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Chapter Nine
WRITING A PARENT INVOLVEMENT PLAN 

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"How do I know what I think, until I see what I've written?"

 W. H. Auden

At the beginning of each year, parent involvement personnel, parents, and staff come together to design a plan of action for integrating parents into every aspect of the Head Start program. The planning process itself invites parents and staff into an ongoing partnership. As they discuss the implications of each objective of the program, they begin to understand what each seeks for the children and adults who make up their Head Start community. As they narrow down activities and tasks which will fulfill these objectives, they discover each other's skills, strengths, and interests. As they set timetables and assume responsibility for carrying out the plan, they begin to invest their time and energy in Head Start.

Often parent involvement plans are developed at the delegate or grantee level; each center then determines specific ways to put them into effect. In some cases, the center initiates its own plan. Usually it is the parent involvement coordinator who has responsibility for making certain that a comprehensive plan is written by parents and staff annually. In doing so, the following must be considered:

· Content - what to include in the plan.
· Form - method of arranging detail.
· Planning process - who will be involved and how it should be done.

CONTENT OF THE PLAN

The content of the parent involvement plan must outline, in detail, the ways in which staff and parents will implement the parent participation policies set forth in "The Parents" (OCD Transmittal Notice 70.2) and in the Head Start Performance Standards.

Because the planners must be familiar with all objectives and performance standards relating to parents, this section provides summaries of those of the parent involvement component as well as those in the education, health, and social services components.

Parent Involvement Component
The parent involvement component has three primary objectives. The first is to provide a planned program of experiences and activities which support and enhance the role of parents as the principle influence on their child's education and development. The second is to provide a program that recognizes parents as responsible guardians and prime educators of their children as well as contributors to the Head Start program and their communities. The third objective is to provide opportunities for parents to participate in decision-making, in the classroom, in adult activities which they have developed, and in working with their own children at home in connection with the Head Start staff.

To meet the performance standards the Head Start program must develop a plan for parent participation which enhances the development of parenting skills and provides for communications among program management, staff, and parents. In addition, the program must establish procedures and provide support which will enable parents and area residents to influence the character and operation of programs affecting their interests and to obtain assistance from public and private sources.

• Experiences and activities which lead to enhancing the development of their skills, self-confidence, and sense of independence in fostering an environment in which their children can develop to their full potential.
• Experiences in child growth and development which will strengthen their role as the primary influence in their children's lives.
• Ways of providing educational and developmental activities for children in the home and community.
• Health, mental health, dental and nutritional education.
• Identification and use of family and community resources to meet the basic life support needs of the family.
• Meeting with Head Start teachers and other appropriate staff, for discussion and assessment of their children's individual needs and progress.

The communications system required by the performance standards must provide two-way communication between staff and parents and the provision of information to members of policy groups.

Parent-staff communications must be carried out on a regular basis throughout the program year, providing information about the program and its services, program activities for children, policy groups, and resources within the program and the community. Communications must be designed and carried out in a way which reaches parents and staff effectively. Policy groups, staff, and parents must participate in the planning and development of the communications system used.

Parent Involvement in Education Services
The teaching staff should involve parents in the educational activities of the program to enhance their role as the principal influence on their child's education and development. They assist parents in increasing their knowledge, understanding, skills and experience in child growth and development. They identify and reinforce experiences which occur in the home and which parents can use as educational activities for their children.

The education services component must meet the following performance standards for parent involvement:

• Include parents in program planning and curriculum development and have them serve as resource persons.
• Educate parents in child development and developmental behavior problems of preschool children under a program jointly developed with all component services.
• Train parents in observing the growth and development of their children in the home environment and in identifying and handling special developmental needs.
• Include parents in center, classroom, and home program activities.
• Provide methods for helping parents understand and use a variety of methods to foster learning and development of their children, including home activities.
• Have regular conferences with parents and make at least three home visits each year, if acceptable to parents.
• Train staff to work with parents of children with special needs and to coordinate relevant. referral services.

Parent Involvement in Health Services
The primary objectives of the health services component are to provide the child's family with opportunities to develop health care skills and insight into their childrens' health needs and to link the family to an ongoing health care system so that the child will continue to receive comprehensive health care after leaving the Head Start program.

The performance standards provide for the inclusion of parents in the Health Services Advisory
Committee which advises in the planning, operation, and evaluation of the health services program.

In addition the performance standards require the provislon of an organized health education program which ensures that:

• Parents are provided with information about all available health resources.
• Parents are encouraged to become involved in the health care of their child (advance parent or guardian authorization for health screening and examinations must be obtained and parents are encouraged to accompany their children to medical and dental appointments).
• Parents are given the opportunity to learn the principles of preventive health, emergency first-aid measures, and safety practices.

The objectives for parent involvement in the mental health part of the health services component are to:

• Provide parents with an understanding of child growth and development, an appreciation of individual differences, and the need for a supportive environment.
• Develop a positive attitude toward mental health services and a recognition of the contributions of psychology, medicine, social services, education, and other disciplines to the mental health program.

