Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock
()
or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Family engagement is a collaborative and strengths-based process through which early childhood professionals, families, and children build positive and goal-oriented relationships. It is a shared responsibility of families and staff at all levels that requires mutual respect for the roles and strengths each has to offer. Family engagement focuses on culturally and linguistically responsive relationship-building with key family members in a child’s life. These people include pregnant women and expectant families, mothers, fathers, grandparents, and other adult caregivers. It requires making a commitment to creating and sustaining an ongoing partnership that supports family well-being. It also honors and supports the parent-child relationships that are central to a child’s healthy development, school readiness, and well-being. The Office of Head Start Parent, Family, and Community Engagement Framework is a guide to learning how family engagement promotes positive, enduring change for children, families, and communities.
This standard requires programs to promote shared responsibility with parents for children’s early learning and development and offer opportunities to participate in a research-based parenting curriculum.
Many programs may face low family attendance at group socializations for a variety of reasons. Find out ways programs can meet this challenge and address low family attendance.
Review the requirements for developing a family partnerships process that identifies family strengths and needs and features an approach that individualizes services.
Explore this resource to foster positive parent-child relationships through everyday staff-parent relationships. Find prompts and questions that invite partnership-building conversations with parents.
Personal and cultural background informs how people parent. Head Start programs can provide important support to parents who want the best for their children.
Secure relationships are the foundation of trust. By using positive, strengths-based attitudes, staff can create trusting, supportive partnerships with parents.
The positive, goal-directed relationships Head Start staff form with parents can strengthen the relationships parents have with their children. This parallel process supports parents in self-discovery.
Head Start staff can use these three steps to build relationships with parents and support their learning and decision-making.
Head Start staff and parents bring unique elements to their relationship while they work with a focus on supporting children’s growth and learning.
Explore resources to support strengthening parent-child relationships through everyday staff-parent relationships.
HeadStart.gov
official website of the Administration for Children and Families
