Supporting Family Engagement with Parents of Infants and Toddlers

Abstract

Engaging families of preschool children in partnerships with early childcare providers includes, among other activities, engaging in meaningful conversation, linking parents to needed services, and supporting parents as they capitalize on family protective factors. Early childhood programs struggle to implement systematic processes to support teachers in engaging families and documenting the interactions. This report summarizes the development and implementation of a tool designed to facilitate family engagement with childcare. The study targets a rural, multi-center agency serving Early Head Start families using an inventory called The Family Map. This report provides evidence of the feasibility of implementation, the reliability, and validity of the screening questions, and the range of risk and strengths identified in Early Head Start families served.