Many professionals in the early childhood field are inspired by community-driven initiatives that hold great promise for transforming outcomes for the youngest children and their families. However, most collective impact efforts are mobilized in large urban areas, where early childhood professionals and civic leaders take the lead. New Mexico has…

When schools, families, and communities work together, student outcomes are better. This brief focuses on the ways family and community engagement can enhance schools' efforts to improve outcomes for ELLs and highlights specific strategies schools can use to more effectively engage families and communities.

San Francisco's Mission Promise Neighborhood (MPN) is a federally-funded Promise Neighborhood initiative that supports community-based organizations, schools, and other public agencies to work in defined neighborhoods and build integrated supports for children and youth from cradle to college and career. Since 2013, the Gardner Center has…

The purpose of this research was to mobilize the educational community of a disadvantaged Montreal high school so as to implement practices more adapted to its environmental reality by developing an approach to support the building of collaborative bridges connecting school, family, and community. During the discussion, the perceptions of high…

This article is intended to provide early childhood providers with a concise overview of emerging emotional development in young children (birth-5), the important role of primary caregivers, and the link between parenting, emotional development, and behavior. Specific suggestions that have been shared with urban Head Start mothers are offered,…

The Developing Families Project-South Africa (DFP-SA) is a community-based model of education and training for the care, support and education of vulnerable children birth-to-three and their caregivers, guardians and families in rural and peri-urban townships. The approach fosters interactive learning among community members about early care and…

Discusses the rationale behind the movement to link services to schools through school-linked, family resource centers. Describes several exemplary program, already developed, and outlines the promise this movement holds as a major social work strategy for revitalizing communities. Focuses on parental involvement, skill development, and how to…

When Dayton Public Schools committed to return to neighborhood K-8 schools, the community organized to refocus many youth programs in schools and neighborhoods. This article describes the planning and implementation of Dayton's Neighborhood School Centers. Special emphasis is placed on the role of the University of Dayton, especially the Fitz…

Extended schools have featured in a range of government policies, promoting integration between education, social services departments and health services, supported by children's trusts, to better meet the needs of children. Legislative changes, and developments such as the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) and the role of the lead professional,…

Applicable to any school district or school interested in starting a family resource and support program, this guide provides help for both planning and implementation of family resource and youth services centers. It outlines the philosophy behind family resource and youth services centers and how that philosophy is to be reflected in all aspects…

This book makes extensive use of photographs to document successful community-based family support programs that enable families and their children to overcome cycles of poverty, drugs, and violence. The book begins with an essay by Roger Rosenblatt discussing the history of childhood in America and the growth of community-based programs; the…

This guide is the second monograph in the "Guidelines for Effective Practice" series commissioned by the Best Practices Project of the Family Resource which meets the need for better definition and articulation of what constitutes best practice in family support programs. This guide describes the definition, key characteristics, and…

Discusses how groups that include early childhood educators can create dynamic support services to combat homelessness. Covers causes of homelessness and the needs of homeless families and their young children, and presents several strategies to develop effective services for them. Emphasizes parental involvement, school and community…

This report provides brief descriptions of a variety of community and educational programs for children and families with special needs, especially at the early childhood level in Vermont. Part 1 describes six programs characterized as community/regional-state partnerships. Part 2 describes family-centered resources, supports, and services,…

This article describes how a rural community in Colorado developed the infrastructure to provide a family-centered, culturally competent array of early childhood mental health services that are integrated into existing community-based programs. The Early Childhood Health/Education Outreach (ECHO) and Family Center Early Childhood Council's…