It is essential that families are fully engaged in the lives of their children including helping their children become ready for school. Below are several examples of best practices in establishing family engagement in your program.

• Conduct an assessment of your family engagement plan.  Review the level of family engagement that currently exists in your program. Determine how your program is set up to involve parents. Ask yourself:
  • How are families encouraged to participate?
  • How do you assess the strengths and needs of the children and families?
  • Do you have established partnerships in your community to meet all of the needs of the children and families?
  • How do you communicate with parents to show them that they are their child’s first and most important teacher?

• Implement the Parent, Family and Community Engagement (PFCE) Framework. The PFCE Framework is a roadmap to ensure that family engagement is integrated in all systems across your program. The foundations of the framework (program leadership, continuous program improvement, and professional development) are the building blocks to establish a strong level of family engagement throughout your program. Strategies to create family engagement are centered on 4 impact areas – program environment, family partnerships, teaching & learning, and community partnerships. The framework presents 7 parent and family outcomes that represent the goals for engagement with parents, families and the community.

• Support the home-school connection.  The relationship between teachers and parents is critical in creating a foundation of school success. Regular communication between parents and teachers can build support and strengthen the important work that teachers do in the classroom. This frequent communication will allow teachers to:
  • gain a better understanding of the background and experiences of the child,
  • provide parents with information on how their child is progressing in school, and
  • provide parents with ways to continue the learning at home.

Model activities that parents can do at home with their child – such as talking with their child during daily routines, reading to their child and providing opportunities for their child to draw and print – just to name a few.

Looking for training on Family Engagement? Give us a call at (704) 451-3255 or email us at kristinecortina@hsessentials.com.

The Family Service Worker is the first point of contact for our families. They play an essential role in your program, especially in the area of case management. Case management is a process that was not well-named as our families aren’t “cases” and our job is not to “manage” them.

We see case management as a process that includes:

• establishing a good working relationship with the family;
• implementing a goal-setting process with the family;
• linking the family to services and resources;
• following up with the family regularly and maintaining good documentation; and
• “closing the loop” to ensure that the family receives all needed services.

“Closing the loop” is a follow-up system that confirms that each family is linked to all needed services.  The Family Service Worker systematically checks in with the family on a regular basis assisting the family in accessing services, following up to ensure they are satisfied with the services, and providing guidance and support until the child and family receives all needed services.

We utilize a family strengths-based model, utilizing each family’s individual strengths, to assist them in achieving their goals. Strong planning and organizational skills as well as keeping families engaged are keys to successful case management. An effective case management system leads to positive outcomes for children and families.

Looking for case management training for your Family Service Workers?  Give us a call at (704) 451-3255 or email us at kristinecortina@hsessentials.com.