Embedded Files
Engaging Families & Purpose
Gads Hill Center has the plan to identify and engage prospective and enrolled hard-to-reach/hard-to-engage parents to connect them to additional services. We have a full-time Family Engagement Coordinator who participates in community meetings to identify families who need services, an outreach committee secures tables to participate in community events and relationships with Child and Family Connection staff in the areas of service. Participation in community events, social media, local newspapers, media outlets, and word of mouth from our current parents are some of the ways we connect prospective parents to services. We utilize a variety of culturally inclusive strategies to engage enrolled parents who are hard to reach and to increase parent participation overall. We start with a welcoming event at the beginning of the program year to inform parents about our policies and procedures and offer the resources and supports available, we explain our “Whole family approach” and begin to build rapport and strengthen relationships. Parents are offered opportunities to engage through the Parent Policy Committee, which offers skills-building opportunities, networking, resume and workforce development, leadership, public speaking, and community advocacy workshops.
Parents & Pathways to Family Engagement
Family Engagement Outcomes
GHC staff should approach Family Engagement by integrating the following strategies should include practices that result in
Family well-being, in which parents and families develop trusting relationships that nurture their child’s learning and development.
Positive Parent Child-Relationship, in which positive parent-child relationships are based on sensitive, responsive, and predictable care that provides the foundation for children’s learning.
Families as lifelong educators, in which parents and families participate in the everyday learning of their children at home, school, and communities.
Families as lifelong learners, in which parents and families address their own learning interests through education, training, and other experiences.
Family engagement in transitions, in which parents and families support children’s learning as they transition from infant/toddler to preschool-aged and kindergarten programs and through elementary school.
Family connections to peers and community, in which connections are made with peers and mentors through both formal and informal networks that enhance social well-being and community life.
Families as advocates, in which participation in leadership, decision-making, program policy development, and community and state organizing activities improve children’s learning experience
Required Services for Families
GHC staff are required to conduct family engagement services in the family's preferred language, or through an interpreter, to the extent possible and ensure families have the opportunity to share personal information in an environment in which they feel safe. Agencies must establish a Parent Committee (PC) comprised exclusively of parents/guardians of currently enrolled children at each site/center as early in the program year as possible.
Activities should include:
• Activities to ensure parents/guardians of currently enrolled children understand the process for elections to the Policy Council and other leadership opportunities.
• Opportunities for PCC members to assist staff in developing and implementing local program policies, activities, and services to ensure they meet the needs of children and families.
• A process for PC members to communicate with the Head Start Policy Council
• PCC agendas must dedicate time to allow for parent questions/discussion
Sharing Information with Families
Further, GHC hosts ten parent meetings throughout the program year and brings workshops that address areas of interest to parents. These workshop topics include but are not limited to mental health, nutrition, dental health education, financial literacy, children's math, and literacy at home information. Community resources agencies and schools are also invited to present their resources during these meetings. Parent bulletin boards are updated monthly, and site activities are shared with parents through monthly calendars and then sent home. Incentives, childcare, and snacks are provided to motivate parents to attend monthly meetings.
Creating Family Goals and Partnerships
Gads Hill Center’s strategy for relationship-building with our families focuses on continuously improving systems and activities to engage and support parents and families. Staff and families build ongoing, respectful, and goal-oriented relationships and work together on activities that promote family engagement and work toward family goals. To make an impact on the program environments, leadership supports all staff to build relationships, both with each other and with families and communities. Staff and families work together to set expectations and support family goals and children’s learning and development in culturally and linguistically responsive ways. Two-way communication and relationship building with families are adapted to meet changing family and community circumstances. We also incorporate financial literacy training into our programs that combine financial education, coaching, and access to safe financial products to empower Latino families to make informed economic decisions. This complements our work to promote financial regulations that protect Latinos as they seek to increase and maintain wealth.
