Research shows that children are more likely to complete
high school and continue on to higher education when parents are
involved in their child’s education. Head Start offers parents many
exciting opportunities to become involved in their children's early
learning experience.
The three primary avenues for parent participation are involvement in decision-making, involvement at their child’s site, involvement in parent-oriented activities, and involvement in home activities with their children.
Decision-making starts at the site with parents forming a local parent committee. Parents join Head Start staff in making decisions about content and operation of the site and how they and their child will participate in it.
Parents are elected at the site level to serve on Policy Council which is a more formal structure of decision-making. Parents at this level will participate in policy-making and the operation of the entire program.
All parents are encouraged to visit or volunteer at their child’s site. Parents who volunteer at the site have a better understanding of what the center is doing for their child and the kind of help they may need at home. Their presence demonstrates to the children that their parents are interested in what they are doing. This experience helps parents to develop greater skills and self-confidence, consider a variety of child-rearing techniques, and gain experience that could qualify them for paid employment. Qualified parents receive preference for employment in the Head Start program.
Parents are respected as adults with interests and aspirations of their own. At the beginning of each year they develop a plan of activities together which gives them ongoing opportunities to learn, share, and grow.
Through home visits by the site staff and suggestions for activities which parents and children can do together, Head Start guides and assists parents in encouraging their children’s development. This kind of parent participation reinforces and supports the child’s total Head Start experience
The three primary avenues for parent participation are involvement in decision-making, involvement at their child’s site, involvement in parent-oriented activities, and involvement in home activities with their children.
Decision-making starts at the site with parents forming a local parent committee. Parents join Head Start staff in making decisions about content and operation of the site and how they and their child will participate in it.
Parents are elected at the site level to serve on Policy Council which is a more formal structure of decision-making. Parents at this level will participate in policy-making and the operation of the entire program.
All parents are encouraged to visit or volunteer at their child’s site. Parents who volunteer at the site have a better understanding of what the center is doing for their child and the kind of help they may need at home. Their presence demonstrates to the children that their parents are interested in what they are doing. This experience helps parents to develop greater skills and self-confidence, consider a variety of child-rearing techniques, and gain experience that could qualify them for paid employment. Qualified parents receive preference for employment in the Head Start program.
Parents are respected as adults with interests and aspirations of their own. At the beginning of each year they develop a plan of activities together which gives them ongoing opportunities to learn, share, and grow.
Through home visits by the site staff and suggestions for activities which parents and children can do together, Head Start guides and assists parents in encouraging their children’s development. This kind of parent participation reinforces and supports the child’s total Head Start experience
Parent Involvement
- Home visits
- Parent groups and classes
- Information and referrals to community services
- Opportunities for family involvement, personal growth, empowerment and leadership
- Information on health and nutrition and child development
Kids Central, Inc. Early Head
Start and Head Start support families through:
- All learning takes place within relationships
- We can have a positive impact on parent-child relationships through our work
- We acknowledge that the quality of a parent-child relationship shapes the course and nature of a child's development
- All parents care about their children
- Respect and caring for individuals guide our partnerships with families
- Kids Central, Inc. can support families in defining and meeting their goals and can provide families with support/resources to overcome barriers to reaching their goals
- All families have strengths and potential and are resources to themselves and others
- Growth is a natural and ongoing process
- Access to resources and information increases self-sufficiency
- All families need support systems at one time or another
- Support personal growth, leadership and self-advocacy skills
Kids Central, Inc. Early Head Start and Head
Start staff members believe that:
The Early Head Start and Head Start programs operated by Kids
Central, Inc. are family support programs whose aim is to keep
families healthy and self-sufficient. The programs offer a broad
range of preventive and supportive services that are delivered to
families individually and in parent groups. Staff members offer
support services with flexibility and respect for cultural
differences.
Family Support
- The Community Resource Guide created by Head Start is distributed to each family within the first 30 days of enrollment
- Families receive information about a variety of community services and are referred upon request to: Local colleges and adult education programs, employment services, housing and rental assistance services, food and clothing services, child care providers, disability services, transportation services, mental health providers, health and dental care services.
Community Services & Resource Access
- Case Management - Before the first education home visit and throughout the school year
- Family Interest Survey - During family orientation the family's participation interests are determined and supported by all staff through case management action plans.
- Family Assessment - Initiated at the first family services home visit and utilized throughout the year as needs are identified and services are delivered.
- Family Partnership Agreement - Initiated between 45 and 120 days of a families enrollment. Parents/Guardians identify a goal and objectives to achieve the desired outcome.
Family Goal Setting
Head Start deals with families facing numerous challenges in
life. Each family has its own story and its own needs. Our Family
Advocates and our entire staff work hard to find solutions for
families.
Each family works on a plan to address any challenges. Hand-in-hand, our staff and the families we serve create the best practical approach to create happy, healthy and strong families.
One of the best tools we annually provide parents is a comprehensive resource directory of the health and human services available in our communities.
Each family works on a plan to address any challenges. Hand-in-hand, our staff and the families we serve create the best practical approach to create happy, healthy and strong families.
One of the best tools we annually provide parents is a comprehensive resource directory of the health and human services available in our communities.
Family Support Plan
One of the most important tasks of this department is
building a rapport with and becoming partners with our families.
Building partnerships with our families is an on-going process that
can provide them [families] with much needed support. The Family and
Community Partnership Services team works with the families to help
them identify and achieve any goals they may have. When necessary,
to help families achieve their goals and/or to address other issues
they may have, Family and Community Partnership Services makes
referrals and/or provides them with additional resource information.
This department also addresses, with the help of the other
specialists, any concerns a parent might have with any aspect of the
program.
To adequately address our children’s needs, the Family and Community Partnership Services staff shares the caseload. In the beginning of the school year, members of the team meet and divide, as evenly as possible, the number of children for whom a staff member is responsible.
To adequately address our children’s needs, the Family and Community Partnership Services staff shares the caseload. In the beginning of the school year, members of the team meet and divide, as evenly as possible, the number of children for whom a staff member is responsible.
Family Partnerships
Kids Central, Inc. Head Start Program is funded by the
Federal Government to serve 360 children. The KCI Early Head Start
Program is funded to serve 44 children. To meet this goal, the
Family and Community Partnership Services Department (along with
other staff) must actively recruit eligible children. Although
recruitment is an on going process, the majority of the children are
recruited during the Spring for the upcoming school year. As a
result of the recruitment efforts, many parents submit an
application to the program. Before a child is accepted into the
program, Family and Community Partnership Services must first
determine if s/he is eligible. If eligible, the child must be
screened by ranking the child’s needs using the Application
Screening Criteria. During the screening process, if a child meets
the screening guidelines and is placed in a class, s/he must then be
enrolled in the program. Family and Community Partnership Services
contacts the parent and schedules a time to enroll the child.
Upon enrolling, Family Services and parents discuss any concerns and expectations of both the Program and the families. Standardized forms detailing the child’s developmental and health history, as well as emergency and pick-up information, are completed at this time. Once the enrollment papers are complete, Family and Community Partnership Services is responsible for entering the data into the database and creating the child’s permanent record. Also, Family and Community Partnership Services is responsible for updating the child’s record in the database.
Upon enrolling, Family Services and parents discuss any concerns and expectations of both the Program and the families. Standardized forms detailing the child’s developmental and health history, as well as emergency and pick-up information, are completed at this time. Once the enrollment papers are complete, Family and Community Partnership Services is responsible for entering the data into the database and creating the child’s permanent record. Also, Family and Community Partnership Services is responsible for updating the child’s record in the database.
Recruitment and Enrollment
The tasks and responsibilities of this department are diverse;
however, the rewards of providing support to our families are
priceless. Please let us know if we can be of any assistance to you.
