Parent Involvement to Family & Community Engagement · Dive into strategies for self-assessment of...
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+ Parent Involvement to Family & Community Engagement Jill Bradley Aminah Wyatt-Jones Bryan Stokes II Illinois Action for Children
Transcript of Parent Involvement to Family & Community Engagement · Dive into strategies for self-assessment of...
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Parent Involvement to Family & Community
Engagement
Jill Bradley
Aminah Wyatt-Jones
Bryan Stokes II
Illinois Action for Children
+ Opening and Introductions
+ Outcomes
Highlight IAFC’s Seven Standards of Excellence for
Engaging parents and families in high quality Early
Learning programs
Discuss action items that your program can implement to
support strong family and community engagement
Dive into strategies for self-assessment of your programs in the areas of family & community engagement
Walk away with elements of a plan for serving priority
populations of children in strategic ways in your
community
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+ Priority Populations
Highest Priorities
Children with Special Needs
Families in Deep Poverty
(50% FPL)
Families Receiving SSI
/ TANF
Families in the Child Welfare
System
Families Experiencing Homelessness
Children that are
linguistically isolated
+ Seven Standards of
Excellence
1. Policies
Program has written family engagement policy that clearly
articulates the importance of families in the program and in the lives
of their children.
+ Policy and Procedures
Examples
Family -Friendly Intake Process to determine a family’s eligibility
Supports to families experiencing barriers to sustained
enrollment
School team/ leadership meetings aimed at continuous quality improvements
Root Cause Analysis
Implementing Iterative processes
2. Relationship-based
Communication with families is reciprocal, collaborative, positive, transparent and
responsive to families’ goals, interests, needs, expectations, and language preferences, thereby minimizes power differentials in all interactions with family members.
Program staff recognizes the important role that fathers play in the lives of their children
and make intentional efforts to include and welcome fathers in all aspects of the
program.
3. Goal-oriented approach to working with families
Seeks regular input from families about their children’s growth and development
Program facilitates the capacity of families to advocate for their child.
Illinois Action for Children is a catalyst for organizing,
developing and supporting strong families and
Powerful communities where children matter most.
Attendance Goal Setting
Goal:
• Help families increase
attendance at school
What We Do:
• Provide tiered level support for
families that are missing school
+ Addressing the Root Cause
Why aren’t priority children enrolling in quality early learning
programs?
Example: Because priority families have trouble accessing
the programs.
Why?
Because they’re discouraged by the amount of
documents needed and application process
Why?
Because families may not have all the necessary
documentation
Why?
Because the family may be transient
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4. Active community engagement
and partnerships Lists of programs and community
resources and services for families are
updated on a regular basis to respond
to families’ home cultures, interests,
needs, and language choice.
+ Active Community Engagement
and Partnerships
Needs Assessment
Resource Directory
Prioritize partner outreach
by need of
community/school
+ Building a Pipeline of Partners
Cross-training
Shared voice
Sharing information and
resources
Enrollment,
documentation
Facilitate two-way referrals
Early childhood
system
Health and
hospitals
Schools
Homeless shelters
Child welfare system
Teen parent
programs
WIC, TANF
+ Build a Connecting Pipeline of
Partners
Build a connecting “pipeline” of partners
Those that also serve priority families
More than a MOU
Leverage early learning community collaborative and/or
create one
Collective community planning for the needs of young
children and families
Engagement with local and state government
5. Systemic collection of data
Collects data using a variety of methods to gather information about
families
Data is used in planning and decision making to improve family and
community engagement
+ Systematic Data Collection
Helps you to learn the “pain-points” that families experience
Allows you to prioritize resources and identify new
partnerships to better serve families
Learn about your program’s areas of strengths and weaknesses pertaining to family and community
engagement
Illinois Action for Children is a catalyst for organizing,
developing and supporting strong families and
Powerful communities where children matter most.
Example: Attendance-
Nudge Letters Use attendance data to
better support families
Introduced Nudge Letters to
visually show how many
days a student has missed
compared to his peers
Provide these each quarter
in coordination with report
cards/check point progress
reports
Illinois Action for Children is a catalyst for organizing,
developing and supporting strong families and
Powerful communities where children matter most.
Barriers that Parents Face
Work hours
Awareness
Lack of School/Parent
Relationship
Appointments
Illinois Action for Children is a catalyst for organizing,
developing and supporting strong families and
Powerful communities where children matter most.
Barriers that Vulnerable Families Face
Transportation/ Mobility Issues
Domestic Violence
Unstable Housing
Lack of Quality Support
Systems
Live in deep poverty
6. Staff knowledge and training to build strong family-program relationships
All staff members have ongoing training in working with diverse families and
have knowledge about family systems and dynamics and the cultural and
economic factors that shape families’ lives.
7. Transitions
Program staff helps families and children make the adjustment from home
to the program and from the program to home in ways that foster children’s
healthy attachments and development and in ways that are responsive to
family needs and preferences.
Illinois Action for Children is a catalyst for organizing,
developing and supporting strong families and
Powerful communities where children matter most.
Celebrating Families
• Consider awards
that celebrate
classroom or
program-wide
achievement
• Try to steer clear
of honoring single
students
• Include families
+ Put a simple system in place to make
things easier for families.
+ Make things easier for families
Less paper work
Identify what is needed for enrollment right away, and
obtain other items later
Cross train all staff-McKinney Vento
Serve as “no wrong door” for all families
Establish and prioritize partnerships -”More than an MOU”
Illinois Action for Children is a catalyst for organizing,
developing and supporting strong families and
Powerful communities where children matter most.
Cause I Ain’t Got a Pencil
By Joshua T. Dickerson
I woke myself up
Because we ain’t got an alarm clock
Dug in the dirty clothes basket,
Cause ain’t nobody washed my uniform
Brushed my hair and teeth in the dark,
Cause the lights ain’t on
Even got my baby sister ready,
Cause my mama wasn’t home.
Got us both to school on time,
To eat us a good breakfast.
Then when I got to class the teacher fussed
Cause I ain’t got no pencil
+ Reflection: Now What?
Family & Community Engagement Self-Assessment
Make a plan
Work your plan
Revise your plan
Plan again
Illinois Action for Children is a catalyst for organizing,
developing and supporting strong families and
Powerful communities where children matter most.
Resources to Check Out
Attendanceworks.org
Attendanceinstitute.org
Illinois Action for Children is a catalyst for organizing,
developing and supporting strong families and
Powerful communities where children matter most.
Resources to Check Out
+ Q&A Together
+ Thank you for being present
with us today!
Contact information
Jill Bradley [email protected]
Aminah Wyatt-Jones [email protected]
Bryan Stokes [email protected]
