The key to Head Start's approach is its level of actively involving parents and the community in all aspects of the program. The partnering process with parents begins at intake and continues throughout their participation in Head Start. Parents are offered the opportunity to do a Family Partnership Agreement with Head Start family services staff. The Agreement looks at family strengths, supports, needs and resources, and contains goals initiated by parents that will help improve their lives and achieve greater self-sufficiency.

Head Start staffs advocate within the community for parents, and provide them with the tools to effectively advocate for themselves. Head Start also works individually with each family to improve its conditions and quality of life, by linking parents with community services & resources and providing emergency assistance and crisis intervention.

Head Start also partners with parents to:

• Be their child's first teacher.
• Volunteer and observe in the classroom or in any aspect of the program.
• Become employed with Head Start.
• Receive training in parent education activities and programs, which are planned with parent input, and financial support for continued education.
• Achieve skills in decision-making, group process, and leadership through participation in the governance of the program.
• Join Parent Committees and Policy Councils, where they have a voice in the program's administrative decisions.

Head Start families also learn the information and knowledge they need to make a smooth transition upon leaving the Head Start program and to be their children's advocate in school and other settings. Children may visit kindergarten classrooms and parents learn about their rights and responsibilities. Every Head Start program develops & implements a plan to transition children to and from the program.

The importance of family literacy is stressed throughout the Head Start program. In the classroom, children are in print-rich environments and encouraged in their language & literacy skills development. Parents are urged to improve their literacy skills, obtain adult basic education, and make their homes a place where reading is part of everyday life. Family literacy services are provided in collaboration with numerous other state & community agencies.

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Head Start programs encourage father & male involvement in the children's lives and in the program. A part of this is collaboration with child support to ensure families that need it are receiving all possible supports and to encourage and explore ways fathers can be involved in their children's lives, if ideas and support are needed.

Head Start tackles a wide range of poverty issues through its family & community partnerships, including substance abuse, violence, HIV, homelessness, single-parent households, inadequate child care, unemployment, and numerous other stressors that challenge families' resources.

Head Start programs partner with community agencies & organizations in the course of implementing the Head Start services. Some examples of the community partnerships Head Start programs in Illinois are involved in are:

• Community colleges and parent education programs
• United Way
• Job training programs
• Local employers, for employment opportunities for families
• Adult Education, Graduate Equivalency Diploma (GED) programs, and English as a Second Language (ESL) programs
• Even Start and other family literacy programs
• Health providers and resources
• Area/local offices of State departments, such as the Departments of Human Services, Public Aid, Children & Family Services, Commerce & Community Affairs, and Employment Security
• Title I and Migrant Education programs
• Child Care Resource & Referral agencies
• School District At Risk programs
• Child & Family Connections agencies
• Child care agencies
• Mental health agencies
• Community based social service agencies
• Community social, faith-based, and fraternal organizations