EARLY

HEAD

START

NATIONAL

RESOURCE

CENTER

Early Head Start

Program Strategies 

The 

Family 

Partnership

Agreement

Process

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Administration for Children and Families 

Administration on Children, Youth and Families 

Head Start Bureau 

Prepared by 

Early Head Start National Resource Center @

ZERO TO THREE
4

Early Head Start

Program Strategies: 

The Family Partnership 

Agreement Process

This document was developed by the Early Head Start National

Resource Center (EHS NRC) @ ZERO TO THREE in collaboration

with the Head Start Bureau. The contents of this paper are not 

intended to be an interpretation of policy.

Early Head Start National Resource Center @ ZERO TO THREE 

2000 M Street, NW, Suite 200 

Washington, DC 20036-3307 

Phone: 202-638-1144 

Fax: 202-638-0851 

www.ehsnrc.org 

Funded by contract #105-98-2055

U. S. Department of Health and Human Services

Administration for Children and Families

Administration on Children, Youth, and Families

Head Start Bureau

EARLY

HEAD

START

NATIONAL

RESOURCE

CENTER
E ARLY H EAD S TART P ROGRAM S TRATEGIES The Family Partnership Agreement Process

Introduction

E

ach year the Early Head Start National Resource

Center (EHS NRC) invites Early Head Start

(EHS) grantees to share their experiences in

meeting the challenges of planning and implementing

high quality services for expectant parents and families

with infants and toddlers. The excerpts from the seven

programs in this publication are from their response to a

questionnaire (see Appendix A) that was mailed to every

EHS grantee in the spring of 2002. 

This paper explores the family partnership agreement

process. We examine the Head Start Program Performance

Standards related to the family partnership agreement

process, and describe the important role of community collaboration. We also discuss staff roles and responsibilities and

professional development necessary for effective services.

The excerpts from the seven Early Head Start programs

featured in this publication provide a snapshot of the

family partnership agreement process. As such, the

excerpts do not provide a complete picture of the process

or of the program. We hope that they do give you a 

fresh perspective and new ideas, provoke questions, and 

challenge you to think deeper about your own approach

to family partnerships.

This publication is the fourth edition of Early Head Start

Program Strategies, a series of reports illustrating the

diverse and unique approaches of EHS programs around

the country. The EHS NRC provides this unique 

opportunity for EHS programs to learn from each other

on an annual basis. Each publication in this series focuses

on a different aspect of high quality programming for

expectant parents and families with infants and toddlers.

For more information and to download additional copies

of this and other EHS NRC publications, please visit the

EHS NRC Web site at www.ehsnrc.org. EHS NRC 

publications are also available through the Head Start

Information and Publication Center at 703-683-2878.

1

Early 

Head Start

Program

Strategies: 

The Family Partnership 

Agreement Process
E ARLY H EAD S TART P ROGRAM S TRATEGIES The Family Partnership Agreement Process

The Early Head Start National Resource Center gratefully acknowledges all the Early Head Start grantees

who responded to our questionnaire on the family partnership agreement process. The following programs

are included in this document:

Black River Area Development Early Head Start

1403 Hospital Drive

Pocahontas, AR 72455

Sherry Pierce, Family and Community Partnership Manager

Coastal Community Action Early Head Start

475 Highway 70 West, PO Box 1007

Havelock, NC 28532

Susan L. Pugliese, Head Start/Early Head Start Director

Community Action Region VI Early Head Start

1311 12th Ave. NE, PO Box 507

Jamestown, ND 58402

LaDeen Knutson, Director

Children’s Therapy Center Early Head Start

600 East 14th Street

Sedalia, Missouri 65301

Valerie Lane, Early Head Start Director

Sherlene Cripe, Mental Health/Family Support Coordinator

Early Head Start of Grant and Blackford Counties

Carey Services, Inc.

2724 S. Carey Street

Marion, IN 46953

Robyn Culley, Early Child Development Specialist

Hawkeye Area Community Action Program, Inc.

1515 Hawkeye Drive

PO Box 490

Hiawatha, IA 52233

Jane Drapeaux, Director of Field Operations & 

Head Start/Early Head Start

Monongalia County Early Head Start

1433 Dorsey Avenue

Morgantown, WV 26505

Suzanne Smart, Community Liaison

2

EOC Early Head Start, St. Joseph, MO
EARLY HEAD START PROGRAM STRATEGIES:

THE FAMILY PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

PROCESS

The family partnership agreement process [45 CFR

1304.40 (a)(1-5)] refers to the set of opportunities you

offer families to develop and implement individualized

goals. This process includes the responsibilities of families

and staff, timetables, and strategies for achieving those

goals. However, how you set goals, implement them, and

document the process can be different for each program

and each family. 

A family partnership agreement is not a form that you

fill out, or ask parents to fill out. It is the process through

which you support families in Head Start. Thus, it is an

interactive experience that happens over time and can

include many different types of interactions. This process

is not a one-time “event,” such as a formal meeting.

There are many types of interactions that can be a part

of the process, such as: 

Helping families identify and reach their goals; 

identify and use their strengths and resources; and 

advocate for their children.

Offering opportunities for family members to 

enhance their skills or build new ones; 

Providing access to community resources, and 

emergency or crisis assistance when needed; and

Supporting any pre-existing family plans. (U. S. 

Department of Health and Human Services, 

Family Partnerships: A Continuous Process, 1999).

The family partnership agreement process encompasses

both how you approach family partnerships, and how

families choose to be involved in your program. The

family partnership agreement process is individualized

and family driven. Thus, parents have the right to 

determine how much information they want to share

and with whom; when they are ready to set goals; how

long it will take to achieve those goals; and how to

measure their success. At the same time, staff members

are expected to offer opportunities for goal-setting as a

continual part of their collaboration with families. 

It is important to remember that setting goals and

working toward them can be challenging for families

under stress. Living in poverty can raise barriers and

dampen optimism about the future. It can be difficult for

families to see beyond their current crises or life circumstances, especially if they are struggling with additional

stressors that go along with poverty, such as limited 

education, homelessness, substance abuse, or poor

health. Yet, the process of helping families identify their

goals can offer them hope and a place to begin taking

the steps they need to change the future. 

It is also important to keep in mind that sharing goals

is intimate work. Goals must be meaningful for families

to feel motivated to move towards them, but it can be

difficult for families to share these goals with staff when

relationships are new. The supportive relationships that

staff members create with families over time can open

the door to allow families to share, sometimes for the

first time, goals related to hard issues like substance

abuse or depression. Allow families the time they need to

get comfortable with you and the Early Head Start program.

You need to first establish a trusting relationship before

you can expect family members to openly discuss their

needs and challenges.

In the following excerpts, four Early Head Start programs

describe elements of their approach to the family 

partnership agreement process. Each program 

underscores the importance of the relationship-building

process as the foundation for developing effective family

partnerships.

3
E ARLY H EAD S TART P ROGRAM S TRATEGIES The Family Partnership Agreement Process

4

COASTAL COMMUNITY ACTION

EARLY HEAD START

The components of the family partnership agreement

process are assessment, intervention and evaluation. The

process is ongoing and fluid in nature. The assessment

phase begins upon the initial encounter with a family.

During this phase, a rapport - or relationship building - is

begun. We seek to understand family structure...communication patterns, cultural and religious values and

attitudes, as well as the families’ relationships to other

agencies or organizations. We begin to identify family

needs and goals during this phase. 

CHILDREN’S THERAPY CENTER

EARLY HEAD START

Our family partnership agreement process is initiated

during enrollment. The foundation of the partnership is

a respectful, intentional relationship-based approach. We

believe that relationships are at the heart of partnership,

and begin all work with families from the value of 

developing an effective relationship with them. 

EARLY HEAD START OF

GRANT AND BLACKFORD

COUNTIES

The family partnership agreement

process has many components. First,

a relationship must be established

between the home visitor and the

parent(s). The relationship building

process takes patience, empathy, and

follow-through on the part of the

home visitor. To record family

strengths, needs, and readiness to

establish goals, the home visitor

documents observations after each

home visit. The parent is also invited

to complete a weekly “evaluation of

the visit” and “observation of my child’s skills” directly

on the Home Visit Plan after each home visit. This parent

documentation is a critical piece in determining the 

parent’s satisfaction of services, readiness to set personal

goals, and power of observation. It also helps the parent

reflect on the home visit activities and helps the parent

become a skilled observer of their child’s behavior. 

MONONGALIA COUNTY EARLY HEAD START

The partnership agreement process officially begins at

the time a family enrolls in the program but in many

cases is initiated during the registration and waitlist

process. During this time, staff often become aware of

pre-existing plans that may later shape a family partnership.

Staff use a variety of positive communication skills and 

a strength-based intervention approach to establish a

positive relationship with the family. As the rapport in

the relationship develops, the identification of family

strengths and needs begin to surface and later help to

identify family partnership goals. 

Human Services Department Early Head Start, Chattanooga, TN
5

SETTING GOALS

What does it mean to “set goals” in the context of Head

Start? Does every family have to set goals as a part of

their family partnership agreement? What if a family

doesn’t want to set goals or to be involved in a family

partnership agreement?

The Head Start Program Performance Standards state

that programs “must engage in a process of collaborative

partnership-building with parents to establish mutual

trust and to identify family goals, strengths, and necessary

services and other supports.” [(CFR 1304.40(a)(1)]. In

addition, agencies must offer parents opportunities to 

formally develop family partnership agreements that

“describe family goals, responsibilities, timetables, and

strategies for achieving those goals as well as progress in

achieving them.” [(CFR 1304.40(a)(2)]. Family goals

might include both goals that families set for their 

children, such as “my child will learn to use his words to

ask for what he needs; or my child will receive her

speech therapy in the Early Head Start setting,” and

goals families set for themselves, such as “I will finish my

GED; we will find ways to spend one-on-one time with

our child each night; or we will move into a new home

by the end of the year.” 

Simply put, goals are a vision of the future. A natural

way to help families identify their goals is to begin right

where they are: what brought them to your program?

Every family walks through your door for a reason. Most

parents come to Early Head Start because they want

something for their children. Parents are often able to

articulate their hopes and wishes for their children before

they can focus on themselves or the family as a whole. 

There are many ways to set goals with families. A 

formal meeting where you document specific goals on a

written form is only one way, and is not necessarily the

preferred way to engage families in goal-setting. In fact,

such a formal process can be intimidating. Families may

feel overwhelmed or scrutinized. It is important to 

recognize that goal-setting can be accomplished in a

variety of less traditional ways. Sometimes you can turn a

talent or interest into a goal. For example, you might

notice and comment on a unique skill that a parent

demonstrates at home or at the center. Perhaps a parent

with a knack for cooking can do a parent workshop on

making affordable and nutritious meals; or a parent with

a flair for decorating can give you some ideas on 

improving the family resource room at the center. When

you encourage parents to apply their skills, you may help

them discover goals or dreams they never had before. Be

prepared to use a variety of informal and formal

approaches in your partnerships with families. 

Save The Children Early Head Start, Atlanta, GA
Helping families identify a goal is the first step in the

process, and then comes the challenge of figuring out

how to make that goal a reality. Encourage families to

think through the steps they need to take to reach their

goals. Break down large goals into manageable, concrete

steps. Be prepared to change direction as family needs

and resources change. And always celebrate achievements,

both large and small. 

In the following excerpts, Early Head Start programs

describe the fluid nature of setting goals and the 

continual need to revisit and revise goals as families and

children grow and change. These programs support 

families in achieving their goals by making explicit the

responsibilities of both staff and family members in 

working toward their goals.

BLACK RIVER AREA DEVELOPMENT EARLY

HEAD START

As goals are accomplished, new goals are set. An integrated

referral system provides resources to meet the changing

needs of the family. For example, if an established goal 

is for a parent to attend college, we structure the goal

into steps with responsibilities and timelines. We make

referrals to other agencies and service providers to

accomplish steps related to the goal, such as Pell Grants,

scholarship programs, job training programs, or child care.

CHILDREN’S THERAPY CENTER EARLY HEAD

START

Parents and staff members jointly develop family action

plans and child development plans to determine both

family and child goals. The plans are revisited at subsequent

home visits. During these visits staff help families 

determine steps toward the completion of goals. We 

document the planned action steps and track the

progress toward goals on the form. We also have a 

separate form to track the use of community resources,

which helps staff keep up with family circumstances and

progress toward goals. Each week, families give detailed

information regarding the services they have accessed.

Parents are encouraged to journal, and record their

thoughts in their EHS binder. This provides them with a

concrete tool for reflection on their own progress.

COMMUNITY ACTION REGION VI EARLY

HEAD START

Every goal is treated as unique and important. When a

family has a goal in mind we start discussing strategies to

achieve that goal. We explore the types of resources they

need and the responsibilities of those involved. Parents

are asked to set a target date for the goal. Families

always sign their goal sheet and get a copy of it. Families

are praised when they take steps toward reaching their

goals, either verbally or in writing. 

6

E ARLY H EAD S TART P ROGRAM S TRATEGIES The Family Partnership Agreement Process

Murray Early Head Start, Murray, KY
EARLY HEAD START OF GRANT AND

BLACKFORD COUNTIES

The formal process of setting written goals begins once

we have established a relationship with the family, and

following the developmental assessments and nutrition

screenings. If the family is not yet ready to establish 

written goals, they may benefit from learning how to

evaluate personal strengths and challenges in order to

identify personal goals. During this process, we help the

parents learn how to set goals, and then we begin with

goals that are relatively easy to achieve so that the parents are able to achieve success. The formal screenings

and assessments, which we administer at regularly 

scheduled intervals, are used in conjunction with ongoing

observation, within the context of the relationship with

the family, and parent observations in order to develop

future goals. 

MONONGALIA COUNTY EARLY HEAD START

Staff employ a variety of positive communication skills

and a strength-based intervention approach to establish

a positive relationship with families. As the rapport in

the relationship develops, the identification of family

strengths and needs begin to surface and later help to

identify family partnership goals. All families interested

in receiving Early Head Start Services, and their 

designated family service worker, sign an agreement that

documents both the parent’s responsibilities and the 

family service worker’s responsibilities by outlining 

program expectations and requirements. Parents also

complete a Parent Interest Survey to help family service

workers identify family interests and plan parent 

education opportunities. 

Upper Des Moines Early Head Start, Spencer, IA

7
COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS

Strong community partnerships provide the resources

families need to reach their goals. Depending on the

needs of families, you might partner with a diverse range

of agencies such as health providers, nutrition programs,

social service agencies, child care providers, early intervention programs, or adult education and job skills

training programs. Partnerships can be documented in

formal, written agreements or can be built through 

informal relationships with individuals working in community programs. Written agreements explicitly describe

roles and responsibilities for each community partner,

and they continue to exist after the individuals who

establish them leave their jobs. However, even informal

relationships can have a tremendous influence in how

effective your program is in finding and using the

resources that are available in your community. Often, it

is the relationships that you develop with individuals in

those agencies that give you access to the services and

resources you need for the families with whom you work.

Pre-existing Family Plans

Some families participating in Early Head Start may

already be involved with another community program

such as early intervention or social services. In such

cases, the family is likely to have a family plan that was

developed through these agencies. It is important to

identify a “lead” person or key contact for the family

who can coordinate the services. In some cases, the Early

Head Start program will become the lead agency working

with the family, and in other cases the family will continue

to work closely with the other organization. You do not

duplicate what other agencies have done as you develop

your family partnership agreements with these families.

Rather, Early Head Start can support and complement

these existing plans with careful collaboration between

all those involved, especially the family.

The way that you support the preexisting plan becomes

the family partnership agreement. For example, a child

with an identified speech delay may be referred to your

center-based program by the speech therapist from the

local early intervention program. The child will have 

an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) that was

developed by the family and the early intervention

agency. One way to support the existing plan is to 

integrate the child’s speech and language goals into your

classroom experiences. The IFSP would help you 

individualize the curricula for this child and would form

the basis for your family partnership agreement with 

this family. 

The following Early Head Start programs describe the

importance of communication and information-sharing

for successful collaboration. Confidentiality guidelines

determine how, why, and with whom you share personal

information. These programs also highlight how community

partnerships facilitate successful transitions. One strategy

many programs use for collaboration is to carefully

choose the community representatives that are invited to

serve on Policy Council or other program committees.

Likewise, if Early Head Start staff have the opportunity

to participate in advisory groups or similar gatherings of

other organizations in the community, their participation

fosters a stronger collaboration.

8

Community Teamwork, Inc, Lowell, MA

E ARLY H EAD S TART P ROGRAM S TRATEGIES The Family Partnership Agreement Process
CHILDREN’S THERAPY CENTER

EARLY HEAD START

During home visits, EHS staff use a checklist to determine

the other services and agencies that families are associated

with. This checklist is also used as a tool to determine

needs, and as a method to connect families to other

community resources. We explain to families why it is

sometimes helpful to exchange information with other

agencies in order or provide continuous high quality

services. In these cases, we ask families to sign a release

of information form in order to exchange information

with other programs. When families enrolled in EHS

have pre-existing plans with other agencies, we coordinate

through communication and mutual investment in the

common goal. With Part C, the coordination is facilitated

by the presence of both programs in our department, and

includes joint visits with families, joint planning, and

cross-program implementation and support of goals.

With other programs (such as our child welfare system),

we begin coordination by having staff from those 

programs represented on Policy Council. 

