FY 14 Coordinated Family and
Community Engagement Grant
EEC Mission Statement
The Massachusetts Department of Early
Education and Care’s mission is to
provide the foundation that supports
all children in their development as
lifelong learners and contributing
members of the community, and
supports families in their essential
work as parents and caregivers.
2
Table of Contents
3

EEC Family and Community Engagement Framework
 CFCE Priorities: Alignment with EEC’s Strategic Plan
 EEC Priority: Supporting High Needs Children
 Interagency Framework: Strengthening Families Protective Factors

FY13 & FY14 Coordinated Family and Community Engagement
 Priorities
 Primary Goals
 FY13 & FY14 Implementation
 Coordinated Family and Community Engagement Activities
 Screening : Help Me Grow Model – Use of the Ages & Stages
Questionnaire
 Evidence-based Literacy

Acceleration and Support of CFCE Implementation
 Intentional Professional Development Opportunities

FY14 Coordinated Family and Community Engagement

Appendices
CFCE Alignment with EEC’s Strategic Plan
The goals and priorities of the CFCE grant directly align with EEC’s
Indicators of Success under the Family Support, Access and Affordability
section of the EEC Strategic Plan. These Indicators include:

Families are aware of the mixed early education and care system and have
access to affordable, high-quality early education and care services.

Families are recognized as full partners in the education of their children and
are empowered to be involved with the physical, social, emotional and intellectual
development of their children.

Families are informed about child development and aware of family
support resources.

Families of infants have access to programs and services that support the
development of healthy attachment between babies and their primary
caregivers and promote early brain development.

Parents are recognized as their child’s first teacher and have access to
literacy supports that build skills among children and parents.

Families have access to high quality supports and resources for
transitioning children in and out of early education and care programs and
services.

Families that are limited or non-English speaking have access to
information about early education and care and the services available.

Family services are integrated and delivered in a coordinated manner
across state agencies.
4
EEC Priority: Supporting High Needs Children
The Department of Early Education and Care defines high needs children as
children who have two or more of the following risk factors:











5
Children and parents with special needs;
Children whose home language is not English;
Families and children involved with multiple state agencies;
English language learners;
Recent immigrants;
Children with parents who are deployed and are not living on a
military base;
Low-income households;
Parents with less than a high school education;
Children who are homeless or move more than once a year; and
Children in racial and ethnic communities that experience social
exclusion.
Research indicates that children who have these multiple risk factors
may have poor school and life outcomes. Please consider this and
address this when you are responding to the questions below.
Interagency Framework: Strengthening
Families Protective Factors
EEC, in partnership with CTF and DCF, continues to utilize the Strengthening
Families framework and approach, which has widespread support from social
science researchers, early childhood practitioners and policy experts. The
Protective Factors are:

Parental resilience: The ability to cope and bounce back from all types
of challenges

Social connections: Friends, family members, neighbors, and other
members of a community who provide emotional support and concrete
assistance to parents

Knowledge of parenting and child development: Accurate
information about raising young children and appropriate expectations for
their behavior

Concrete support in times of need: Financial security to cover day-today expenses and unexpected costs that come up from time to time,
access to formal supports like TANF and Medicaid, and informal support
from social networks

Children’s social and emotional development: A child’s ability to
interact positively with others and communicate his or her emotions
effectively
Retrieved from The Center for the Study of Social Policy, Strengthening Families, January 5, 2010.
http://www.strengtheningfamilies.net/index.php/main_pages/protective_factors
6
FY13 & 14 Coordinated Family and
Community Engagement
7
Coordinated Family and Community
Engagement: Overarching Priorities
8

Ensure equitable and effective implementation
of the family engagement and strengthening families
strategy across the state to support child development.

Link our statewide network of family engagement and
community supports to evidence-based practices for
literacy and universal child screening while expanding
the availability of culturally and linguistically
appropriate resources to families.
CFCE: Primary Goals
CFCE primary goals remain the same:
9

Reaching and meeting the needs of children, especially
those with multiple risk factors and/or hard to reach,
through universal and targeted outreach strategies;

Providing families with access to comprehensive
services;

Providing evidence-based early and family literacy
opportunities, and

Providing families with support for continuity through
early childhood transitions.
FY13/FY14 Coordinated Family and
Community Engagement
Implementation
In order to create a more consistent, high quality network of support for children and
Families across the Commonwealth, CFCE grantees are required to meet the following
requirements.



