Head Start uses a whole-family approach—that is, a philosophy supporting children’s health, development, and school readiness, as well as their families’ physical and mental health, housing, and financial stability—by providing a comprehensive, integrated set of support services tailored to meet the individual needs of parents and families.

To better understand how Head Start programs coordinate the provision of support services, the Administration for Children and Families’ Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation engaged MDRC and its partners—NORC at the University of Chicago and MEF Associates—to conduct Head Start Connects: Individualizing and Connecting Families to Comprehensive Support Services. The project aims to gather information on the strategies, processes, and practices programs use to coordinate family support services so that service coordination is aligned with individual family needs and fosters family well-being.

This brief describes lessons learned from case studies of Head Start programs:

• Recruitment and enrollment into Head Start was an important time for parents to learn about family support services and to begin building trust with Head Start staff members.
   
• Building rapport and relationships with parents was essential to getting families the forms of support identified for them.
   
• Family support workers used a variety of strategies to build relationships with parents.
   
• Family support workers were extremely dedicated, even going beyond their formal job requirements.
   
• Despite family support workers’ efforts, not all parents were able to participate fully in family support services.
   
• Parents valued their relationships with their family support workers.

Overall, family support workers’ everyday interactions with families are important points of connection for actively engaging families in family support services. To further strengthen this engagement in services, family support workers can focus on building trusting, supportive relationships that are mindful of the challenges that families may face. Head Start programs may consider providing additional staff wellness activities and reflective supervision to family support workers so they can fully engage in supporting families.