Key Concepts
Family Strengths
Mobilizing Family Strengths
Activities

Next Steps: Ideas to Extend Practice

Key Concepts

The key concepts of Module 3 that serve as a knowledge base for developing the skills needed for mobilizing the strengths of Head Start families include:

• Family Strengths. The strengths of the family are the elements most useful for helping families achieve their hopes for the future.

• Reframing. reframing means being able to "build new windows" around families by highlighting their skills, gifts and capacities, rather than dwelling on their problems. Through reframing, families are helped to see problems as challenges which can be solved. reframing releases a family's positive energy and, thereby, mobilizes the family to work on its challenges in new ways.

• Key Players. Key players are persons who know the family best and may be counted on as sources of support. Key players are involved in the family's everyday life and are invested in seeing the family's hopes and dreams become reality. A thorough assessment of family strengths includes identifying the key players in the life of the family.

Background Information

Many Head Start families have long histories of seeing themselves in terms of their problems. Often, that problem-oriented view is reinforced by traditional social service agencies. When families meet with service providers in the system, the focus is usually on family problems. The problem-oriented approach reinforces what is wrong with the family, not what is right with the family. As a result, families fail to recognize and realize their problem-solving capabilities. When we move away from only looking at family problems, we encourage family confidence and optimism. A strength-oriented approach is far different from the one most low-income families have traditionally experienced. A trusting partnership, built on family strengths, may take several weeks or even months to develop.

Family Strengths

The strengths of the family are the elements most useful for helping families achieve their hopes for the future. When we keep a focus on family strengths, we learn the good news about families. Family talents and capacities define our work, not labels or categories that imply deficits in family functioning.

There are many types of family strengths. Some family strengths include: adaptability, cohesion, humor, willingness to try, and networks of support. Any provider will find strengths in all areas of family life including family interests and activities; extended family and friends; religious, spiritual or cultural beliefs; family values and rules; employment and education; emotional or psychological well-being; physical health and nutrition; shelter and safety; income or money; and family interaction.

Head Start staff can become proficient at drawing out family strengths by: 1) believing that family strengths exist; 2) having conversations, not interviews, with the family; 3) asking the family process questions; 4) talking with the family about everyday things and listening to their responses; and 5) identifying and celebrating the family's successes.

A strength-oriented staff-family partnership is most likely achieved by Head Start staff exhibiting the following characteristics:

• Recognizing that they are the family's partner.

  Most helpers come to the family partnership-building process with their own expectations of what will be accomplished. However, in doing so, they are not adhering to the role of family partner. It is important to let the family set the agenda.

• Trusting the family.

  Each family member has its own unique set of experiences. The judgments, observations, and recommendations of family members deserve our attention and trust; they are based on a track record that precedes Head Start involvement with the family.

• Working with the family.

  Head Start families have invited us, or accepted a request from us, to be part of a process that is already going on in their lives. Working together in all aspects of what is being planned for a family is the way we show our respect for that privilege.

• Showing flexibility.

  Our own family history shapes our expectations about what families should be like. However, to form an effective family partnership, we must begin with and work toward meeting the family's expectations for its future. We also show flexibility by adapting our schedule to the family's schedule, whether or not family members are employed.

• Relating to the family as people.

  Using a style of interaction that is both comfortable for us and for the families we work with helps to communicate the message: "We all want to be treated as people. No one wants to be treated as a case."

• Looking at the whole picture.

  One individual does not make a family. One event does not make a history. We must always be aware of how easily that knowledge can slip away, unless we maintain a focus on the whole family picture.

• Displaying creativity and enthusiasm.

  There are many ways to accomplish the same thing. Creativity - finding different views of the same family picture or different paths to the same goal - produces a lively, strength-oriented family partnership.

Mobilizing Family Strengths

Mobilizing family strengths requires a special set of staff skills. Two key skills are reframing and identifying key players.

• Reframing

  Reframing means "building new windows" around families through an emphasis on family strengths; this means using language that reinforces family strengths, teaching families how to use their strengths, and encouraging success in families through a focus on what they can do. reframing emphasizes strengths by:

  - Using language that shows respect for the family;

  - Avoiding language that may be offensive to the family; and

  - Using "people first" language such as "a family experiencing stress" instead of "a stressed out family," or "a child with disabilities" instead of a "disabled child."

  When working with families, many times staff fall into deficit-oriented patterns, which we can change through the skill of reframing. First, we tend to label families and then think they can't improve their lives. For example, when we use words such as "lazy," "dysfunctional," "unmotivated," and "uncooperative" to describe families, we are, in effect, saying the families' situations are unworkable. We're not seeing the family as people, nor are we seeing the whole family picture. In contrast, when we use the skill of reframing, we see the family as people with skills, talents, and capacities - we emphasize what the family does well.

  Second, we tend to do too much for families. This is becausc it is easier to do things for families than to help them to do things for themselves. When we use the skill of reframing, we encourage families to use their strengths to achieve what they want in life, taking one small step at a time.

  Finally, we tend to pay too much attention to family problems. Dealing with problems takes so much of our time and energy that we fail to build on family strengths. We don't pay enough attention to what families can do or what families could accomplish. When we use the skill of reframing, we build on family strengths by encouraging families to pursue areas that have high chances for success - areas that will give the families (and us) positive feedback for what they do well.

• Identifying Key Players

  Key players, as supports for families, can have significant roles in helping families achieve their hopes for a better life. Identifying key players in the lives of Head Start families is a critical first step toward mobilizing family strengths. Key players:

  - Are personally invested in the family;

  - Are involved in the family's daily life in natural ways;

  - Are accessible during times when the family is together; that is, after the work day and on weekends;

  - Feel close to the family/have emotional ties to the family;

  - Expect the family to have a life a good life and thereby bring enthusiasm to help the family move forward; and

  - Show an unwavering commitment to the family.

  Staff's role in involving key players in efforts to support the family will vary, depending upon each family's needs and desires.. For some families, involving key players in staff-family partnerships may be necessary and desired. Other families may only need encouragement to be able to turn to key players for specific types of support.

  The time involved in identifying key players - people who know the family best - is time well spent. The outcome of the process is likely to contribute significantly to the family's success in moving ahead.

Defining Family Strengths

Purpose: To provide a framework for staff to use in identifying and assessing family strengths.

For this activity you will need:

Handout 1: Areas of Family Strengths
Newsprint/Markers/Tape

1. Introduce the activity. Explain to staff that this activity will help them define, identify, and assess family strengths. Tell staff that family strengths are the elements most useful for helping families achieve their hopes for the future. You may want to review the concept of family strengths as outlined in the module's background information with staff.

2. (a) Explore family strengths. Explain that staff are going to begin with an exploration of strengths within their own families. Ask staff to reflect for a minute on the question:

   What helps your family get through life's challenges?

   (b) After giving staff time for self reflection, ask staff to call out their responses. As responses are called out, list them on a sheet of newsprint.
   

3. Examine the areas of family strength. Distribute handout 1. Point out that handout 1 provides a framework for identifying and categorizing areas of family strengths. Go back to the responses to the question listed on the sheet of newsprint. Guide staff through a process of categorizing the responses listed on newsprint into the appropriate sections of the handout.

4. Debrief the activity. When the process is completed, point out that staff now have a tool to help them identify strengths in Head Start families; recorded responses serve as examples of family strengths.

5. Close the activity. Bring the activity to an end by asking staff whether they have any comments or questions. Point out that in the upcoming activity staff will focus on ways to explore family strengths.

Exploring Family Strengths

Purpose: To demonstrate how family strengths can be discovered and reinforced during conversations with families.

Preparation

For this activity you will need:

Handout 2: Strategies for Exploring Family Strengths
Newsprint/Markers/Tape
VCR/Monitor
Videotape, A Design for Family Support (Part 4, Exploring Family Strengths¹)

Trainer Preparation Note: Before conducting this workshop activity, please consult the instructions at the beginning of Module 3.

1. Introduce the activity. Provide a brief introduction on family strengths, using the module's background information. Recording responses on newsprint, ask staff the following questions:

   • How do you feel when others only focus on your weaknesses?

   • How do you feel when your strengths are recognized?

2. Introduce the videotape. Tell staff that they are now going to focus on the strategies of bringing out the strengths in families. Explain that they will watch a videotape segment Exploring Family Strengths, which shows family consultants having unrehearsed conversations with real families. Instruct staff to look for ways the consultants encourage the families to reveal their strengths and successes as they tell their stories. Begin the videotape.

   Trainer Preparation Note: The focus of the videotape is not on the children, but on the children's families - their strengths and successes.

