Specifications include, but are not limited to: The Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) is requesting proposals for Family Service Workers (FSW) for First Start Delaware (FSD) Early Head Start - Child Care Partnership (EHSCCP) and other programs and initiatives within the Office of Early learning. FSW's help child care partners integrate parent and family engagement strategies into all systems and program services to support family well-being and promote children’s learning and development. FSW's use innovative two-generation approaches that address prevalent needs of families using community partnerships or other funding sources. First Start Delaware along with various other programs within the Office of Early Learning recognizes parents as their children’s primary teachers and nurturers and implements intentional strategies to engage parents in their children’s learning and development and support parent-child relationships, including specific strategies for father engagement; develops relationships with parents and structures services to encourage trust and respectful, ongoing two-way communication between staff and parents to create welcoming program environments that incorporate the unique cultural, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds of families in the program and community; collaborates with families in a family partnership process that identifies needs, interests, strengths, goals, and services and resources that support family well-being, including family safety, health, and economic stability; provides parents with opportunities to participate in the program as employees or volunteers; conducts family engagement services in the family’s preferred language, or through an interpreter, to the extent possible, and ensures families have the opportunity to share personal information in an environment in which they feel safe; and, implements procedures for teachers, home visitors, and family support staff to share information with each other, as appropriate, to ensure coordinated family engagement strategies with children and families in the classroom, home, and community. The FSW plays a key role in these processes. FSW's are the primary facilitators of the family partnership process, which includes a family partnership agreement and other activities to support family well-being, including family safety, health, and economic stability, to support child learning and development, to provide, if applicable, services and supports for children with disabilities, and to foster parental confidence and skills that promote the early learning and development of their children. The process is initiated as early in the program year as possible and continues for as long as the family participates in the program, based on parent interest and need.
