Family Early Help
What is the TAF Inclusion Commitment Statement?
This document came out of our racial justice goal in 2021 to 'create a mission/inclusion statement to use in partnership spaces'. We wanted a document that could be shared in TAF meetings which made clear that inclusion, belonging and equity are welcome in partnership spaces and racism, oppression and discrimination are not.
We also wanted to make sure children, young people and their families would feel confident their experience of the world was the most important thing in those meetings, and that the statement reaffirmed that expectation for everyone participating.
How was the Statement produced?
A working group of FSCF staff worked together to create a draft. Becca worked with parents to continually test and refine the drafts (including testing it at TAF meetings and feedback from the parent about that experience). We also took inspiration from other inclusion statements and community agreements from national and international sources.
Kat and Elaine D then did the final revisions, including adding a section on how to raise a concern about discrimination or racism experienced in a TAF meeting (sincere thanks to them).
When should I use the Statement?
You can use this in any spaces you think it is helpful (where professionals and families come together), but we would particularly recommend:
- send it to TAF meeting members when you send TAF invites/agendas and ask them to read it in advance
- TAF chair to ask participants if they have read the document when they open the meeting
- have copies on the table at the meeting
- TAF chair to read out some of the statement at the start of the meeting
Where can I find the Statement?
You can find the inclusion statement here.
We would really welcome continual feedback on the statement, particularly from children, young people, parents and family members about what they think of the statement and whether they found it helpful in TAF meetings or other professional spaces. We'll keep refining it and improving it the more feedback we get.