Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 11 PATHWAYS TO STRENGTHENING AND SUPPORTING FAMILIES IN ILLINOIS Module 5B – Voluntary Family Plan Group Process

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 2 Job Competencies Enhance ability to create a positive team environment. Use knowledge of stages of team development, the facilitator's role, and intervention strategies in each stage to facilitate the work of the team. Use knowledge of levels of team functioning to intervene effectively when the team is "stuck" and not able to complete a task. Use knowledge of group roles to help create a positive team environment and to facilitate the work of the team.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 3 Definition of A Group A group is a collection of three or more individuals with a common bond.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 4 Definition of a Team A team is a type of group. Three or more individuals come together to achieve a clear and compelling goal that they have participated in defining.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 5 Team Example: 90s Bulls

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 6 5 Advantageous Team Building Conditions 1.There's a need to create a high level of cohesion and commitment to a common goal Why is there a need to create a high level of cohesion and commitment to a common goal on a Family Support Network team?

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 7 5 Advantageous Team Building Conditions 2.There's an ongoing task for the group to accomplish Is there an ongoing task for a Family Support Network team to accomplish? What is it?

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 8 5 Advantageous Team Building Conditions 3.A consistent set of people will be working closely over an extended period. Is there a consistent set of people who will be working on the Family Support Network team for an extended period of time? Who would those people be?

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 9 5 Advantageous Team Building Conditions 4.Members need to link and coordinate their roles closely Is it important for people to coordinate their roles on a child and family team? Why?

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 10 5 Advantageous Team Building Conditions 5.Increased empowerment will result in increased effectiveness Can participation on a Family Support Network team increase a family's sense of empowerment? How?

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 11 Family as a Team A family is a specific type of team. How does a family fit the definition of a team?

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 12 Family as a Team (Contd) When the family joins a Family Support Network team they (the family) are an existing team entering a newly created team 1.What are the benefits of imposing the child and family team on a family? 2.What are the risks or pitfalls of imposing the child and family team on a family? 3.What are the risks of approaching a family with the mindset that you are becoming a member of their existing team? 4.What are the benefits of approaching the family with the mindset that you are becoming a member of their existing team?

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 13 We believe that the benefits of viewing the Family Support Network Team as the family's team significantly outweigh the risks. We believe that for team to be viewed by the family as useful and relevant, it must become the family's team and must incorporate and build on the family's knowledge of themselves, their strengths and their existing ways of meeting their needs.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 14 Stages of Development (Example)

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 15 All groups go through specific stages of development whether members are aware of this process or not. As a facilitator of family meetings you'll need to be able to recognize a particular team's stage of development so that your interventions can target the team's needs and help guide the team successfully through each stage.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 16 Stages of Team Development Pre-affiliation Power and Control Intimacy Differentiation Termination

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 17 Pre-Affiliation Uncertainty about joining the group Low level of trust Low level of commitment Need direction; more dependent on leader

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 18 Pre-Affiliation Activity 1.Select a partner and find a place to sit where you can talk comfortably. 2.Share what it is like to join a new team. (One person tells their experience while their partner actively listens to what is shared; 5 minutes each.)) 3.Discuss how your experiences could potentially impact your work as facilitators in the pre-affiliation stage of development. (5 minutes total)

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 19 Pre-Affiliation Role-Play Read the case-study and the pre- affiliation scenario Select the role you will play Role-play an initial meeting –Discuss the teams goals –Develop the family plan Observer will use the checklist to provide feedback later.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 20 Role-Play Debriefing Observers – share the information on the checklist Team Members – discuss reactions to what occurred during the family meeting Facilitators – discuss what worked well and what barriers were experienced.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 21 Power and Control Emergence of conflict and power struggles Cliques and personal animosities Low productivity Sense of ineffectiveness

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 22 Power and Control Activity 1.Return to your partner. 2.Share how you deal with conflict. (5 minutes each) 3.Discuss how your experiences could potentially impact your work during the power and control stage of development. (5 minutes total)

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 23 As facilitator during the power and control stage your role is to listen attentively and address conflict as it emerges, resolving issues collaboratively.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 24 Intimacy Recognize and value commonalities Beginning cohesiveness Increasing satisfaction Strong sense of unity

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 25 Intimacy Stage Activity 1.Return to your partner. 2.Share how you react to having to give feedback and hearing feedback about your performance. (5 minutes each) 3.Discuss how your reactions could potentially impact your work with a team in the intimacy stage of development. (5 minutes total)

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 26 As facilitator during the intimacy stage your role is to support problem identification and problem solving efforts and encourage member empowerment.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 27 Differentiation High commitment to group goal High productivity Roles and responsibilities clear Conflict managed by members High quality decisions

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 28 Differentiation Activity 1.Return to your partner 2.Share how you tend to react to sharing leadership, or letting others take charge. (5 minutes each) 3.Share how your reactions could potentially impact your work in the differential stage of group development. (5 minutes total)

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 29 As facilitator during the differentiation stage of development your role is to confirm the team's goals and promote organized and systematic efforts to work on them. The emphasis is also on allowing and supporting team members to exercise leadership and lend their strengths to the work of the group.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 30 Separation Dealing with the loss of meaningful and productive relationships Recognition and celebration of group's accomplishments

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 31 Separation Activity 1.Return to your partner. 2.Share how you reacted to and dealt with previous losses. (5 minutes each) 3.Discuss how your reactions could potentially impact their work in the separation stage. (5 minutes total)

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 32 Your facilitator role during this stage is to help the team members end well. This includes recognizing and celebrating their success as well as finding ways to say good-bye to each other.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 33 Separation – Role Play 1.Return to your group of six 2.Read the Separation role play 3.Select a different role than you had the last time 4.Role play a Family Meeting Review the status of the aftercare plan Celebrate the parents accomplishments Discuss how the reconstituted team will function after DR closes the case.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 34 Separation Role-Play Debriefing Observer – share the feedback from the observation checklist Other participants – discuss what occurred during the family meeting Facilitator – discuss what worked well and what barriers were experienced

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 35 Levels of Team Functioning Process Content Personal

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 36 If the group is stuck on one level, an intervention on a different level is often the best way to move things along.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 37 Identifying Roles Formal roles inside the team Informal roles that arent assigned Roles cant be assumed without the teams permission Individual must be willing to assume the role

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 38 Roles - Maintenance Leader Group Nurturer Includer Gatekeeper Subject Changer

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 39 Roles - Problematic Scapegoat Monopolist Isolate

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program April 15, 2010 Division of Service Support, Office of Training and Professional Development 40 Summary – Group Process Questions Concerns