Family Partnership with a Head Start Agency: A Case Study of a Refugee Family.

Abstract

The attendance of children from refugee families at Head Start agencies provides the opportunity for Head Start staff to foster trusting, collaborative, respectful, and goal-oriented family partnerships characterized by comprehensive two-way communication and that are intended to support child and family outcomes.  These partnerships help launch refugee families as partners in their children’s education and ultimately improve family and child outcomes.  This 5 month-long qualitative case study examined the relationship between a refugee family whose child was at risk for disability and the staff at the Head Start agency he attended.  The findings indicated that the relationship between the family and Head Start staff was positive but fell short of the type of partnership that the Head Start national standards advocate. Implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed.