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Chapter Ten
DEVELOPING A COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM 

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Clear communication among parents, staff, administration and policy groups have proved to be an important factor in successful parent participation. Head Start performance standards require that a planned communications system be developed to assure regular two-way communications between parents and staff and to assure the transmittal of information to and from parents and policy groups.

The communications system should be planned by the parent involvement coordinator, parents, and staff. Those who develop the parent involvement plan may assume responsibility for planning the communications system, or a separate committee may be formed. The committee might include the center director, parent involvement coordinator, heads of component services, policy groups, and parent representatives. Community members skilled in communications could also provide assistance. Planners should determine what information should be communicated, what media or means of communication should be used, a schedule for regular planned communications, and assignments of responsibility for various communications.

COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN PARENTS AND STAFF

Information To communicate
Parents and staff should exchange information about the program and its services, activities for children, the progress being made by children, policy group actions and issues, and resources in the community. Staff must be well-informed themselves so they can communicate clearly with parents.

Means of Communication
Parents and staff communicate with each other in both formal and informal ways throughout the year. Formal means of communication include newsletters, policy group meetings, general parent meetings, and training sessions. While formal communications are easier to plan in advance, informal interchanges between parents and staff members are often more effective. These include parent-staff conferences, phone calls, home visits, notes, and brief conversations.

Newsletters should be clear and concise; topics should be interesting and varied. Topics could include the following:

• Dates and agendas for meetings; summaries of previous meetings.
• Home activities to reinforce and expand center experiences.
• Expressions of appreciation of volunteers and requests for volunteers for specific jobs..
• Job openings.
• Future field trips and reports of field trips taken by parents.
• Description of a community agency or service (one per issue).
• Policy group report, including a summary of the minutes, budget or program matter to consider, and important actions taken.
• Column by staff member giving child-rearing tips or other information (one per issue).
• Letter from the director.
• Election information.
• Recommendations of TV specials or magazine articles.
• Interviews with persons in the community

The way in which parents and staff communicate during conferences, home visits, phone calls, and brief conversations is often more important than what they say. Such things as body language, voice quality, pauses, and silences convey as much information as words. Staff members should be alert to the nonverbal signals parents are sending as well as to their verbal message.

In conversing with parents, listening is as important as talking. Active listening, or reflecting another's feelings, is a helpful tool to use, Below are some hints on how to be an active listener.

• Notice especially the attitude and feelings involved in the message..
• Tell the person as exactly as you can what you heard him say in terms of the feelings and attitudes you heard expressed.
• Try to use words different from the sender without changing his meaning.
• Do not add or subtract from the sender's message. But deal with the feelings you hear instead of staying with the facts.
• Do not respond with a message of your own, such as evaluating, sympathizing, giving own opinion, using logic or persuasion, analyzing, advising, ordering, or questioning.
• Some ways to start learning to respond to the feelings you hear expressed might be to start your response in the following ways:

1. ''You feel that ...,"
2. "Sounds like you feel...,"
3. "What I hear you saying is ...,"
• Some benefits of being an active listener are:

1. Shows that listener is interested and cares for speaker.
2. Proves that speaker has been heard and understood.
3. Offers speaker chance to express feelings and ventilate.
4. Communicates acceptance.
5. Fosters speaker's moving from the superficial to deeper feelings and fosters insights.
6. Fosters speaker's growth as his own problem-solver.
7. Establishes a warm and honest relationship.

Scheduling Communications
The timing of communications should not be haphazard; parents appreciate knowing when they can expect opportunities to exchange information with the staff.

The planners should determine how often various types of communication will take place. The schedule should include weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual communications. The schedule should be realistic in terms of how much can actually be accomplished by staff members. It is better to plan a quarterly newsletter than a monthly one which goes out three weeks late. Below is a sample communications schedule.
 

• Weekly communications
  Mimeographed home learning activities from teacher to parent
  Parent Activity
  
• Monthly Communications
  Newsletter
  Parent meeting
  Phone call to parents
  
• Quarterly Communications
  Parent-teacher conferences
  Parent social event

In addition, home visits should be made at least three times a year.

Delegating Responsibility For Communications
The planners should clearly establish who will assume responsibility for seeing that each form of communication is carried out on schedule. In addition, if the person responsible needs additional help, assistants should be selected.

