Creating a Virtual Voice for Canadian Families

 Family Voice (http://www.family-voice.com) is an independent website being developed by Canadian families to enable them to network and share information with each other, and facilitate political action to achieve a vision of people with disabilities participating as full citizens. The project's core group is currently consulting with families across the country to hear how Family Voice can best meet the needs of families. Project funding (for staff support) has been provided by the Canadian Association for Community Living (CACL).

Family Voice will be a family-owned, solution-focused, national Internet community that operates independently of other organizations where families can:

  • Articulate and discuss important issues
  • Continue to build self-confidence and skills
  • Offer each other support, encouragement and friendship
  • Provide and receive practical help and insight based on families' own experiences
  • Promote a vision of citizenship and self-determination for people with a disability
  • Contribute to the site's content/design so it reflects family's needs and experiences
  • Access timely information, tools and strategies from Canada and the world
  • Collaborate with experienced site leaders who will assist families develop and advocate policy positions for use with communities and governments to facilitate needed system change

The hub of Family Voice will be its "threaded" discussion groups. This is where families will be able to focus on issues that are most relevant to their situation. Other content areas being discussed include: the provision of a wide range of practical resources such as written articles, internet links and recommended readings; buddy programs; a tips and strategies corner; photo gallery; personal stories' section, and much more. The site will be secure and thus able to protect any confidential information provided by families. There will also be a searchable database which reflects the core group's commitment to the idea that the site should be easy to use and enable families to find needed information as quickly as possible.

Another feature of Family Voice is in response to a view consistently expressed by families: the need to advocate and recommend policies that are in the best interests of families and their family members. As an example, following the exchange of ideas and analysis of a particular issue that is raised in one of discussion groups, members may decide to develop a policy position and, with the support of other site members, forward their views to relevant organizations such as CACL, or government.

One of the most innovative aspects of Family Voice concerns the proposed use of content manager software. This software is exciting because it means family members can themselves contribute website content via their own computers. The software is easy to use and requires people to have only a basic understanding of computers. Because this technology will enable Family Voice to use volunteers, rather than costly web trained professionals, it means that content will be diverse and regularly updated. This is critical since many websites often lose members if content is not revised on a regular basis. The only caveat will be that the family members who take responsibility for contributing content will be required to subscribe to the beliefs, values and mission of Family Voice.

To ensure content remains consistent and appropriate, and there is an adequate volunteer base, there will be some form of governing council that has an oversight role, although the actual structure and operational parameters have not been decided. Surveys could also be used to determine if the governing council (and volunteers) is adhering to Family Voice's mission and values.

We welcome you to visit www.family-voice.com and provide us with your feedback. Please note, however, because the project core group is waiting for final tests to be conducted on the content manger software, the Family Voice site is currently under construction. It is anticipated that early in the New Year both the site's look and content will change significantly.