3. Debrief the video. Stop the videotape at the "pause for discussion" frame. Encourage staff to react to the segment by raising questions such as these:

   • The videotape emphasized these family strengths: adaptability, cohesion, humor, willingness to keep talking, and networks of support. How have these strengths surfaced in your work with Head Start families? Are there other strengths you find in your work with families? What are some examples?

   • What is your reaction to the statement: Most of what a family is doing can be seen as a strength. Do you find this statement to be true in your work with families? What are some exceptions?

   • Are most of the families you work with aware of their strengths?

   • How might a greater emphasis on family strengths affect the families you work with?

   Trainer Preparation Note: You may find it helpful to replay parts or all of this videotape segment, as the discussion proceeds.

4. Continue the activity. Explain to staff that the next segment of the videotape focuses on ways to help families explore their strengths. Resume playing the videotape.

5. Discuss strategies for exploring strengths in families. Stop the videotape at the "pause for discussion" frame. Distribute and review handout 2. Encourage discussion on how staff might apply the strategies shown on the videotape to their work with families by raising questions such as these:

   • How has focusing on family strengths helped you in your work with families?

   • Are there times in your work when you must gather specific information about a family? How do those times fit with having conversations, not interviews, with families? How might you adapt a conversation with a family to get information you need?

   • What are some examples of open-ended, or process questions you use in your work with families? How has this method made a difference?

   • What is wrong with asking questions that begin with the word "why"? What kinds of feelings do "why" questions create? (Give an example, such as: "Why did you do that?" Probe for the ways "why" questions put people on the defensive; imply wrong-doing, and communicate a judgmental attitude.)

   • Have you ever celebrated a family's success in your work? What kind of family success gave cause for celebration? How did you celebrate the success? How did the celebration make you feel? How did it make the family feel?

   Trainer Preparation Note: Steps 6 and 7 are optional. Use this section to enhance the training. This portion of the activity can be conduced with the activity or at a later date.

6. (a) Practice exploring family strengths. Explain that this videotape segment shows Nancy Boyd-Franklin, a family consultant, in conversation with the Johnson family. In the Johnson family, the grandmother and the great-grandmother are raising three children ages 2, 3, and 4.

   (b) Show the videotape. Suggest that staff take notes as they watch the videotape; document what the family consultant does to bring out the strengths in the Johnson family.

7. Debrief the videotape. Stop the videotape at the "pause from discussion" frame. Begin the debriefing by asking staff for their reactions to the segment just shown. Use the questions below as a guide:

   • What about the Johnson family made the greatest impression on you? About the family consultant?

   • What strategies did the consultant use to explore family strengths? What would you have done differently?

   • How did the Johnson family respond to the family consultant's strategies? How do you think the Johnson family felt after the conversation?

8. (a) Close the activity. In bringing the activity to an end, ask the following:

   Have you ever worked with a family that seemed to have few, if any, strengths? Have you ever worked with a family that seemed unable to recognize its strengths? Do you think you used the right strategies for exploring family strengths with the family? What might you have done differently?

   (b) Reinforce that by exploring family strengths, we build family confidence

¹Adapted with permission from Exploring Family Strengths, prod. Jana Staton, ed. by Kathy Herr, Heritage Production, American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Foundation, 1994, videotape.

Practicing the Skill of Reframing

Purpose: To develop skills in using language that describes and reinforces the strengths in families.

Preparation

For this activity you will need:

Handout 3: Reframing Common Terms
Handout 4: Reframing the Marcus Family
Newsprint/Markers/Tape

1. Introduction. Present a brief overview on the skill of reframing based on the module's key concepts and background information.

2. Discuss reframing. Distribute and review handout 3. Explain that the handout provides examples of common terms reframed as strengths.

   Trainer Preparation Note: The refrained statements in handout 3 encourage staff to see problems in new ways. At the same time, it is important for staff to realize that reframing is not denial of serious issues in a family. Rather, reframing helps to identify some positive aspects of an issue, which staff and families might otherwise overlook.

3. (a) Prepare staff for a small group activity. Explain that in the upcoming activity staff will form small groups and practice the skill of reframing. Distribute handout 4, which they will use during the activity, and go over the instructions.

   (b) Point out that the description of the Marcus family includes words/phrases that contribute to negative attitudes, misconceptions, and assumptions about families; staff have probably heard, read, or even used these same words/phrases. In rewriting the description of the Marcus family, you want the small groups not only to emphasize the strengths in the family, but also to:

   • Use language that shows respect for the family;

   • Avoid language that may be offensive to the family; and

   • Use "people first language," such as "a family experiencing stress" instead of "a stressed out family," or "a child with disabilities" instead of a "disabled child."

