Executive Directors, Managers, Coordinators, and direct service staff, because leadership support and staff alignment are essential to sustaining an effective PAC. While this training is not intended for parents or program participants, it is designed to help staff build structures that meaningfully elevate parent leadership and family voice.

 

Participants Will:

• Identify the benefits and challenges of parent leadership development

• Understand key components of an effective Parent Advisory Committee

• Explore adaptable PAC models and strategies

• Learn steps and timelines for creating or strengthening a PAC

• Begin action planning for developing or sustaining a PAC

Cost and Scheduling Details:
The training costs $9,200 for NFSN Members and $10,000 for non-Members for up to 40 participants. Two sessions are available at a discounted rate of $18,000 for Members and $19,600 for non-Members. The total training time is 11 hours, typically divided into two consecutive days (e.g., 9:30 AM - 3:00 PM daily). Start and end times can be customized to accommodate participant needs. To schedule hosting a training, please click here and fill out the training request form.

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Upcoming Open PAC Trainings: ​

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• September 15th & 16th, 2026: Register here by September 11th

• November 9th & 10th, 2026: Register here by November 6th

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