We are committed to providing the very best support possible
- building partnerships with community agencies
- attending various intra & interagency meetings
- substituting
- contributing to the web site and newsletter
- calculating the Average Daily Attendance
- submitting a monthly attendance report to the Management Information Services Department (MIS)
- submitting a monthly report to the Policy Council
- coordinating parent trainings/maintaining a training calendar
- calculating parent volunteer hours
- maintaining the department’s resource notebooks
- maintaining the department’s budget
- attending Parent Meetings (as needed)
There are a variety of tasks for which Family and Community
Partnership Services is responsible. While the team shares some of
these responsibilities, some tasks have been delegated so that only
one person is responsible for carrying them out; nonetheless,
collaboration takes place as necessary. To insure collaboration
occurs, the team meets at least once a week to discuss the goals and
objectives of the week, to update each other on the activities of
the previous week (including parent & teacher concerns), and to
identify both long-term and short-term goals. Some of the additional
tasks, both shared and delegated, are listed below:
Additional Tasks &
Responsibilities
There may be times when a teacher or his/her staff has concerns
about a child and/or the child’s parents. When this happens, Family
Services provides support by investigating the situation and
addressing it in a way that is supportive to all parties.
Additionally, the teaching staff may have intra-agency concerns.
When there are concerns that Family and Community Partnership
Services can address, it will. Each member of the Family and
Community Partnership Services team addresses the issues at the
assigned centers for which s/he is responsible; however,
collaboration between the team members takes place if additional
support is needed.
Support to Teaching Staff
The Family Advocates are the first contacts that families make
when applying for entrance into the Kids Central program. It is the
Family and Community Partnership division that does the intake
applications for Early Head Start and Head Start. The Family
Advocate creates the link between the family, the classroom and the
community. Using a case management approach, staff develops
partnership agreements with families in order to assist and support
the family to meet their own needs and attain the goals they set for
themselves. The Family and Community Partnership division initiates
new community partnerships that ensure collaborations between
community agencies and parents. Resources and referral information
is provided to parents to assist with needs in time of crisis and
enhancement of goal completion. GED and other classes and workshops
are available to parents. As the primary outreach arm of the
program, Family Advocates maintain on-going contact with the
families through home visits, telephone contacts, written notes and
parental visits to the centers. (Evening or weekend home visiting is
available for parents who work or who are in school/training.)
Family Advocates
Welcome to the Family and Community Partnership Services
Division of Kids Central, Inc. Early Head Start and Head Start Program.
It consists of a Family and Community Partnerships Director, two Family
Advocates, and an Information System Specialist. The objectives and
goals of this division are numerous; however, its main purpose is
three-fold: 1) to recruit and enroll children eligible for the Head
Start program; 2) to partner with and support our families in the
program; and 3) to support the teaching staff in the best way possible.
Family and Community Partnership Services acts as an advocate for the
families by assisting them to secure community resources and then
tracking their progress for follow-up.
Family and Community Services Staff provide an outreach and recruitment
process to enroll eligible children, encourage parent participation and
assist families in securing basic family needs. Family Advocates act as
referral resources for all families, networking information on community
services, referral services, emergency assistance and crisis
intervention as needed. Family and Community Services are offered to all
program participants in all models of program services, Center Based or
Home Based. Parents are encouraged to become active participants at
Local Parent Meetings, Regional Committee Meetings and Policy Council
Meetings for shared governance of the Head Start Program. Family
Advocates are always available to families to conduct home visits and
help families work on long range and short term goals and help families
develop action steps that need to be taken to achieve these goals and a
feeling of success.
Families are given guidance to identify their goals, interests, strengths
and needed services. Families are referred to appropriate community
resources to help families reach their goals and meet their needs.
Families in need of crisis intervention are assisted immediately.
Training is also provided for families in areas such as child abuse,
family violence, and budgeting.
An Introduction to the Family and Community Partnerships Division
Family & Community Partnerships
Serving the Head Start Community Since 1965