BLACK RIVER AREA DEVELOPMENT EARLY

HEAD START

Early Head Start has developed working partnerships

with other agencies and service providers in our service

area. These include the Department of Human Services,

County Health Departments, Disabilities Services

Providers, Child and Family Counseling Services, Parents as Teachers, public schools, and others. We work

within a mutual referral system with these agencies to

provide services to children and families. In an effort to

avoid duplication of services or conflict in service delivery,

information (with family consent) is shared between

partnering agencies. Confidentiality of information is

emphasized in this exchange. Preexisting case plans are

incorporated into Early Head Start Individual Family

Partnership Plans. Our program provides services to 

support other agency case plans, such as transporting

families for appointments with other agencies, assisting

families with paperwork involved in the application

process for other agencies. The family partnership is an

on-going process. When families transition from Early

Head Start to Head Start, the family partnership process

continues. Because our program operates both Early

Head Start and Head Start programs, families usually

stay with the same family service worker from enrollment

in Early Head Start through the Head Start program. All

records and documentation from the Early Head Start

program are transferred with the family to the Head Start

program. All goals and referrals that are in progress with

the family continue. This insures a smooth transition

between programs.

COASTAL COMMUNITY ACTION, INC. EARLY

HEAD START

Our program has community partnership agreements

(formal and informal) with the Department of Social

Services, local public school systems and a host of other

local agencies and programs. Moreover, local community

agency representatives serve on our various committees

such as the Health advisory Committee, the Family 

Services Advisory Committee and the Education 

Advisory Committee. Reciprocally, our program staff

serves on the respective boards of our community 

partners. Finally, a formal referral process exists within

our agency allowing families to be referred to local 

community agencies and programs. 

EARLY HEAD START OF GRANT AND

BLACKFORD COUNTIES

The family partnership agreement process continues

throughout a family’s transition to other community 

programs. It is through community partnerships that

Early Head Start is able to be a part of every step of 

9
transition, from beginning to end. The home visitor 

prepares the family for the transition to other programs

by educating them on all aspects of the new program,

and maintains a relationship with the family during the

transition. The relationships between Early Head Start

and our community partners help children and families

to experience continuity between programs, services, and

staff. All of these things work together to achieve a 

feeling of belonging to the community for the child, 

and family, as well as staff of Early Head Start. 

HAWKEYE AREA COMMUNITY ACTION

PROGRAM, INC.

The agency practices Family Team Meetings. These are

voluntary gatherings of family members, friends, community

resource representatives, and other interested people who

join together to strengthen a family,

brainstorm ideas to assist the family in

reaching goals, and develop a protection

and care plan for the children. Family

Team Meetings evolve from the way

that families form a natural helping 

system to meet needs and solve problems.

The Family Team Meeting is often the

forum in which the child and family

team comes together to help the family

craft, implement, or change the 

individualized course of action.

MONONGALIA COUNTY EARLY

HEAD START

Program staff take an active role in this

county’s health and social services. A

major strategy to accomplish this goal

was to establish a community liaison

staff position whose major responsibilities

include: (1) Facilitate the development of the partnerships

and agreements that help families access the services

needed to become self sufficient and meet their family

goals; (2) Assist family service workers in identifying

community resources to meet the specific needs of each

enrolled family; and (3) Link staff and families to 

community groups, parent governing bodies, and 

community activities.

10

E ARLY H EAD S TART P ROGRAM S TRATEGIES The Family Partnership Agreement Process

CESA #11 Early Head Start, Turtle Lake, WI
STAFF ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Your responsibility as a staff member is to offer families

partnership opportunities on a continual basis. As stated

earlier, the family partnership agreement is not a one time

event. You offer partnership opportunities as you interact

with families in both formal and informal ways, such as

family conferences, team meetings, phone conversations,

progress letters, and home visits. In fact, each interaction

you have with a family member is an opportunity to

deepen your relationship and strengthen your partnership.

Some times the casual conversations you have as parents

drop off or pick up their children from the center, or during

group socializations, provide the best opportunities to get

to know family members. These informal interactions 

can create a more relaxed atmosphere that open 

communication, build trust, and give you another 

perspective on family interests, needs, or goals.

Documenting the Family Partnership 

Agreement Process

Head Start staff members are required to document the

family partnership agreement process to ensure that the

process is working. Documenting the process allows you

to: know the specific ways that staff are supporting families;

identify families’ needs and resources; track changes over

time; and evaluate how effective the process is and make

necessary adjustments. 

It is tempting to meet this requirement by developing a

written form that you can quickly fill out or check off

and place in the family’s file. The danger with this

approach is that the process will not be individualized for

each family. Written forms can be useful; but they should

not replace the process of the family partnership 

agreement. The form itself is not the family partnership

agreement. Rather, the family partnership agreement is

how you support the family in their growth and 

development during their involvement with Early Head

Start. Some of the ways you can document your 

interactions with family members is through case notes,

telephone logs, video observations, or family journals.