Family Engagement Activities
Gads Hill Center implements family engagement activities that are designed to foster parental confidence and skills in promoting children’s learning and development. These activities provide them with opportunities to contribute to what their children learn in our programs and (or what activities are used to provide learning opportunities) to help parents learn what is developmentally appropriate for children. These include but are not limited to family nights, parent meeting, parent cafes, agency-wide events, and volunteering opportunities in the classrooms. During these engagement activities, parents are provided with opportunities to practice parenting skills to promote children’s learning and development as well as information on the benefits of bilingualism and biliteracy.
Regularly, parents and staff plan activities to strengthen parents’ knowledge and confidence about child growth and development, particularly in the area of social/emotional development, and how best to meet their child's needs.
Training in the following area:
• Attachment
• Self-regulation
• Focus and control
• Communication
• Active listening
• Managing emotions
Parents must also be given opportunities to increase their knowledge of child growth and development in the following ways:
• Parents and staff will plan activities that strengthen parent knowledge and confidence about child development. In addition, parents will have the opportunity to offer strategies to meet their child’s needs best.
• Activities will take place at parent meetings, parent/teacher conferences, informal/formal workshops, home visits, daily/weekly/monthly take-home folders, and parent participation in the classroom. Examples include
Literacy and language development activities when volunteering
Nutrition, and health activities will be given to parents during parent meetings and to take home
Parenting skills/discipline/guidance discussions will occur during meetings and during parent/teacher conferences
Disabilities/special needs will be given to parents as needed
Information will be provided in both oral and written forms.
As appropriate, information may be provided in the primary language of the family
Parent Curriculum
Gads Hill Center implements Parents as Teachers as (PAT) for its researched-based parenting curriculum. Parents as Teachers provides support for Gads Hill Center to meet Early Head standards as well as further quality standards that represent best practices in the field. The Program ensures that parents are engaged in a parent curriculum Gads Hill Center uses the evidence-based and DFSS-approved Creative Curriculum for Infants, Toddlers & Twos in all Early Head Start and Head Start programs. The curriculum is based on the following principles: 1) that positive interactions and relationships with adults provide a critical foundation for successful learning; 2) social-emotional competence is a significant factor in school success; 3) constructive, purposeful play supports essential learning; 4) the physical environment affects learning; and 5) quality of learning interactions and teacher-family partnerships promote development and learning. Staff utilizes Creative Curriculum’s daily instructional tools, research-based objectives, routine times, and guides for engaging children in daily experiences.
Parent Activities to Promote Child Learning and Development
Education and Program staff must conduct activities that promote the parents’ role as the first and primary teachers of their children. These activities may include but are not limited to
Implementing a DFSS/Chicago Commons research-based, parent education curriculum (Parents as Teachers and Baby Talk).
Holding parent engagement workshops, training, and family engagement events.
Following up with families to provide support and strategies when consistent absences occur (see ERSEA Section).
Holding intentional male engagement initiatives.
Family socializations that focus on family needs.
Using the family assessment data to engage families in goal setting and outcomes.
Implementing meaningful goals in FPAs.
Implementing parent activities and or groups, including those with the mental health consultant, focusing on supporting the parent-child relationship.
Conducting teacher and family engagement meetings with parents.
Family's Engagement and home Visiting
Parent and Family Engagement in Home-based/Home-visiting model—In the homebased/home-visiting program option, the home-visitor takes on the role of teacher and family support specialist.
Family support specialists/service workers must provide at minimum once a month, a group session/meeting for the parents of children ages birth to three.
The content of the groups must have a focus on child development, parenting, and parent education curriculum topics
Family service workers must provide at minimum once a month, a group session/meeting for the parents of children ages birth to three. The content of the groups must have a focus on child development, parenting, and parent education curriculum topics.
Re-engaging Families
The Gads Hill Center team is spread across different programs; however, these teams work together to provide holistic approaches to serving families. Parents who have older children, in addition to children in early childhood programs, often have them enrolled in other Gads Hill Center youth-focused programs. If a parent is difficult to reach/engage, our teamwork collaboratively makes contact and determines how best to engage and support the family. Gads Hill Center has committed to our families and assists parents in accessing resources if a family is experiencing difficulties that impede their ability to fully engage.
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