10
Create intentional family engagement activities and connections that create
trusted relationships with families. Grantees will:
 Select an evidence-based early literacy model that meets specific criteria
and EEC approval;
 Incorporate the use of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire as a tool to
enhance families’ understanding of child development and to link families with
community-based resources;
 Incorporate the use of the EEC parental consent form as part of the Early
Childhood Information System (ECIS);
 Participate in training to support the financial literacy skills of families;
 Align their implementation of parent/child play groups with specific EEC
guidelines.
Engage in partnerships with local libraries and/or museums.
Participate in the Massachusetts Home Visiting Initiative if available in their
community as a resource.
Parent/Child Playgroups: CFCE Primary Goals Embedded in
Grant Activities
Parent/Child Playgroups: groups can be specific to a particular age range, e.g. toddlers,
and/or group, such dads and their children; provides opportunities for parents to engage with CFCE
staff to access child development information, learn about additional community resources, access
the EEC Financial Assistance system, and connect with other parents.
Outreach strategies include: offering groups in community settings, such as Housing
Developments, Homeless Shelters; employing parent ambassadors from target that
reflect the ethnicity/culture of the families who are hard to reach and/or have children
with multiple risk factors.
In the context of Parent/Child Playgroups, families gain access to:
 Comprehensive Services, which include concrete supports such as WIC, housing
resources; food pantries; mental health supports; ELL programs; connections to locally
based programming, e.g. public library, museums, recreation departments;

Early and Family Literacy: collaborative activities with local libraries and family
literacy organizations; structured programs, such as Raising a Reader, Parents as
Teachers and the Parent-Child Home Program; Story Walks;

Continuity/Transition Supports: linking families to early intervention; linking
families to early childhood special education services; for families of newborns; for
families as they move between early education and care settings;
11
Screening and Assessment: Efforts to Support CFCE
Implementation
12

As part of the Massachusetts Early Learning Plan, EEC continues
to develop the Help Me Grow-Massachusetts model, which
includes scaling its screening opportunities to each CFCE grantee.

This screening opportunity is to be used to promote relationship
building, family’s understanding of their child’s developmental
progress and the importance of early learning activities and to
link families to resources to support their child’s development.

Supported by the RTTT-ELC funds, grantees have received the
ASQ-3 Developmental Screening Tool Kit, the ASQ: SocialEmotional Screening Tool Kit, an ASQ Learning Activities Book,
and the ASQ Materials Kit.

In partnership with the Department of Public Health, ASQ-3 and
ASQ:SE training has been made available to coordinators and/or
their staff.
Efforts to Support CFCE Implementation:
Help Me Grow/Ages and Stages (ASQ) Screening Tool
Help Me Grow Model

System of child development education and support for families in
becoming their children’s first advocate.

Four components: Child growth and development education; resources for
pediatricians; statewide telephone access, and system data collection.

Provides families with developmental information and evidence-based
tools they need to support their child’s optimal growth and
social emotional development.
Use of the ASQ Screening Tool supports CFCE priorities
13

Offers a consistent method for grantees to meet the CFCE priority of
providing high-quality, accurate consumer information and parent education
based on science;

Creates opportunities for grantees to work in partnership with families to
identify potential risk factors early in order to prevent developmental
delays, and

Builds on core function of CFCE grantees – to provide linkages to
comprehensive services to support optimal child development for families
Ages & Stages Questionnaire




14
Developmental screening tool for parents and
providers to use at various intervals
Allows parents to see how their child is growing
Five key areas:
 Communication
 Gross Motor
 Fine Motor
 Problem Solving
 Personal-Social
ASQ-SE focuses on social-emotional
development
Ages and Stages Questionnaire
statistics for Massachusetts

Total numbers since July 2011:
 519 online child profiles have been created
 548 ASQ-3 screenings have been entered into online
database; 335 of these have been finalized
 ASQ-3: 225 children’s scores indicated concern
 ASQ-SE: 43 children’s scores indicated concern
 14 children screened twice; 1 child three times