Documentation is just a tool you use to help you do your

job. Try not to see it as a burden, but as a way that you

can better achieve what it is you are striving for in your

work with children and families.

Professional Development and 

Supportive Supervision

Training and staff development activities encompass

knowledge development, skill-building, and supportive

supervision. Potential training topics might include

observation skills, communication skills, family-centered

practice, crisis intervention, parent education techniques, or mental health intervention. Create an

individualized approach to training by assessing staff

members’ skills relative to the needs of the program.

A successful family partnership agreement process rests

on your ability to develop and sustain trusting, respectful

relationships with families. Likewise, supportive relationships between staff members and supervisors provide the

foundation for successful family partnerships. One of the

11

Murry Early

Head Start,

Murry, KY
most effective vehicles for supporting staff is reflective

supervision. Reflective supervision is a collaborative 

relationship between staff member and supervisor that

provides regular opportunities to reflect on the work

with families. Supervision is a time for staff to openly

discuss their challenges, share their accomplishments,

and develop self-awareness. Working with children and

families, while tremendously rewarding, is also physically,

mentally, and emotionally challenging. Change is constant

and often there are no clear answers. Individuals who do

this work every day need to pay close attention to their

own actions and reactions to the work. Supervision 

can help you manage the complex feelings that often

accompany work of this nature.

Management Systems 

It is evident throughout this document that management

systems – such as planning, communicating, and recordkeeping – play an integral role in the family partnership

process. In addition, program self-assessment and 

monitoring provide ongoing feedback about how well

the partnership process is meeting family needs. Each

system supports the others and together creates a 

cohesive approach to family partnership.

Program managers should consider how staffing patterns

support the family partnership agreement process. The

number of families a family worker is responsible for

reflects the intensity and complexity of family situations.

For example, staff members may require additional time

to support families under stress or those with complex

needs and thus work with fewer families. Similarly, staff

members need adequate time for planning and follow-up

so that they remain available and responsive to the

ongoing issues of all families.

The following Early Head Start programs describe the

professional development strategies that have enhanced

their work. Reflective supervision, team staff meetings,

and mental health consultation are key ingredients. 

A team approach is especially helpful to juggle the 

multiple demands of the work. In some cases, changes in

management systems, such as reduced paperwork or

staffing patterns, were necessary to maintain a 

commitment to quality services. 

E ARLY H EAD S TART P ROGRAM S TRATEGIES The Family Partnership Agreement Process

Mid Iowa Community Action, Early Head Start, Marshalltown, IA

Mid Iowa Community Action, Early Head Start, Marshalltown, IA
BLACK RIVER AREA DEVELOPMENT EARLY

HEAD START

Family service workers begin to develop relationships

with family members during recruitment and enrollment.

Because they are the first program staff to meet with 

families and provide much of a family’s first information

about the program, family service workers receive 

communications skills training. Our program believes in

the importance of first contacts and first impressions that

families form about the program. Once families are

enrolled in the program, all staff who interact with the

family provide support in the partnership process. Often

families choose their key contact person by forming a

natural bond with a center director, teacher, or teacher

aide with whom they feel comfortable. 

CHILDREN’S THERAPY CENTER

Our three primary processes for supporting staff to be

effective in working with families to develop meaningful

family partnership agreements are staff training, interagency coordination, and reflective supervision. Staff

development and training is truly the foundation of our

expectation that staff will develop meaningful relationships

with families to forward their work. Through monthly

staff development days, staff are trained in our expectations,

and provided with strategies and support to do the work.

Reflective supervision is the support structure that is the

ongoing and direct follow-up to staff training. In weekly

supervision, staff have the opportunity to reflect with

their supervisor on how the work is going, process 

particular challenges, and determine if an additional

level of support is needed (such as a team staffing). If the

family is involved in Part C services, staff also participate

in monthly staffings with the Part C team to assure that

goals are mutually supportive. Finally, as mentioned

above, if coordination is needed with another agency,

that is determined during weekly supervision, and a 

joint meeting is arranged.

EARLY HEAD START OF GRANT AND

BLACKFORD COUNTIES

Reflective supervision is critical for staff to enable them

to use all of their personal resources, and to discuss program

resources, in working with families. Along with this

process, we find that case staffings help the process. Our

program firmly believes in training as a support for family

development. The mental health consultant is utilized

for both family and staff. As staff is cared for, they are in

turn, more able to care for the children and families on

their caseloads. In addition, our program has all Family

Plans reviewed by the Specialist team which supports 

the role of the Home Visitor in knowing that all 

developmental areas have been addressed. Even more,

the entire staff is supportive of one another. When a staff

member is on vacation or ill, all staff are aware and are

willing to help meet the needs of the children and 

families during the time the primary staff is away. By 

utilizing a true team approach, staff support is an 

everyday part of our team approach to working with 

children, families, and community. 

