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Presentation (PDF) Open in New Window Handout (PDF) Open in new window Why does family engagement matter? What familes gain What providers gain What it is - Frequency of Participation - Amount of Participation - Duration of Participation - Quality of family-provder relationships - Positive emtional response to program - Average lenght of contacts Different Types of Engagement - Highly Involved ((high participation, high engagement) - Superficially involved (high participation, low engagement) - Sporadically involved (low participation, high engagement) - Uninvolved (low participation, low engagement) Think about your current family engagement strategies Strengthen Family as Child's Primary Educator and Nurturer - Communication - Invite Families - Suggestions should be easy - Tread carefully around parenting The Family is the Expert Attendance must be part of the conversation - Community Referrals - Discuss Family Priorities - Problem-solving - Program is welcoming. - Families receive information about importance Connect Family to Peers and Community as Participating/Contriuting Members - Individualize - Facilitate - Follow-up Transition Empower Family as Advocate and Child Leader - Allow families to feel successful - Praise specifically - Encourage/reinforce questions - Ask for input Support Family Attainment of Safety, Health, and Stability - Know your families - Know your resources - Provider role release - Role of technology Family engagement and Early Intervention go hand in hand How engaged are families, and what are providers doing to engage them? Phone Interviews Phone Interview: Sample Items - My provider helped me to understand the purpose of each activity during the session. - I feel comfortable asking this provider questions and sharing information related to the therapy session. - While your child was with the provider, how much of the session were you able to do other activities (for example, house work, resting, caring for other children)? - How much of the session were you able to try out what the provider was doing with your child? First we interviewed families. - 334 families contacted - 138 families interviewed - 196 families could not be reached - 41% response rate Then we asked their providers to complete an online survey. - 138 providers were contacted - 89 responded - 65% response rate Observational Tool - Expert guidance - Adapted from HOVR A+ (Roggmanet al.) Observational Tool: Sample Items - The provider emphasizes care-giver-selected activities and organizes the home visit using caregiver input. - The provider involves everyone in the room in activities. - The provider uses home’s materials and routines and guides caregivers to identify new uses for household materials to support child’s development. - The caregiver is consistently interested in visit activities and materials Family Assessment Tool - Tool Development - Implementation Identiying Family Strengths Focusing on Strengths Influences your Perceptions - Johnny came from a violent home and he has a lot of anger issues. He is very disruptive in class and can’t sit still. He is a handful. - Johnny is very observant and notices what his classmates and teachers are doing and how they are feeling. Although he gets frustrated easily, he also hugs people when he is feeling happy. He enjoys Legos and will sit for longer periods of time doing this activity than any other activity. - Sarah is wheelchair bound. She can’t use scissors or reach toys and she needs help at snack time and in the bathroom. - Sarah is a bright little girl who knows her letters and numbers already. She listens well and is learning to ask her friends to help her with things in the classroom. Sarah uses a wheelchair to get around on the playground and will tell her teacher when she needs help with a project. Barriers to Engagement -- - Katie Herron (kgherron@Indiana.edu) - Follow us on Facebook (Early Childhood Center) - Check out our website: www.iidc.Indiana.edu (click on Early Childhood Center)