4. Conduct the activity. Form three or more small groups. Ask each group to appoint a facilitator and a recorder. Distribute sheets of newsprint, markers, and tape to each group. Assign a different paragraph, from the description of the Marcus family, to each small group. (If you have more than three groups, re-assign the paragraphs.)

   Trainer Preparation Note: Keep the groups focused on the task of reframing instead of straying into a discussion on solving the Marcus family's problems.

5. (a) Process the activity. After 20 minutes, reconvene the large group to hear the small groups' new descriptions of the Marcus family. To start, have staff react to the reframing task just completed by asking the following:

   • Did you find the task easy or difficult?

   (b) Read the first paragraph of the Marcus family description, as originally written on handout 4. Ask staff:

   • How would you feel if your family was described in this way?

   (c) Ask reporters from the group working on the first paragraph to read its reframed description of the Marcus family. Ask staff:

   • How would you feel if your family was described in this way?

   (d) Repeat the same process for the second and third paragraphs of the Marcus family description.

6. Close the activity. In ending the activity, make the following points:

   • Suggest that staff make a commitment to help each other watch out for language that spurs negative images of Head Start families, and to compliment each other when reframing occurs.

   • Stress that reframing or "building new windows" around families is both a skill and an art. Breaking deficit-oriented patterns and emphasizing family strengths requires practice and patience.

   • Note that reframing does not mean that family "problems" are ignored, avoided, or discounted; rather, reframing acknowledges and reinforces the family's capacity to solve problems.

Skill Development in Reframing

Purpose: To provide staff with practice in reframing families in terms of their strengths and capabilities.

Preparation

For this activity you will need:

Handout 3: Reframing Common Terms
Newsprint/Markers/Tape
Paper/Pencil

Coach Preparation Note: Divide a sheet of paper for note-taking into two columns. Label one column "deficits" and the other "strengths." As staff describe the families, listen for words, phrases, or terms that provoke: 1) negative family images and record them in the "deficits" column; and 2) positive family images and record them in the "strengths" column. If necessary, encourage detailed descriptions.

1. Introduce the activity. Discuss the purpose of this activity with staff and how you will work together to complete its steps.

2. (a) Discussion on strengths and deficits. Ask each participant to describe a Head Start family he/she knows well. Explain that you will take some notes about the families as staff describe them.

   (b) Discuss the family descriptions provided by staff. Go over the two columns of notes with staff and emphasize the following points:

   • The primary way staff describe the family (i.e., from a deficit and problem-oriented view or from a strength and "can do" view);

   • Negative assumptions about families, as suggested by the list in the deficits column (e.g., the family is too hard to work with; the family is inadequate; the parents are not "good parents"; the children are out of control);

   • Language that devalues or shows disrespect for the family (as suggested by the list in the "deficits" column) versus language that shows the family is valued and respected (as suggested by the list in the "strengths" column);

   • The importance of using "people first language," such as "a child with epilepsy" instead of "an epileptic child" or "a family experiencing stress" instead of "an overwhelmed family."

   (c) Ask the question:

   • How would you feel if your family was described from a deficit perspective rather than from a strengths-perspective?
     
     
3. (a)Explain the skill of reframing. Provide staff with a brief overview of the skill of reframing from the module's background information. Explain that reframing means "building new windows" around families through an emphasis on family strengths; this means using language that reinforces family strengths, helping families to use their strengths, and encouraging success in families through a focus on what they can do.
   
   Coach Preparation Note: The reframed statements in handout 3 encourage staff to see problems in new ways. At the same time, it is important for staff to realize that reframing is not denial of serious issues in a family. Rather, reframing helps to identify some positive aspects of an issue that staff and families might otherwise overlook.

   (b) To help staff understand the task of reframing, refer them to handout 3, which shows how terms, commonly used to describe families, can be reframed as strengths. Encourage staff to add examples to the handout.

4. Practice reframing. Bring staff attention back to the list of words, phrases, and terms in the column of notes labeled "deficits." Take four or five examples from the list and write them on newsprint. Ask staff for one or two ways that each example might be reframed as a family strength and record their responses on the newsprint.

5. (a) Apply the skill of reframing. As homework, instruct staff to choose a Head Start family and describe the family from a strengths perspective, using reframing when necessary.

