Family Participation Group

Active and continuous family engagement in the educational experiences of their children is crucial to facilitating the best possible child outcomes. Achieving such engagement with families often begins with opportunities for families to participate in ways that build connections between the school and home. Stronger, more frequent connections strengthen relationships, create partnerships, and lead to increased participation and ultimately active engagement. GSRP requires opportunities be provided for families to participate and engage with the programs serving their children in multiple ways. As not all families have the same readiness for engaging with their child’s school, the ECC will champion families as active decision makers in GSRP.

Refer to the Family Engagement Section for more information on family engagement.

Subrecipients and/or programs must provide opportunities for active and continuous participation of families of enrolled children through the implementation of a family participation group.

• Purpose: Engage families on a high-level.

• Opportunities allow for engagement of families, open communication, family advocacy, and integration of family input/voice.

• Family voice/input is taken back to the GSRP advisory structure for consideration within the continuous quality improvement process.

• Each meeting focuses on local considerations, such as:

• Transition into and out of GSRP;
• Recruitment/enrollment;
• Program quality assessment results;
• Child outcome data;
• Family learning opportunities.

• Leadership: Supported by the ECS, ECC, and/or administrator.

• Facilitated by a person with experience and skills to effectively execute this program requirement, ideally a parent when possible, but may also be a teacher, director, or ECS.

• Who/Members: May be made up of, but not limited to the following:

• Family members of enrolled children (parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles, foster parents/guardians, or other family members with an active role in children’s lives)
• Classroom staff;
• School or program level administrators;
• ECS/ECC.

• Frequency: Shall convene or seek family input about the child/family experience in the classroom through meetings, events, surveys, etc., ideally several times annually, but a minimum of 2 times per program year.

• For meetings, a minimum of one family member per classroom is ideal;
• All family members should have the opportunity to participate, and to give and/or receive information in the manner that best fits their needs.

• Records: Evidence of family participation in decision-making activities may include:

• Attendance;
• Agendas;
• Meeting minutes;
• Surveys/results.

Additionally, ongoing communication with families must be carried out on a regular basis throughout the program year in the family’s primary or preferred language whenever possible.