MONONGALIA COUNTY EARLY HEAD START

We continually strive to support staff efforts in establishing

multiple family partnerships with many families who face

serious life issues. We have made a series of program

changes during the last six years to maintain our 

commitment to offering quality services. Three years

ago we reduced our family service workers case loads

from twelve to ten and added one and one/half family

service workers so staff would have more office time; we

have redesigned our socialization framework; and we are

currently working on a new data entry system that

should allow for a reduction in paperwork. We have

added a mental health specialist and a child development

specialist to our staff. We have condensed data into

fewer forms. We discuss program changes with all staff

to assure that any change works for them as well. We

attempt to respond positively to staff concerns. We see

each center as a team in a community environment and

value the strengths they each offer our program and the

families with which they interact. 

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Survey Instructions

1. Please complete the following questions in as much

detail as needed to adequately convey your approach to

the family partnership agreement process in your program.

In order to give us a detailed description of your program,

we expect that the average length of your total response

to be approximately 6 pages. Grantees are encouraged to

share this survey with delegate agencies. We request that

each grantee submit only one survey.

2. Submit your response separately from this paper, and

indicate the number of each question to which you are

responding. 

3. Please send your responses electronically by e-mail

attachment or on disk. Send to the attention of:

Stefanie Powers, ZERO TO THREE, 2000 M Street, NW, 

Suite 200, Washington, D.C. 20036. 

E-mail responses to: s.powers@zerotothree.org. 

Phone 202-638-1144 if you have any questions. 

4. Please include a cover page with your name, title,

phone number, fax number, name of the grantee, and

mailing address.

5. If possible, include photos of your EHS program.

Include a photo release form for each picture. These

photos will be used to illustrate the EHS Program

Strategies publication and will be kept on file for future

EHS NRC publications. Please put the name of your 

program on the back of each photo.

This survey is voluntary and you are not required to participate.

Appendix A

EARLY HEAD START PROGRAM STRATEGIES:

THE FAMILY PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

PROCESS

Dear Early Head Start Director:

The Early Head Start National Resource Center (EHS

NRC) collects and disseminates information on issues of

critical importance to the EHS community. Each year

the EHS NRC invites EHS and Migrant and Seasonal

grantees to participate in this unique opportunity to

share their strengths with one another. As new EHS 

programs are being developed around the nation, the

knowledge and experience of existing grantees is an

invaluable resource from which others can learn.

The EHS NRC will choose, according to the depth and

breadth of the responses to the questions below, a select

number of programs to profile in the fourth edition of

Early Head Start Program Strategies, a series of reports

illustrating the diverse and unique approaches of Early

Head Start and Migrant and Seasonal programs around

the country. The previous editions in this series focused

on staff development, socializations for infants and 

toddlers in the home-based program option, and

responding to the mental health needs of infants and

toddlers. To order these and other EHS NRC publications,

contact the Head Start Publications Management 

Center at 703-683-2878 or visit the EHS NRC Web site

at www.ehsnrc.org.

IN SUMMARY

The family partnership agreement process helps families

think in concrete ways about what they want and need

for themselves and their children, and what it will take

to reach their goals. Your relationships with families are

at the center of the partnership process. The family 

partnership agreement will naturally evolve out of the

many ways that you support families in Early Head Start. 

As you consider your approach to the family partnership

agreement process, recognize the subtle but enormously

important ways that families welcome you into their

lives. You are in partnership with parents when you are

trusted to care for their children at the Early Head Start

center every day, or when you are welcomed into their

homes each week. You are in partnership when you help

family members advocate for their children, use their

skills or build new ones, or dream about the future.

While each partnership will be as different as each 

family in your program, staff members and parents are

ultimately working for the same goal: children who are

growing to their fullest potential. 

0

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E ARLY H EAD S TART P ROGRAM S TRATEGIES The Family Partnership Agreement Process
Reader Survey

BACKGROUND

One of the most powerful tools the Head Start program has to assist families in setting and achieving their goals is 

the family partnership agreement process [45 CFR 1304.40(a)(2)]. We are interested in learning more about the 

relationship-building process that happens as you help families to identify family goals, strengths, and necessary 

services to ensure that families have the best chance for success in your program.

