Build a culture throughout the early childhood care and education system that respects and strengthens family voice.
3.2.1 Respond to the cultural, ethnic, racial, language, and socioeconomic characteristics and preferences of families to create equitable family engagement opportunities at the state level.
3.2.2 Promote the Kansas Family Engagement and Partnership Standards47 for Early Childhood as a framework in developing family-friendly programs, policies, and practices. Provide training on how to implement the standards in a variety of early childhood care and education settings, including family child care, so that programs can complete self-assessments, collect data on family engagement, and use data to inform action.
3.2.3 Use family engagement initiatives such as the Kansas Family Advisory Team, Parent Leadership Advisory Council, Head Start Policy Councils and Parent Committees, and the annual Parent Leadership Conference48 to strengthen family voices in leadership, including but not limited to gaining insights into child development and the family’s role in supporting development and learning, reviewing proposed policies, and informing programs.
3.2.4 Identify and replicate effective family engagement strategies from across Kansas, including compensation for families, engaging family representatives as members of statewide task forces and advisory boards, and as participants in the planning, development, delivery, and evaluation of programs.
