Helping vulnerable families give their children and even start toward school success: One rural community's efforts

Childhood Education, 2001 by Dimidjian, Victoria Jean

Program Accomplishments and Continuing Challenges

Clearly, the Collier County Even Start Program is meeting its primary objective of providing a family literacy model of early intervention to stimulate acquisition of English language skills for both parent and child. In addition, the program has established strong ties with many different community agencies, including Farmworkers Health Inc., Redlands Christian Migrant Association, Immokalee Nonprofit Housing, and the Immokalee Women's Shelter. These agencies provide families with critical services beyond those provided within the Even Start program (Hayes, 1977).

Staff also make families aware of community events that they might not have been aware of, and amenities they had not had the opportunity to take advantage of (e.g., the local zoo, playgrounds, cultural centers, etc.). The staff even provides transportation to these sites.

Building community linkages, helping families to achieve membership in their communities and affirming different cultural norms that may exist within a single racial or language group are key skills for teachers and counselors working effectively in multicultural milieus (Sue & Sue, 1999; Vace, DeVaney, & Wittmer, 1995). The Immokalee Even Start Program achieves all of these goals.

A national evaluation of the Even Start Family Literacy Program prepared for the U.S. Department of Education (1998) reveals that the Immokalee program continues to serve a high percentage of infants/toddlers/preschoolers while mothers were in class, to conduct a higher than average number of parenting education classes and joint parent-child activities, and to have as clients parents who complete a higher than average number of adult education hours in class per month than people in similar programs. This level of service is particularly significant, since parents' general level of education before enrolling in Even Start continues to be well below average.

What remains a concern, however, is that families often do not remain affiliated with the project, in part because of the seasonal nature of the families' occupations. Staff still faces the challenge of providing important services during the limited time that families are in the area and involved in the program.

Conclusion

Strengths of this Even Start Program include:

The help provided to vulnerable families seeking to build roots in an isolated town

A dedicated staff working intensively with families in their own homes and communities

Collaboration among community agencies and schools to support the families

Preservation of a community's proud heritage, albeit in historically separate racial and ethnic boundaries.

The Even Start program typifies what can be done when communities mobilize to take action. Only with such day-to-day efforts can vulnerable families weave themselves into schools, businesses, and the life of a town, becoming a firm and contributing part of society's fabric.

References and Resources

Economic Development Council of Collier County, Inc. Naples, FL. www.swfloridabusiness.com