In order to meet the performance standards for mental health services, a mental health professional must be available to orient parents and work with them to achieve the objectives of the mental health program. The plan must also provide for regular group meetings of parents and program staff, parental consent for special mental health services, opportunity for parents to obtain individual assistance, and active involvement of parents in meeting the individual mental health needs of their children.

The objectives for parent involvement in the nutrition part of the health services component include the following:

• Help the staff, child, and family to understand the relationship of nutrition to health, the factors which influence food practices, a variety of ways to provide for nutritional needs and to apply this knowledge in the development of sound food habits even after leaving the Head Start program.
• Demonstrate the interrelationships of nutrition to other activities of the Head Start program and its contribution to the overall child development goals.
• Involve all staff, parents, and other community agencies, as appropriate in meeting the child's nutritional needs so that nutritional care provided by Head Start complements and supplements that of the home and community.

The performance standards for nutrition services require identification of the nutritional needs and problems of the children in the Head Start program and of their families, including information about family eating habits and special dietary needs and feeding problems, especially of children with special needs. Families must receive education in the selection and preparation of foods, guidance in home and money management, and help in consumer education.

The performance standards pran makes special provision for the involvement of parents and appropriate community agencies in planning, implementing, and evaluating the nutritional services and requires the following:

• The Policy Council or Committee and the Health Services Advisory Committee will have the opportunity to review and comment on the nutrition services.
• The nutritional status of the children will be discussed with their parents.
• Information about meals and nutrition activities will be shared regularly with parents.
• Parents will be informed of the benefits of food assistance programs.
• Community agencies will be enlisted to assist eligible families in participating in food assistance programs.

Parent Involvement in Social Services
In addition to recruiting and enrolling eligible children, the social services component aims to involve parents in the center and home program and related activities, to assist the. family in its own efforts to improve the condition and quality of family life, and to make parents aware of community services and resources and help parents use them effectively.
 
The social services component must meet the following performance standards:

• Provide emergency assistance or crisis intervention.
• Furnish information about available community services and how to use them.
• Establish a role of advocacy and spokesmanship for Head Start families.
• Contact a child's parent or guardian when he attends irregularly or has been absent four consecutive days.
• Identify the social service needs of families and work with other community agencies to develop programs to meet those needs.

The performance standards plan also requires close cooperation with existing community resources in the following ways:

• Helping parent groups work with other neighborhood and community groups with similar concerns.
• Communicating to other community agencies the needs of Head Start families and ways to meet those needs.
• Preparing a community resource list and making it available to families and staff.

FORM OF THE PLAN

Unlike the content, the form of the parent involvement plan is determined, not by national Head Start policies, but by each Head Start program. Once again, the plan should be designed to meet the goals and objectives of the parent involvement component and explicitly describe the steps and strategies for achieving these goals.

THE PLANNING PROCESS

The planning process may be determined at the regional or local level. It will be up to the coordinator to arrange definite times and locations for staff and parents to meet to work out the plan. The coordinator will probably be responsible for inviting interested parent and regional representatives to participate. Parents may volunteer or be nominated at one of the early orientation meetings, or each classroom or center committee may select a representative.
The team should meet several times over a period of several weeks to plan and schedule activities, assign responsibilities for carrying out plans, make revisions, and submit the final draft to the parent policy group for their review and approval.

In order for the coordinator to keep abreast of who is doing what and when, a planning book can be useful. The following chart gives an example of what a page in the coordinator's planning book might look like.

SAMPLE PAGE IN A PLANNING BOOK
Objective: Improve communication among parents, staff, program management (communication has been haphazard!!! how to improve?)
 

Component	What	Who	When
Education:	Write brief outlines on board of what concepts  being worked on, the story read that day,  what kind of a day it's been	Teaching Staff	Daily!!
Nutrition:	Post menu for the week. Send menu for  coming week home with children Friday.  Use menu as short newsletter giving info on  upcoming events, recipes, nutrition tips.	Barbara  Barbara & Staff	Weekly  Weekly
Social Services/  Parent Involvement	Workshop on Communications - use   techniques from Parents & Teachers Together?  Invite P. 1. Personnel from Region!!	John, Joy,  P.1. staff	Oct. 3  Oct. 10
Health:	Section in monthly newsletter. Get list of local  health services out to every parent listing:	Doris.	By July 21.
(Fill Doris in about  new womens clinic  I just heard about)	1. name of clinic (e.g. speech, hearing,  allergy, prenatal, etc.)  2. location  3. hours  4. phone number  5. what they do  6. names of doctors, nurses, receptionists?  7. procedures for admission.  Write description of Doris' function into  Parents' Handbook so they know how to use her Have Doris hang out in parent lounge 2-3  x/wk. so parentshave a chance to know her.		By July 21.

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