FEP-10: Family Engagement

Purpose:

This policy ensures that B-5 ECEAP providers create inclusive, diverse, and accessible opportunities for family engagement, enabling families to participate in activities that foster community, personal growth, and leadership development, while ensuring that participation is voluntary and not tied to enrollment.

1. Family Engagement Opportunities

Contractors must ensure that B-5 ECEAP providers offer a variety of opportunities for families to engage, including:

• Volunteering: Parents and guardians can volunteer in the classroom, at the site, or within the community.
• Family Connections: Programs must create opportunities for families to connect with each other and build community.
• Parenting Education: Providers must offer learning opportunities related to parenting and child development.
• Leadership Development: Providers must create avenues for parents to grow leadership skills through participation in committees, leadership roles, and program governance.

Participation in these activities is voluntary, and providers must offer a range of options to accommodate diverse family needs and preferences.

2. Inclusive Engagement Plan

Contractors must ensure that B-5 ECEAP providers develop a written plan to actively engage members of historically marginalized and underrepresented communities. The plan must outline strategies to encourage involvement from:

(a) Families whose primary or home language is not English: Providers must offer materials and opportunities in families’ home languages and provide interpretation services as needed.

(b) Parents or guardians working full time: Programs must offer flexible scheduling or virtual options for participation to accommodate working parents or guardians. 

(c) Fathers or father figures: Providers must intentionally create opportunities to engage fathers or father figures, recognizing their important role in the child’s development.

(d) Family members not living at home, including deployed or incarcerated parents or guardians: Programs must find creative ways to include family members who may be away from home due to work, deployment, or incarceration, such as virtual meetings, letters, or other forms of communication.

(e) Parents or guardians with disabilities: Programs must ensure that activities are accessible to parents or guardians with disabilities, providing necessary accommodations.

(f) LGBTQIA+ Families: Providers must intentionally include and affirm families from the LGBTQIA+ community, creating a welcoming and inclusive environment.

(g) Tribal Families: Programs must incorporate culturally relevant practices and invite participation from tribal families, recognizing the unique traditions and values of Indigenous communities.

(h) Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Families: Programs must develop strategies to engage BIPOC families, recognizing systemic barriers and working to ensure equitable participation.

(i) Other underrepresented families as applicable: Providers must continually assess their community’s needs and engage other underrepresented families, as relevant to their population.

3. Voluntary Participation

Contractors must ensure that family participation in engagement opportunities is encouraged, but not a condition of a child’s enrollment in the program. Families are welcome to engage in the ways that best suit their needs, and all participation is strictly voluntary.

This policy fosters an inclusive, welcoming environment for all families, recognizing their diverse needs and ensuring that engagement opportunities are accessible, meaningful, and voluntary

 

Adoption Date:  First Reading 10.24, Adopted