   (b) Establish a time for staff to report back with the reframing exercise.

6. Debrief the homework. When you meet again, review the completed assignment. Give staff the opportunity to raise questions or issues concerning the skill of reframing. Celebrate staff progress in reframing the family. Encourage staff to continue practicing the skill of reframing.

7. Close the activity. Stress that skill in reframing families comes with lots of practice; deficit or problem-oriented patterns of describing and working with families takes time to correct. Point out opportunities that staff have to make colleagues more aware of family strengths.

Identifying Key Players in the Lives of Families

Purpose: To provide staff with strategies for identifying natural helpers who are part, or can become part, of the family's support system.

Preparation

For this activity you will need:

Handout 5: Strategies for Identifying Key Players in the Family's Life
Newsprint/Markers/Tape

1. Introduce the activity. Point out that family strengths extend beyond the immediate family unit to key players in the life of a family. Emphasize key players are people the family can count on, or turn to, as sources of support; key players are often overlooked as resources in families. Explain that in this activity, staff will explore strategies for identifying key players in the lives of Head Start families.

2. (a) Brainstorm key players. Ask staff to think about a difficult time in their own life - this may be a time from the past or the present. (Situations that might apply include the death of a loved one, a divorce, a move, the loss of a job, illness of a relative, financial stress, etc.)

   (b) After a minute or two of self-reflection, ask staff to call out responses to the question: Who can you count on to see your family through a stressful time? As responses are called out, list them on a sheet of newsprint.

3. Explore the characteristics of key players. Encourage staff to comment on their reasons for including the people on the newsprint list. Note that key players:
   

   • Are personally invested in seeing the family achieve its hopes for a better life;
     
   • Are involved in the family's daily life in natural ways;
     
   • Are accessible during times when the family is together; that is, after the work day and on weekends;
     
   • Feel close to the family/have emotional ties to the family;
     
   • Expect the family to have a good life and thereby bring enthusiasm to help the family move forward; and
     
   • Show an unwavering commitment to the family.
     
     
4. (a) ldentifying key players. Explain that the group is now going to take a close look at ways to identify key players in the life of a Head Start family. Remind the group of the ground rules for maintaining the confidentiality of families discussed during the training program.

   (b) Ask for a volunteer to come forward and describe a Head Start family that he/she thinks has few, if any, key players. Encourage the group to ask the volunteer questions about the family in order to obtain a complete picture. Make sure that the strengths in the family are identified during the process. As the family is described, take notes on newsprint.

   (c) Distribute handout 5 and go through the list of strategies. Encourage staff to talk about the ways they might actually carry out the strategies in their work with families. Make sure that staff realize that key players may be identified through observing the family, as well as through process questions raised during family visits.

   (d) Instruct the group, using handout 5 as a guide, to identify the key players of the Head Start family described in part b. Note that staff may need to ask more questions of the volunteer. Begin discussion by asking:

   • Who are the key players in this Head Start family?

   • What strategies can we use to identify other key players?

5. Debrief the activity. Give staff time to ask questions or to comment on strategies discussed during the activity.

6. Close the activity. Conclude the activity with the following points:

   • Key players, as sources of support, can have significant roles in helping families achieve their hopes for a better life. Identifying key players in the lives of Head Start families is a critical first step toward mobilizing family strengths.

   • Your role in involving key players in efforts to support the family will vary, depending upon each family's needs and desires. For some families, involving key players in Head Start team meetings, or in your family visits, may be necessary and desired. Other families may only need your encouragement to be able to turn to key players for specific types of support.

   • The time involved in identifying key players - people who know the family best - is time well spent. The outcome of the process is likely to contribute significantly to the family's success in moving ahead.

Skill Development in Exploring Family Strengths and Identifying Key Players

Purpose: To encourage the development of a strength-oriented partnership between staff and a Head Start family.

Preparation

For this activity you will need:

Handout 1: Areas of Family Strengths
Handout 2: Strategies for Exploring Family Strengths
Handout 5: Strategies for Identifying Key Players in the Family 's Life
Newsprint/Markers/Tape

Session 1

1. Introduce the activity. Explain the purpose of this two-session activity and ask staff to write down some information on a family with whom they are currently working, including a brief description of the family's composition, current situation, and strengths.

