Family Advisory Council

Bylaws and Rules

Family Advisory Council Membership

The Family Advisory Council (FAC) consists of 37 members.

Twenty adult family advisors from a variety of backgrounds and family types
Two Parent Coordinators who co-chair the council and are employed by Cincinnati Children's to serve in this role
Ten staff advisors from diverse areas of the medical center
One FAC Alumni representative
One staff liaison
One cabinet liaison (a senior vice president representing the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center cabinet)
Two members of the Cincinnati Children's Board of Trustees, appointed by the Chairman of the Board
One webmaster selected from the Cincinnati Children's marketing and communications department

Members are selected based on the variety of backgrounds, experiences, and strengths that they bring to the group. A Family Advisory Council that accurately represents the broad spectrum of families served by Cincinnati Children's will be the ongoing goal.

Roles and Responsibilities

Family Advisors are selected to represent the many different types of patient families who access Cincinnati Children's hospital, including but not limited to those who utilize a vast array of hospital services, those who only access the hospital occasionally, foster parents, grandparents, adoptive parents, single parents, and those from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds. They are expected to:
- Attend each FAC meeting
- Engage thoughtfully with the issues and material submitted for FAC review and provide meaningful feedback from a family perspective in meetings and via email
- Serve on at least one FAC sub-committee

Staff Advisors are selected to represent the vast number of people who work for Cincinnati Childrens, from direct care providers to researchers to administrative support staff. They are expected to:
- Attend each FAC meeting
- Engage thoughtfully with the issues and material submitted for FAC review and provide meaningful feedback from a staff perspective in both meetings and via email
- Serve on at least one FAC sub-committee
- Advocate for and report on progress towards delivering family centered care in their home department

Parent Coordinators are selected from families who access Cincinnati Children's. They are to:
- Facilitate FAC meetings
- Review and prepare FAC meeting agendas
- Report the attendance and involvement of each council advisor
- Coordinate and support the work of each sub-committee
- Report the results of FAC input on staff projects annually
- Place families with hospital staff who need family input on projects
- Coordinate with and support the development and sustenance of in-house family advisory boards
- Represent families on selected hospital committees, including but not limited to the Board of Trustees, the Patient Care Committee, and the Patient Care Governance Council
- Advocate for families and promote family centered care both within Cincinnati Children's and with outside organizations

FAC Alumni (FACA) Representative – the representative is expected to:
- Provide the FAC with additional experienced family and staff advisors
- Maintain a database tracking members' involvement in hospital projects
- Report the results of FACA input on staff projects annually as needed
- Report Alumni activity at the monthly FAC meeting as needed

Staff Liaison – the staff liaison is to:
- Attend each FAC meeting
- Provide a monthly report to the FAC of progress on ongoing projects and any hospital changes of interest to families
- Support the parent coordinators and Family Advisory Council by helping them connect with appropriate hospital staff and key decision makers for pertinent issues
- Support the FAC and parent coordinators as they develop and pursue their strategic plan
- Support the parent coordinators in advocating for families and promoting family centered care both within Cincinnati Children's and with outside organizations
- Assist with FAC operations behind the scenes (i.e. helping plan meetings, book rooms, and facilitate staff access to parent coordinators and the council).
- Facilitate reimbursement and annual badging for family advisors.
- Help the FAC achieve its goals by removing or minimizing potential barriers.

Cabinet Liaison – selected by the members of the Cincinnati Children's cabinet on a rotating basis. The cabinet liaison is to:
- Attend each FAC meeting or designate a representative to do so
- Provide a monthly report to the FAC to facilitate communication between the FAC and senior management
- Move obstacles out of the FAC's way to foster the achievement of the goals the FAC sets

Board Liaison – selected by the chairman of the board of Cincinnati Children's. The Board Liaison is to:
- Attend each FAC meeting
- Provide a monthly report to the FAC facilitating communication between the Board and the FAC
- Report from the FAC to the Board where appropriate

Webmaster – should be chosen from the Cincinnati Children's Marketing and Communications Department because they have access and skills to update the FAC website. The webmaster is to:
- Attend each FAC meeting
- Provide a monthly report on web traffic
- Assist the parent coordinators in highlighting the work and members of the FAC, the Award for Excellence in Family Centered Care, the annual recruiting drive, and more by updating the FAC website in a timely manner.

Alternate – chosen from a short list of desirable applicants to serve as either a staff or family advisor in the event that a sitting member of the FAC must step down for any reason. An alternate will finish the term begun by the exiting member and must be chosen to maintain the 1/3 to 2/3 ratio of staff to families whenever possible. They must meet with a parent coordinator for orientation prior to joining the FAC.

Badges and Background Checks

All selected family applicants will be fingerprinted and must pass a background check. If, for any reason, the background check is not successfully completed, the applicant will be denied participation on the Family Advisory Council. Approved applicants will then receive badges with the title "Family Advisor." Family advisors should wear their badges whenever they represent the Family Advisory Council within Cincinnati Children's, whether in a committee meeting or at a hospital-sponsored event. Badges do not offer additional security access to the medical center and should not be worn during clinic visits, inpatient stays, etc. Staff advisors and standing members should wear their hospital badges.

Confidentiality

Family Advisory Council members must not discuss any personal or confidential information revealed during a council meeting outside their role as family advisors. What happens in a meeting should stay in the meeting! Council members must adhere to all applicable HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) standards and guidelines. Examples include, but are not limited to:

Staff members must not mention patients or families by name or provide information that could identify a specific patient or family
Family members must not mention other patients or families by name or provide identifying information.
Family members should avoid mentioning specific staff members by name.

If an advisor violates these guidelines, a parent coordinator will remind them of the guidelines. If an advisor continues to break the HIPAA guidelines, they must repeat the HIPAA training. If they continue to fail to comply, the parent coordinators and executive committee will discuss their membership status.