COMMUNICATIONS WITH POLICY GROUPS

Because policy groups can only make responsible decisions when they have the necessary information, it is imperative that they be well-informed about program status, policies, problems, and changes. The director and parent involvement coordinator should make the following information available to policy group members before meetings; the groups should receive the regular reports at least five days prior to their meeting.

• Regular Monthly Financial Report:
  This report should show how much money has been spent to date on each budgeted item, and how much money is left. It also should show any changes of monies from one item to another, as well as the reasons for such change.. (Such changes should not be made without prior approval of the policy group). The financial projection (money to be spent) for the following month should be included.
  
• Regular Monthly Program Status Report:
  The monthly report on the status in achieving the goals and objective of program should tell of program, progress, any program problems, and the measures taken to correct them. It should also state program needs and recommendations to fulfill such needs. The report should be in summary form and include information on all delegate agency programs.
  
• Report on Staff Vacancies and Copies of Job Announcements:
  This report should state why the job is vacant, the date when the vacancy occurred, and the special circumstance which created the vacancy. Job announcements should also include a full work description with typical tasks to be performed, salary scale and qualifications. The policy group personnel committee should evaluate the need to fill such a vacancy.
  
• Copies of All Correspondence With The Administration for Children, Youth and Families:
  This information is necessary so that the PPC can be well informed about any problems identified by ACYF and the measures needed to correct them. These reports reflect the program's progress or problems as seen by ACYF and also indicate the responsiveness ot the grantee Head Start administration to those problems. The reports also provide a measure for administrative evaluation.
  
• Copies of All New Guidelines:
  Any new guidelines should be immediately sent to all policy group members so that they will be informed of new program changes or requirements.
  
• Copies of All New Legislation Affecting Head Start or Child Care:
  The policy groups should be kept informed of all new legislative changes. These changes may affect the administration of the program, its priorities, and the amount of money to be allotted to it.
  
• A Report on All Program Changes:
  This report should contain a summary of the old program, the reason for changes, and an estimate of the amount of money involved to make the change. Also, the report should describe the new program with a complete plan for implementation, showing how it will serve to achieve existing goals.
  
• A Progress Report on the Grant Application Process with a Time Schedule:
  This report is needed so that the policy group can review and be involved in every stage of the building of the program. The time schedule is essential so that the policy group can determine if deadlines are being met.
  
• List of Upcoming Meetings and Conferences:
  A schedule of meetings and conferences for parents and staff should be submitted to the PPC so that they can decide which meetings should be attended. The policy committee should approve any travel, per diem, or related fees for parents or staff taken from the Head Start budget, unless such activities are specified and approved at time of proposal submission.
  
• Grant Application (Funding Package):
  The PPC should have copies of the grant application which they approved at the time of submission to ACYF, as well as copies of the approved funding package. The PPC can refer to the funding package when reviewing program expenditures.
  
• Copies of the Minutes of Meetings from Delegate Agencies, Boards and Policy Groups:
  Members of policy groups should receive copies of minutes from delegate or grantee board meetings and all policy group meetings. These minutes provide information on the degree to which representatives are voicing the views of parents. They also provide for program evaluation.
  
• Standing and Special Committee Reports:
  All standing and special committees should submit their written reports and recommendations to the total policy group for approval. The reports should contain a list of matters discussed, opinions of the committee, factual data, rationale for recommendation and the actual recommendations.

COMMUNICATIONS WITH COMMUNITY AGENCIES

Community agencies often have been involved in planning a Head Start Program. It is important to nurture their initial investment through frequent communications, One way of insuring the continuing involvement of community representatives is including them in the membership of the parent policy committee and council. Additionally, progress report and newsletters should be
forwarded to all agencies regularly. News letters are opportunities to acknowledge and thank these agencies for help given or stands taken. Community members should be invited to social events and ceremonies at the center and to conduct training in their areas of expertise. As Head Start staff and parents visit other programs and develop relationships with staff members in community health and welfare agencies, a sense of cooperation and responsibility for keeping each other informed of the needs of Head Start families develops.

The parent involvement coordinator works in cooperation with the social services component to maintain these important relationships. Together they need to clarify responsibilities for making and maintaining contacts with the appropriate agencies and institutions. It helps both components to develop a concrete and workable plan for sharing information, orally or in writing.

Information on financial assistance, family and employment counseling, legal aid, adult education and vocational training should be collected and studied by staff so that they can inform parents. A list of these services and agencies should be updated regularly for parents by the parent involvement or social services coordinator.

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