The Child Care Resource Center will build on parent engagement efforts initiated through the PDG-I’s Parent Advisory Committee to establish and convene a Parent Consortium and engage a broader and more diverse group of parents. Parent Consortium participants will represent different geographic regions (urban, suburban, rural, etc.), with special attention paid to engaging linguistically diverse groups of parents, ESL parents, parents who are experiencing trauma including homelessness and disasters, and others. The Parent Consortium will convene virtually to gather feedback on the birth through five system, inform system reform efforts to meet family needs, and provide input and feedback to California’s Early Childhood Policy Council Parent Advisory Committee. The Parent Consortium will serve as a peer-to-peer network to develop parents’ leadership and advocacy skills, and connect parent leaders and advocates across the state.
Convene Virtual Parent Consortium
PDG-Renewal / Activity 3c
Activity 3c: Convene Virtual Parent Consortium—June 2023 update
The Child Care Resource Center (CCRC) is required to provide a minimum of five feedback sessions per year. The community engagement facilitator recruits parent and caregiver participants who have attended cafés or who are receiving services through a resource and referral (R&R) agency (such as subsidized child care).
The community engagement facilitator may recruit participants for feedback sessions in the following ways:
- By personally attending Preschool Development Grant–Renewal cafés hosted by R&Rs and sharing session details with participants
- By directly requesting a list of interested participants from the Hub leads, café host, or both
Because topics may be specific and sensitive, the CCRC may request the facilitator to recruit participants who match certain criteria.
The CCRC has coordinated the feedback sessions to collect information from a broad representation of parents and caregivers. These small group sessions afford attendees a safe space to discuss family needs, availability of services, and areas where services are either not available or not meeting family needs.
These sessions fulfill multiple purposes:
- Provide a bidirectional pathway to engage parents
- Ensure representation across geographic regions (including urban, suburban, and rural)
- Meet parents where they are: convene virtually and in person
- Serve as peer-to-peer networks to develop parent leadership and advocacy skills
- Engage tribes, linguistically diverse groups, and parents experiencing trauma
- Gather feedback on the birth-to-five system, inform system reform efforts to meet family needs, and provide input to the Early Childhood Policy Council Parent Advisory Committee
