Area 3: family Knowledge and Engagement

Champions

• Early Childhood Action Strategy:

  • Team 2: Safe & Nurturing Families

  • Team 3: On-Track Health & Development

  • Team 4: Equitable Access to Programs & Services

  • Team 6: School Readiness for Successful Transitions – Words Matter (LENA) Subcommittee

• Executive Office on Early Learning

• Family Hui Hawaiʻi

• Hawaiʻi Children’s Action Network; Little Minds Matter Steering Team

• Partners in Development Foundation– Ka Paʻalana

Actions

1. Develop and/or distribute materials for use with and by families in multiple ways and for all types of settings, drawing on recognized best practices (e.g., Alberta Family Wellness Initiative, Centers for Disease Control, Family Hui Hawaiʻi, Head Start, Little Minds Matter, Parents as Teachers, Partners in Development – Ka Paʻalana, VROOM).

2. Housing, Shelter and Outreach partners, in collaboration with the Child Homelessness Action Team (CHAT), make early childhood development information and early learning opportunities available for families experiencing homelessness or unstable housing.

3. Develop and implement community-based learning opportunities for families that support child wellbeing and growth.

Indicators of Success

• Families demonstrate increased knowledge and awareness of child development and available resources.

• 5-10 homeless programs are making early childhood development resources available to families.

• Play spaces promoting parent/child interaction are created and utilized in shelters, transitional, and public housing.

• 3-5 new sites in prioritized geographic and cultural communities have trained community-based leaders and are working with families.

• Long-term: Children birth to five whose families are experiencing homelessness or unstable housing are connected with early care and education programs and/or services.

Champions

• Department of Human Services

• Early Childhood Action Strategy:

  • Team 1: Healthy & Welcomed Births

  • Team 2: Safe & Nurturing Families

  • Team 3: On-Track Health & Development

  • Team 4: Equitable Access to Programs & Services

  • Team 5: High Quality Early Learning Programs

  • Team 6: School Readiness for Successful Transitions

  • ECAS All Network

• PATCH

Actions

1. Educate early care and education providers of all types and in all settings on early childhood development and on working with vulnerable families, with attention to encouraging their own self-awareness and respect for individual and community cultures (e.g., brain development, poverty simulation, and trauma-informed strategies).

Indicators of Success

• Number of trainings delivered has increased.

• Number of providers trained has increased.

• Providers indicate feeling better prepared to respond to the needs of the vulnerable families they are serving.

• Long-Term: There are trauma-informed, mixed delivery system early care and education providers of all types and from all settings serving prioritized geographic and cultural communities.

Champions

• Early Childhood Action Strategy:

  • Team 4: Equitable Access to Programs & Services

  • Team 6: School Readiness for Successful Transitions – Words Matter (LENA) Subcommittee

• Family Hui Hawaiʻi

• Hawaiian Electric Company

• Hawaiʻi Children’s Action Network

Actions

1. Design, implement, and expand public education initiatives and campaigns around early childhood topics.

2. Advocate for large employers taking action in support of families and promoting child development (e.g., HECO/UHA model, UHA Employer Wellness Group program).

3. Establish a work group to examine emerging models for family engagement and application in Hawaiʻi (e.g., Alberta Family Wellness Initiative, Detroit Model).

Indicators of Success

• 1-2 business partners are engaged in an education campaign.

• At least one Hawaiʻi employer is piloting family wellness practices with their employees.

• Long-term: Several large Hawaiʻi employers are implementing best practices supporting families and child development, and exemplar businesses are sharing their experiences and knowledge with other employers.

Champions

• Early Childhood Action Strategy:

  • Team 4: Equitable Access to Programs & Services – CHAT Subcommittee

• Hawaiʻi Children’s Action Network

Actions

1. Secure MOUs with local continuum of care lead organizations (e.g., Partners in Care, Bridging the Gap) to share certain data on families experiencing unstable housing or homelessness, drawing on the HMIS databases.

2. Develop and report anonymized data by geographic location and ages of family members.

3. Convene a work group to discuss prioritization of services based on geographically-informed data.

Indicators of Success

• MOUs are in place.

• Geographic distribution of children birth to five who are experiencing homelessness or unstable housing is available.

• Data is being used to set service priorities.

Family Knowledge about Child Development

2015-2017

• No assessment or baseline study in Hawaiʻi

2020

• Families typically acquire developmental information from the child’s physician

Recommendations

• Engage in a baseline study on family knowledge and engagement in child development

Family Knowledge about Quality Child Care

2015-2017

• No assessment or baseline study in Hawaiʻi

2020

• Indicators of quality used by families: caliber of staff, program philosophy, teacher passion, defined learning plans, welcoming atmosphere, and focus on school readiness both academically and social-emotional

Recommendations

• Engage in a baseline study on family knowledge about quality child care

Family Knowledge about Available Support Services

2015-2017

• Small 2016 study (426 respondents) indicates parents are aware of support services and want more information on activities, development, managing behavior, play groups, public services, and accessing healthy food

2020

• No additional information

Family Engagement in Provider-delivered Information on Child Development

2015-2017

Engagement practices by settings:

• Center-based: parent/teacher conferences, newsletters, daily journal, social events, invitations to volunteer, referrals if needed

• Licensed Family Child Care: similar to centers, but lower rates of engagement from families

• Family Child Interaction Learning: similar to centers, plus family-as-teacher practices, engaging families in continuous quality improvement, adapting curricula to cultures and languages of participating families, and providing direct support services such as counseling, home visits and job training

2020

• Home visiting professionals report difficulty engaging families who are not interested

• Special education and preschool teachers report families are receptive to information