The National Head Start Institute on Father Involvement

ACYF Administration on Children, Youth and Families	U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Administration for Children and Families
	1. Log No. ACYF-IM-HS-04-01	2. Issuance Date: 02/09/04
	3. Originating Office: Head Start Bureau
	4. Key Word: Fathers; Parent Involvement; National

INFORMATION MEMORANDUM

TO: Head Start and Early Head Start Grantees and Delegate Agencies

SUBJECT: The National Head Start Institute on Father Involvement

INFORMATION:

The Head Start Bureau is pleased to invite all Head Start and Early Head Start programs to attend the National Head Start Institute on Father Involvement. The Institute will be held on June 14-18, 2004, in Dallas, Texas. The Institute underscores the invaluable contributions that fathers can make to the well-being of children and reaffirms Head Start�s core commitment to the involvement of both parents in the lives of their children, their Head Start programs, and their communities.

Through this National Institute, the Head Start Bureau is�for the first time�inviting leaders of every Head Start and Early Head Start program in the nation to come together and focus on enhancing father involvement through Head Start. The Institute is part of the Head Start Bureau�s overall response to the President�s Fatherhood Initiative, which is founded on the belief that responsible fathers can be important contributors to the well being of their children. Through the Institute and other related activities, the HSB will ensure that local Head Start program leadership, staff, and parents have the knowledge and skills needed to strengthen families and support the ongoing involvement of fathers in Head Start, and in the lives of their children. This, in turn, will contribute to the healthy development of children.

Institute Goals

The National Head Start Institute on Father Involvement has the following goals:

To ensure that all Head Start programs and staff understand the beneficial impact of father involvement on the development and well being of children.
To support the effective involvement of fathers in the lives of Head Start children.
To showcase and build on best-practices regarding fatherhood.
To present information that is based on research, grounded in practical application, and consistent with the cultural diversity of the Head Start community.

Participants

The National Head Start Institute on Father Involvement will bring together directors, staff, and parents representing all Head Start programs for five days of skill-building, knowledge development, and program planning. These individuals will play a key role in creating or enhancing effective father involvement plans in their local programs. The Head Start Bureau is recommending that programs consider sending up to three persons representing three of the following positions:

Program Director
Policy Council Member
Parent Leader, preferably a father
Male Involvement / Parent Involvement Specialist

Program Content

To ensure that local Head Start program leadership and staff have the knowledge, skills, and commitment they need to strengthen families and support the ongoing involvement of fathers, the National Head Start Institute on Father Involvement will offer an impressive array of quality presentations and knowledge- and skill-building workshops. The Head Start Bureau is committed to featuring the best speakers�teachers, researchers, and practitioners�the fatherhood field has to offer.

The Institute is organized around five building blocks for developing and sustaining a high quality father involvement program. The Building Blocks for Father Involvement are:

How Fathers Give Children a Head Start.
Father Involvement in Head Start.
Strengthening Your Foundation to Work with Fathers.
Planning for the Success of Your Fatherhood Program.
Bringing Your Fatherhood Plan to Life.

To make the workshops as relevant as possible for the Head Start audience, each workshop will�

Be tailored to the Head Start community;
Be research-based;
Discuss issues from a fatherhood perspective;
Address father-related issues from a positive perspective;
Be action and practice oriented; and
Embody principles of cultural diversity.

The Institute is designed to help Head Start agencies advance their father involvement programs, whether those programs are long established or just getting underway. A National Planning Committee, consisting of national fatherhood experts and local Head Start representatives, has worked closely with the Head Start Bureau to ensure that the five-day Institute will offer participants a substantive experience, including an opportunity to learn about the Building Blocks for developing and sustaining a high quality father involvement program.

Supplemental Funding

To ensure that financial constraints do not preclude programs from attending this important leadership event, ACF will make available to grantees and delegate agencies one-time funds that are intended to substantially cover costs for up to two persons from each program. Grantees wishing to apply for these funds should submit an application for supplemental funds. Grantees may request $1,000 per attendee, not to exceed $2,000 per program (e.g., if a grantee directly operates a Head Start program and has two delegate agencies, that grantee could apply for up to $6,000). Grantees may send a third person from each program to the Institute using other funds to cover any additional costs. Grantees should submit their funding requests to their responsible ACF Regional Office as soon as possible. Please direct any questions to your ACF Regional Office.

These one-time funds are not calculated to be an exact reimbursement of each grantee�s cost related to participating in this event. The funds are instead a reasonable supplement to those grantees wishing to attend. If some portion of the supplemental funds is not needed to pay the direct costs of the events, it should be used for related father involvement activities.

The Head Start Bureau is very pleased to sponsor this first National Head Start Institute on Father Involvement. We look forward to you joining us in this important endeavor as we work to help improve the lives of children and their families in communities across our nation.

Windy Hill signature
Windy M. Hill
Associate Commissioner
Head Start Bureau