SURVEY QUESTIONS

A. The Family Partnership Agreement Process

1. Describe how you initiate the family partnership agreement process.

2. Describe the family partnership agreement process for working with expectant families, and how the birth of the 

baby has an impact on the process. Specifically address how fathers are engaged in the process.

3. What are the components of the family partnership agreement process? 

4. How do you document the family partnership agreement process? 

5. How do you document and track changes as family circumstances change or goals are met?

6. How do you make the family partnership agreement process one of relationship-building rather than having the

emphasis on agency record-keeping? 

B. Community Collaboration

1. How does your agency avoid the duplication of effort, or conflict with, preexisting family plans developed between

families and other service agencies?

2. Describe how you coordinate with other agencies to support the goals in preexisting plans?

3. Describe how you collaborate with other agencies to assist families in meeting their goals and/or accessing necessary

services?

4. How does the family partnership agreement process continue during and after transition to other programs 

(e.g. Head Start, early intervention, child care)?

C. Staff Training and Supervision

1. Describe staff roles and responsibilities in developing and maintaining relationships with families through the 

family partnership agreement process.

2. How are family partnership agreement goals communicated across the organization and influence all 

aspects of services?

3. Describe how you support staff to help them work effectively with families to develop family partnership agreement’s

that are meaningful to staff and families?

D. Management Systems

1. Describe the management systems (e.g. planning, communications, governing bodies, record keeping, reporting, 

and self-assessment) that are in place to facilitate the family partnership agreement process? 

2. Please describe how these systems operate to ensure that the process is meeting families’ needs.

15
RESOURCES FOR FAMILY PARTNERSHIPS

Family Resource Coalition. 

(1996). Culture and family-centered practice. 

Chicago, IL: Author.

Florida State University Center for Prevention and Early

Intervention Policy. (1998). Partners for a healthy baby:

Home visiting curriculum for expectant families. 

Tallahassee, FL: Author.

Hanlon, G. (1999). Successfully parenting your baby with special

needs (video). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes

Publishing Co.

Hussey-Gardner, B. (1999). Best beginnings: Helping parents

make a difference. Palo Alto, CA: Vort Corporation.

Jeppson, E., & Thomas, J. (1997). Essential allies: Families 

as advisors. Bethesda, MD: Institute for 

Family-Centered Care.

Lerner, C., & Dombro, A.L. (2000). Learning & growing 

together: Understanding and supporting your child’s development.

Washington, DC: ZERO TO THREE/ National

Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families.

Manolson, A., Ward, B., & Dodington, N. 

(1995). You make the difference in helping your child learn. 

Toronto, ON, Canada: The Hanen Centre.

Powers, S., & Lerner, C. (2000). Learning & growing together

tip sheets: Ideas for professionals in programs that serve young

children and their families. Washington, DC: 

ZERO TO THREE/ National Center for Infants,

Toddlers and Families.

U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2000).

Communicating with parents, Training guide for the Head Start

learning community. Washington, DC: 

Head Start Bureau. 

U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2000)

Partners in Decision Making. Training guide for the Head Start

learning community. Washington, DC: 

Head Start Bureau.

U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (2000)

Partnerships with Parents (multimedia kit). Washington, DC:

Head Start Bureau.

U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (2000)

Supporting Families in crisis Training guide for the Head Start

learning community. Washington, DC: 

Head Start Bureau.

U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1999)

Family Partnerships: A continuous process Training guide for the

Head Start learning community. Washington, DC: 

Head Start Bureau.

U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1998).

Building on success, Training guide for the Head Start learning

community. Washington, DC: Head Start Bureau. 

U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1998).

Designing Parenting Education Training guide for the Head Start

learning community. Washington, DC: 

Head Start Bureau.

U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (1998)

Supporting Family Learning Training guide for the Head Start

learning community. Washington, DC: 

Head Start Bureau.

U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1995).

Engaging Parents Training guide for the Head Start learning 

community. Washington, DC: Head Start Bureau.

U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1999).

Family Involvement, Head Start Bulletin #68. Washington,

DC: Head Start Bureau.

U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (2000).

Linking our voices: A training program for Head Start Policy

Councils. Washington, DC: Head Start Bureau.

Wasik, B. H. & Bryant, D. (2000). Home visiting: Procedures

for helping families. Thousand Oaks, CA: 

Sage Publications, Inc.

E ARLY H EAD S TART P ROGRAM S TRATEGIES The Family Partnership Agreement Process

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EARLY HEAD START NATIONAL RESOURCE CENTER