Spotlight Program-Parent Advisory Council for Community Programs: Macaulay Centres for Children

The purpose of the Parent Advisory Council (PAC) is to provide advice to the Community Programs management team about current and potential programs and services; policy and protocols; and assist with outreach, promotion and fundraising.
• The PAC provides an opportunity for parents to contribute in a meaningful way and helps Macaulay deliver a more equitable approach to programming, identify service gaps, and recommend programs and activities to meet the needs of children and families served by Macaulay.
• Board members support this approach and the PAC is co-facilitated by two board members who are also Macaulay service recipients.
• Families are eligible to receive child minding, transportation and meals to support their participation on the PAC, and a small honorarium for attending meetings to acknowledge and honour their expertise and commitment to the PAC.

• Individual; Program and Service; Community Levels, and potentially System level as we explore expansion into new areas.
• The process is about supporting agency and empowerment for families. The impacts span to programs and services, and community levels since the group also advises on current and potential future programming, policies, protocols, community outreach, and fundraising initiatives.

• Outreach and engagement with Macaulay families, in-depth orientation, ongoing education about current programs and services, intentional strategy to build strong positive and respectful relationship between PAC members and between PAC and Macaulay staff.
• Reciprocity is reflected by PAC parents understanding that their voice and their ideas will result in a specific change. In fact, the meeting agenda includes a standard item entitled “We Heard You”, where staff report back on how PAC ideas and suggestions have been and will be incorporated in programs, services, and community outreach.
• PAC is also focused on families getting value for participating, for example, in addition to receiving an honourarium for each meeting attended, parents are able to add this experience to their resume in terms of volunteer work, providing a great learning opportunity.
• Parents are entrusting Macaulay with their lived experience and advice, trusting the agency to bring that back and make change in programs.
• This approach includes working with staff who have relationships with families, raising their awareness of the PAC, and in turn, outreaching with families.
• The process also reflects long-standing relationships with families whose children may have graduated, and are no longer receiving services, but can bring their passion and perspectives on Macaulay’s programs and services to the PAC, and has a particular relevance as we plan to expand our service to older children and their families.

• The majority of each PAC meeting involves one to two brainstorming sessions where PAC members are tasked with generating ideas for specific areas of program growth and community outreach.
• Part of this work is recognizing and believing parents are the experts in care and decision-making for their children.
• Engagement includes community outreach and fundraising. Families on the PAC connect within their communities, families, colleagues, to hear from others and bring that back to their role on the PAC, amplifying these voices.

• PAC members determine meeting frequency, modality (in person and virtual), day, and time of the meetings.
• Macaulay staff create outreach and fundraising opportunities for interested PAC members.
• Macaulay front line staff rotate through the meetings to explain their program, solicit feedback from the PAC about current programs and ideas for future programming, and then report back on how the feedback is and will be incorporated into the program.
• The approach is also responsive to the fact that different programs will feel change in different ways, some programs can make changes more quickly than others.
• PAC reviewed their terms of reference and decided to expand the membership from 12 to 15 people, which is a reflection of the value the members see in participating in the PAC

• The entire approach is about taking collaborative action by being able to get down on the ground floor and work with families. This reflects collaboration with families from different programs that wouldn’t have otherwise gotten together being able to hear each other’s voices.
• PAC is action oriented, and has contributed significantly to the work of Macaulay since its inception.
• Macaulay makes a relatively small financial investment to support the PAC, and we believe this is an important investment that provides excellent value for money.