INVOLVING PARENTS IN THE IEP/IFSP PROCESS

1. Make sure parents know there is a meeting. Sending a note home in a child’s backpack is not sufficient to guarantee communication with the home
2. .Use non-traditional means of communication. Send notes with the bus driver. Have a social worker or teacher visit the child’s parent before the meeting and talk to the parents for a few minutes.
3. Provide transportation. Arrange for a bus driver to pick up the parent and take him or her to the meeting. Maybe the parent can just ride the bus in to the meeting when the child comes to school. If so, make sure the parent gets a ride home, too!
4. Provide child care. This may be as simple as having the meeting during the school day when other children are in school. You may need to pay an aide to stay after school and watch small children, or arrange for drop-in day care on site.
5. Provide refreshments. If you are asking a parent to come during the lunch hour or bring her children around dinner time, don’t expect them to go without eating.
6. Do NOT immediately assume the parents are not interested if you are not sure that they know about the meeting, have transportation and child care.
   

Short article by NAFS on involvement of parents.

Fact Sheet from the National Dissemination Center for parents on communication through letterwriting, includes sample letters.

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