Definition of Family-Driven Care
Family-driven means families have a primary decision making role in the care of their own children as well as the policies and procedures governing care for all children in their community, state, tribe, territory and nation. This includes:

• Choosing supports, services, and providers;
• Setting goals;
• Designing and implementing programs;
• Monitoring outcomes;
• Partnering in funding decisions; and
• Determining the effectiveness of all efforts to promote the mental health and well being of children and youth.

Guiding Principles of Family-Driven Care

1. Families and youth are given accurate, understandable, and complete information necessary to set goals and to make choices for improved planning for individual children and their families.
2. Families and youth, providers and administrators embrace the concept of sharing decision-making and responsibility for outcomes with providers.
3. Families and youth are organized to collectively use their knowledge and skills as a force for systems transformation.
4. Families and family-run organizations engage in peer support activities to reduce isolation, gather and disseminate accurate information, and strengthen the family voice.
5. Families and family-run organizations provide direction for decisions that impact funding for services, treatments, and supports.
6. Providers take the initiative to change practice from provider-driven to family-driven.
7. Administrators allocate staff, training, support and resources to make family-driven practice work at the point where services and supports are delivered to children, youth, and families.
8. Community attitude change efforts focus on removing barriers and discrimination created by stigma.
9. Communities embrace, value, and celebrate the diverse cultures of their children, youth, and families.
10. Everyone who connects with children, youth, and families continually advances their own cultural and linguistic responsiveness as the population served changes.

Characteristics of Family-Driven Care

1. Family and youth experiences, their visions and goals, their perceptions of strengths and needs, and their guidance about what will make them comfortable steer decision making about all aspects of service and system design, operation, and evaluation.
2. Family-run organizations receive resources and funds to support and sustain the infrastructure that is essential to insure an independent family voice in their communities, states, tribes, territories, and the nation.
3. Meetings and service provision happen in culturally and linguistically competent environments where family and youth voices are heard and valued, everyone is respected and trusted, and it is safe for everyone to speak honestly.
4. Administrators and staff actively demonstrate their partnerships with all families and youth by sharing power, resources, authority, responsibility, and control with them.
5. Families and youth have access to useful, usable, and understandable information and data, as well as sound professional expertise so they have good information to make decisions.
6. Funding mechanisms allow families and youth to have choices.
7. All children, youth, and families have a biological, adoptive, foster, or surrogate family voice advocating on their behalf.