Table of Contents | Previous | Next |
DIVERSITY OF EARLY HEAD START FAMILIES AND PROGRAM SERVICES
Michaela Farber, Shavaun Wall, and Harriet Liebow
The Catholic University of America
The United Cerebral Palsy Early Head Start program is located about half an hour from the nation's capital, in a major suburban area of Northern Virginia where rich and poor live in juxtaposition. To understand how Early Head Start promotes child development and self-sufficiency in families struggling with poverty, the Catholic University of America research partners profiled the diverse families served by United Cerebral Palsy Early Head Start and documented the development of individualized program services for targeted family groups.
To meet the unique needs of the 75 families served, United Cerebral Palsy Early Head Start tailored its program services as suggested by their demographic profile (Table 1), birth (immigrant or U.S.-born), and occupational status (military or civilian). Specifically, United Cerebral Palsy Early Head Start served 45 percent immigrant and 55 percent U.S.-born families. The U.S.-born families comprised 35 percent military and 20 percent civilian families. To meet the needs of children in these family groupings, United Cerebral Palsy Early Head Start developed a flexible mixture of child-focused services. These services included center-based child care on a nearby military base, community-based family child care, and home visiting.
The immigrant families tended to be in their late 20s or early 30s and married. Although all United Cerebral Palsy Early Head Start families were poor, immigrant families tended to be more preoccupied than civilian or military families with obtaining resources to meet their basic survival needs. They reported resources as more inadequate (M 45.2, SD 8.0) than either civilian (M 34.0, SD 9.4) or military (M 33.3, SD 5.2) families (F22.4, df 74, p .001). To meet the immigrant families' basic survival needs, United Cerebral Palsy Early Head Start sought to mobilize resources in public, faith-based, and voluntary sectors of the community. In addition to poverty, family descriptors suggested that immigrant families faced three barriers to economic self-sufficiency: (1) less-than-adequate English-speaking skills (88 percent), (2) not completing high school education (65 percent), and (3) living in the United States less than five years (40 percent). To counter these barriers, United Cerebral Palsy Early Head Start referred immigrant families to community-based educational programs. These and other pressing needs of United Cerebral Palsy Early Head Start immigrant families are supported by the national Census 2000 report, which documented that immigrant families and their children are 50 percent more likely to suffer poverty than U.S.-born citizens (Camarota 2001).
Three-quarters of the immigrant families were of Hispanic origin, most from Central America, some from South America and Mexico. The rest were from West Africa, the Caribbean, Pakistan, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Bosnia. To directly serve them, United Cerebral Palsy Early Head Start hired bilingual staff (usually speaking Spanish and English but also some Twi and Urdu) for home-visiting, case management, and family child care services, as well as for the center's policy council meetings and family socialization sessions. To identify and meet the linguistic gaps in community services for immigrant families, the United Cerebral Palsy Early Head Start staff also participated in community forums. As a result of the staff's investment in community collaboration, many immigrant families were able to enroll in English classes by just showing proof of their Early Head Start participation rather than having to follow a complex identification process required of other applicants.
Both U.S.-born military and civilian families tended to be younger than immigrant families. Military families had more mothers who were married and who had some college education. Civilian families were the youngest, least likely to be married, and most likely to have a high school education. U.S.-born military and civilian families had more resources than immigrant families, but they also struggled with the poverty-related issues of lack of economic self-sufficiency, family problems, and health care. In addition, civilian families had the pressing needs faced by very young families with inadequate health care, while military families faced stresses such as deployment or family separations. To address the needs of young families, United Cerebral Palsy Early Head Start pioneered the integration of Fairfax County's new Nurturing Program for infant health and care into its parent education program. Through ongoing collaboration with other community providers, United Cerebral Palsy Early Head Start staff facilitated a countywide shift in health care for low-income families from a lottery system to universal availability. United Cerebral Palsy Early Head Start also signed a memorandum of understanding with a neighboring army post establishing child care within a child development center on the post's premises. The military provided the classroom space, office space, food services, some furnishings and equipment, and access to a developmentally appropriate playground. In turn, United Cerebral Palsy Early Head Start employed, trained, and supervised all direct child care and case management staff, particularly drawing staff with military experience. To meet the child development needs of children of military personnel, United Cerebral Palsy Early Head Start participated in the Special Needs Review Team at the child development center. To facilitate access to needed mental health and family services, United Cerebral Palsy Early Head Start staff collaborated with the military's Family Advocacy, Exceptional Family Member, and New Parent Support Group programs and also helped families to directly access community services.
As part of their provision of center- and family-based child care and home-visiting services for families in all three subgroups, United Cerebral Palsy Early Head Start staff extensively collaborated with the county's early intervention services, facilitating early identification and family supports to families of infants and toddlers with special needs.
In conclusion, the combination of family birth status and occupational status, along with individual demographic needs, proved useful in designing and implementing Early Head Start individualized, comprehensive, and culturally sensitive services.
Reference
Camarota, S. Immigrant in the United States-2000: A Snapshot of America's Foreign-Born Population. Center for Immigration Studies, 2001. [www. cis.org/articles/publist.html].
| Descriptor |
Immigrant
Family 34 = N |
U.S.-Born
Military Family 26 = N |
U.S.-Born
Civilian Family 15 = N |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mother's Age* | Mean 27.8, SD 6.3 | Mean 24.4, SD 3.7 | Mean 23.7, SD 5.5 |
| Father's Age* | Mean 32.8, SD 6.9 | Mean 24.8, SD 3.6 | Mean 27.6, SD 7.6 |
| Child's Age | Mean 9 month, range: Pregnancy-1½ years | ||
| Child s Gender | 61% Males, 39% Females | ||
| Number of Children | 1 child-32%, 2 children-36%, 3 to 5 children 32% | ||
| Child Lives with | 2 parents & relatives-70%, 1 parent-20%, 1 parent & relatives-10% | ||
| Mean $11,958 | Mean $15, 816 | Mean $ 10,637 | |
| Income* | SD $ 4,519 | SD $ 3,700 | SD $ 5,279 |
| Hispanic 19% | |||
|
|
Hispanic 76% |
Black 27% |
Hispanic 0% |
|
|
Black 12% |
Caucasian 38% |
Black 73% |
|
|
Caucasian 6% |
Asian 4% |
Caucasian 27% |
| Mother's Heritage* |
Asian 6% |
N. Am. Indian 12% |
Asian 0% |
| < High School 65% | < High School 12% | < High School 27% | |
| High School 21% | High School 31% | High School 53% | |
| Some College 6% | Some College 57% | Some College 13% | |
| Mother's Education* | College + 8% | College + 0% | College + 7% |
| Mother's Employment | Unemployed--75% Employed 25% | ||
| Father's Employment | Unemployed--14% Employed 86% | ||
| None 9% | None 19% | None 7% | |
| 1 to 2 services 76% | 1 to 2 services 73% | 1 to 2 services 33% | |
| 3 to 4 services 9% | 3 to 4 services 8% | 3 to 4 services 47% | |
| Formal Support Services Used* | 5 to 6 services 6% | 5 to 6 services 13% | |
* p < .05
| Table of Contents | Previous | Next |