2. Begin the activity. Have staff describe the family and their involvement with the family to date.

3. (a) Involve staff in self-evaluation. Write the following points on a sheet of newsprint:

   • Recognize they are the family's partner;

   • Trust and support the family's own judgments, observations, and ideas for growth;

   • Work with the family, instead of for the family;

   • Consider the family's schedule when setting up visits/appointments;

   • Relate to the family as people, rather than as clients or a case;

   • Have a good grasp of the whole family picture and;

   • Show enthusiasm and creativity in efforts to support the family.

   Go over the points as examples of staff characteristics necessary to promote a strength-oriented staff-family partnership.

   (b) Ask staff to evaluate their work with the selected family in terms of each point. On newsprint, take notes as you go through the process. As the self-critique unfolds, reinforce strengths that staff see in themselves, while also reinforcing/pointing out ways that staff might approach the family differently.

4. (a) Develop strategies for exploring family strengths. Review the concept of family strengths as it appears in the module's background information. Tell staff that strengths can be found in many areas of a family's life. Distribute and review handout 1.

   (b) Refer staff to handout 2 and go over the strategies for exploring family strengths. Have staff circle two or three strategies on the handout that they would like to try out or refine in their work with the selected family. Talk about the circled strategies, within the context of the selected family.

5. (a) Assign homework. Ask staff to set up a time to visit the selected family within the next few weeks. Explain that you want staff to complete the following assignment during the visit. Suggest staff take notes on the assignment, as you present it.

   • Use the strategies discussed to identify family strengths;

   • Identify at least one family strength, not previously identified, and bring it to the family's attention; and

   • Identify at least one strength, not previously identified, in each member of the family and bring these strengths to the family's attention.
     
     

   (b) After making sure the assignment is clear to staff, set up a time for a debriefing.
6. Debrief the homework assignment. Once the staff visit is complete meet with staff. Ask staff to give you the details of their visits with the selected family, including a critique of their success in completing the assignment. Look carefully at the process; that is, at what staff said or did and how the families responded.

Session 2

1. Conduct a follow-up session. Provide staff with an overview of key players as described in the module's background information. Distribute and review handout 5. Have staff circle two strategies to identify key players that they would like to try out or refine in their work with families.

2. (a) Assign homework. Ask staff to set up a second visit with the selected family. Explain that you want staff to complete the following assignment during the visit. Suggest staff take notes on the assignment, as you present it.

   • Talk with the family about the importance of key players;

   • Use the two strategies noted on handout 5 to identify key players in the family's life, not previously identified, and bring it to the family's attention.

   (b) Set up a time with staff for debriefing/closing session.

3. Debrief the homework. When staff complete the assignment, together analyze the process. Identify areas where staff can improve their skills in identifying key players and what can be done in the future.

4. Close the activity. Bring the activity to an end by asking staff whether they have any comments or questions. Reinforce the importance of working with families from a strengths perspective.

Next Steps: Ideas to Extend Practice

Follow-up activities to reinforce the concepts and skills taught in Module 3 are presented below. After completing Module 3, review the activities with staff and help them choose at least one to work on individually, in pairs, or in small groups.

• Making Back Home Plans

  Provide staff with handout 6, which they can use to record ideas and plans for professional development. Suggest that staff who have the same or similar job responsibilities form a peer support group to discuss strategies for mobilizing family strengths and ways to achieve their professional goals. As an option to forming a peer support group, suggest that staff talk with colleagues about what they learned from the training, ideas they would like to implement, and professional skills they would like to develop.

• Watching Our Language

  Over the course of the next two weeks, ask staff to watch for negative or disrespectful language used to describe Head Start families. They should look for such language in written reports, Head Start staff meetings, informal staff conversations, and their own work with families. Instruct staff to keep a two-week log of the language, that is, of words, phrases, or terms they read, hear, or find themselves using. Set a time to go over the entries in the log with staff. In reviewing the log, ask staff to reframe each entry in a more positive and respectful way. Have staff identify some steps they can take to encourage the Head Start community to watch its language. For example, staff might develop and distribute a list, similar to the one in handout 3, that shows their log entries refrained as strengths.

• Drawing Out Key Players in the Life of a Family

  Discuss ways that staff can find key players in a life of a family during family assessment, service planning, and related activities. Have staff practice conversations with families aimed at identifying and gaining access to key players. Using handout 5 as a guide, develop a list of open-ended process questions with staff that could be used during conversations with families to identify key players. Ask staff to have an actual conversation with a family about key players and to report back to you on the results

See also:
     Module 3: Promoting Collaboration: From Recruitment to Transition
     Design for Family Support