Centering and Co-creating with the Village
By: Lissette Rodriguez, Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Rockingham Partnership for Children (RCPC)
Smart Start is working across the state to elevate the voices of family leaders and support them in advocating for their children and their communities. Governor Cooper recognizes the importance of lifting up Family Voice and November has been proclaimed Family Engagement Month.
Smart Start and our collaborative partners are taking this time to recognize and celebrate the important role of families in the education and well-being of their children. To learn more about Smart Start’s Family Engagement & Leadership Initiative, visit the FEL section of the website.
The Rockingham Partnership for Children (RCPC) is focused on lifting the voices of families. Read about Rockingham’s work on engaging families below.
Authentic family engagement has long been a goal of the Rockingham County Partnership for Children (RCPC). Centering the voices and the needs of the community members who receive our services is a step towards cultivating equitable service delivery and resources.
The Family Engagement and Leadership Initiatives’ funding and framework awarded by the Preschool Development Grant, Division of Child Development and Early Education at the Department of Health and Human Services, allowed us to make this goal a reality.
This opportunity fostered a chance for RCPC to co-create the Rockingham County Early Care and Education Action Plan with community partners and family leaders. This plan was intentionally developed so that all members who were a part of its inception are also a part of its implementation. The ancient African proverb reminds us that “It takes a village to raise a child” and this action plan illuminates the fact that we (our entire community) are a part of that village.
Growing Through the Journey
We have grown and learned so much as an organization throughout this journey and can no longer imagine our agency operating without the partnership of early childhood professionals and families to guide present and future decisions about programming. We have a commitment to embedding Family Engagement in our internal policies and procedures to ensure that we stay accountable to the community that we seek to support.
As a professional in the early childhood field, I have so much respect and admiration for the family leaders that we get to work with. They have continued to demonstrate their courage, advocacy, and commitment to community, that we are certain will continue for generations to come. As an organization, we strive to move the needle on creating a more equitable early childhood system, centering and co-creating with our Rockingham County village is crucial to this movement.
