Recruitment of Families
There were several types of families to recruit to child care partnership slots. The first was the family already enrolled in the center that was Head Start eligible but, because of their need for full-day care, had not enrolled in Head Start.
The second type included those families who were enrolled in a Head Start site in the half day program but was using multiple other providers over the course of the week to meet their child care needs while working. Many of these families were newly working as part of welfare reform efforts. They often had to juggle to be able to use a half day program like Head Start and get their children dropped off/picked up by friends or family for additional care. As difficult as this was for parents and for children, it was also difficult to adjust their view of Head Start as something that could happen in a child care setting. They were concerned about getting all of the services they had come to know from Head Start at a community setting.
The third group was made up of families with children who would be new three year olds who were Head Start eligible. These families were the most open to the idea of Head Start in a community-based setting as they had less preconceived notions about what Head Start looked like.
Because this concept was new to the area, it turned out that recruitment of families was more difficult than expected. The 68 spaces designated to partnerships did not fill as rapidly as expected, although enrollment went up as the year went on as families in the program were happy with the program.
The second type included those families who were enrolled in a Head Start site in the half day program but was using multiple other providers over the course of the week to meet their child care needs while working. Many of these families were newly working as part of welfare reform efforts. They often had to juggle to be able to use a half day program like Head Start and get their children dropped off/picked up by friends or family for additional care. As difficult as this was for parents and for children, it was also difficult to adjust their view of Head Start as something that could happen in a child care setting. They were concerned about getting all of the services they had come to know from Head Start at a community setting.
The third group was made up of families with children who would be new three year olds who were Head Start eligible. These families were the most open to the idea of Head Start in a community-based setting as they had less preconceived notions about what Head Start looked like.
Because this concept was new to the area, it turned out that recruitment of families was more difficult than expected. The 68 spaces designated to partnerships did not fill as rapidly as expected, although enrollment went up as the year went on as families in the program were happy with the program.