Family Advisory Council Member Term

All Family Advisory Council members will serve a two-year term. Approximately half of the Family Advisory Council will rotate annually. Advisors whose status changes during their term (e.g. family advisor becomes employed by Cincinnati Children's, staff advisor changes departments) must provide the parent coordinators with updated information in a timely manner.

Advisors with good attendance and who were active members may apply to serve a third year as a subcommittee lead and ex officio member of the FAC Executive Committee. The parent coordinators will review letters of application and choose third-year advisors who demonstrate the best qualifications to lead (key factors include attendance, participation, and experience on the subcommittee they wish to lead).

Family Advisory Council Meetings

Business meetings will be held monthly. In an effort to best accommodate everyone's schedules, these meetings will rotate between daytime and evening every other month. Meetings on Mondays will be held during the day, while meetings on Thursdays will be held in the evening.

Each meeting will be two (2) hours in length, with a meal (either lunch or dinner) served 30 minutes before the meeting's start time. The FAC will not meet during the months of July and December.

While guests are welcome to observe, seating is very limited. Please contact the parent coordinators at least two (2) weeks prior to a meeting to inquire about space availability. The meeting schedule will be posted on the Cincinnati Children's web site.

Agenda

Meeting agendas will be set by the parent coordinators and distributed to the membership a week prior to each business meeting. Anyone, FAC member or otherwise, may request time on the council agenda by submitting an agenda request form to the parent coordinators. The parent coordinators will evaluate and prioritize each request by discussing with prospective presenters their item's appropriateness and/or clarifying the subject matter. Parent coordinators may also suggest alternative means of involving the FAC, including, but not limited to, email review/discussion, focus group, and task force. All recipients of FAC assistance must submit to the parent coordinators a follow-up report summarizing the help requested, the recommendations made by the FAC, and the current status of the initiative.

Meeting Minutes

The parent coordinators will distribute the minutes in a timely manner to all FAC members, liaison to the Cabinet, Chairman of the Board, and the President and CEO. The parent coordinators (or designee) will keep the minutes and all other pertinent council records.

Attendance

Advisors will be dismissed from Family Advisory Council membership when they have missed two (2) consecutive business meetings, or three (3) business meetings during any calendar year. Advisors must notify the parent coordinators prior to a scheduled meeting if the advisor will miss a meeting for any reason. Up to 2 exceptions may be made by the parent coordinators or the staff liaison for emergencies, inclement weather, unexpected personal or family illness, etc. Additional absences will be monitored and reported on the advisor's record.

Member Reimbursement

All family advisors may receive reimbursement for travel and childcare. Reimbursement forms are available from the parent coordinators or on the web site and should be sent to the staff liaison after each business meeting. Transportation fees are standard, determined by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Childcare expenses will be reimbursed at a rate not to exceed $15 per hour. Cincinnati Childrens' Department of Accounting will issue a check for reimbursed services and mail them to the member's home.

Inclement Weather

Business meetings will be cancelled if Hamilton County declares a snow emergency of Level 2 or higher. If a member resides in a different county that declares a Level 2 or higher emergency, that member must notify the staff liaison or the parent coordinators to have their absence excused. Should a business meeting be cancelled due to inclement weather, all Family Advisory Council members will be notified in a timely manner by the parent coordinators and/or the staff liaison.

Standing Committees

The Family Advisory Council's parent coordinators will appoint and/or participate in select standing committees when requested or assigned. Each member of the Family Advisory Council shall be a member of at least one (1) standing committee. Standing committee membership is open to anyone at the discretion of the committee lead. The lead of each standing committee will make regular reports at Family Advisory Council business meetings. In addition, that member will remain in regular communication with the parent coordinators of the Family Advisory Council.

Current standing committees include, but are not limited to:

Executive Committee, consisting of each standing committee lead, the parent coordinators, and the secretary. The Executive Committee will meet quarterly, and as needed as determined by the parent coordinators.
Hispanic Advisory Committee – focuses on issues specific to Hispanic patients and families at Cincinnati Children's.
Membership Committee – recruits, interviews, and selects new staff and family advisors each year.
Awards Committee – runs each year's Award for Excellence in Family Centered Care.
Education Committee – includes the Family Faculty Roundtable.
Marketing/Publicity Committee – assists the other sub-committees with publicity, including website updates, media promotions, presentations to area organizations, and articles for internal hospital publications. This committee must include the webmaster.
FAC Alumni (FACA) Council – supports the work of the FAC by providing additional experienced and interested staff and family advisors to help fill the requests of the hospital for input.
- Co-chairs:
  - The FACA Council will be led by two (2) co-chairs who each must commit to serving one year.
  - The FACA co-chairs and the FAC parent coordinators will select a FACA representative to attend each monthly FAC meeting. The FACA representative must commit to serve a one-year term.
  - FACA co-chairs report directly to the FAC parent coordinators.
  - Incoming co-chairs will be chosen by the FAC Executive Committee and the outgoing FACA co-chairs. FACA members may request to serve as a co-chair after completing one year with the FACA Council.
  - Any current or former FAC staff or family advisor may apply to serve on the FAC Alumni Council.
  - To remain a member of FACA Council, you must participate in at least one activity or project at Cincinnati Children's within a fiscal year (July 1-June 30).
  - The co-chairs or FAC parent coordinators may excuse a member who repeatedly fails to follow through on commitments.
  - FACA Council does not limit the number of members it accepts or how long members may serve on the council.
  - Members will be accepted at the beginning of each fiscal year. Alumni who have not served as advisors in the previous calendar year must participate in one FAC Advisor Orientation session, (usually provided in June and July).