Most ASQ-3 & ASQ-SE screenings occurred at 36 months
 ASQ-3: 35 out of 335
 ASQ-SE: 50 out of 206
All intervals between 12 and 60 months had a 60% rate of
possible concern/concern

15
Highlights of Coordinated Family and Community
Engagement Monthly Data Reports
Data Elements
a. Number of families provided referrals
FY13 JulyOctober
2012
Statewide
Totals
FY12 End of Year
Totals
35,839
22,034
119,370
a.1 Number of children these families represent
54,299
b. Number of families who received early and/or family
literacy support in group setting
21,484
b.1 Number of children these families represent
31,441
22,949
112,106
c. Number of families who received information about
Kindergarten registration screening
13,974
8,189
118,352
c.1 Number of children these families represent
17,088
9,386
126,324
d. Number of families who participated in parent education
opportunities
16
FY12 JulyNovember
2011
Statewide
Totals
9,571
30,281
16,138
5,808
165,425
81,327
43,165
d.1 Number of children these families represent
e. Number of families who participated in parent/child
playgroups
14,568
8,481
71,861
17,067
16,665
83,709
e.1 Number of children these families represent
23,409
23,215
106,002
Increased Emphasis on Evidence-based Literacy
Supports for Families
17

All CFCE grantees are required to continue to incorporate the
use of evidence-based, EEC approved early literacy
models/practices to enhance their capacity to help parents
promote early literacy skills development in their children.

EEC approved a small number of effective literacy
models/practices in order to create more consistency in
the strategies that CFCE grantees use to help families cultivate
their children‘s literacy skills before they enter elementary
schools.

Models/practices must ensure focus on home language
development and be informed by EEC’s developing standards
for English language development.
FY 13-14 RTTT-ELC:
Expanding Evidence-based Literacy Opportunities
18

CFCE Grantees responded to a Request for Information (RFI) in
which they proposed the use of an evidence-based
model/practice that would build on their existing early literacy
programming.

EEC reviewed the information and selected five models/practices
that would be eligible for RTTT-ELC funding:
 Raising A Reader
 Every Child Ready to Read @ your library
 CELL (Center for Early Literacy Learning) model
 Read and Rise (Scholastic model), and
 Dialogic and Interactive reading using PEER and CROWD
sequences.

Existing CFCE grantees were eligible to respond to a competitive
Evidence-based Literacy Grant opportunity.

RTTT-ELC funding allocation – total of $400,000 each year for
two years - $800,000
FY 13-14 RTTT-ELC:
Expanding Evidence-based Literacy Opportunities
EEC received 48 applications for funding
 Grant review and recommendations have been completed
 Awards are pending
Criteria for evaluating literacy proposals included:
 Evidence that grantee understands the selected model and
documentation of the evidence that supports its use;
19

Clarity of implementation plan;

Role of model in the larger community context e.g. other existing
models and resources supporting early literacy;

Proposed number of child/families to be served, cost per child;

Gateway, Home Visiting, and/or Level 4 community designation;

Overall capacity of grantee to implement the model.
Summary of Evidence-based Grant Review
20

Applications received: 48

Funding
 Available funding total: $800,000
 Funding Request total: $2,443,528.00

Children to be Served
 Proposed number of children to be served: 8727
 Required number of children to be served based
on funding recommendations: 2724
Acceleration and Support of CFCE
Implementation
21
FY14 CFCE Supports for Effective
Implementation
Training opportunities for CFCE included in the Massachusetts
Early Learning Plan (RTTT- ELC) strengthen state agency and
private sector partnerships. Examples include:
22

Department of Public Health – provided ASQ training
to strengthen CFCE implementation of the tool, with a
specific focus on talking about results with parents;

Boston Children’s Museum – trainings across the
state, bringing together museums, libraries and CFCE
grantees around STEM, Kindergarten Readiness, literacy
and child development. Strengthening knowledge base
and depth and breadth of partnerships on the local level
on behalf of families in informal settings.
FY12 – FY13 Intentional Professional Development
Opportunities to Support CFCE Implementation
23

Ages and Stages Screening – all CFCE grantees have been trained in the
use of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire in order to help parents to
understand the science and the domains of development and to link families
to community opportunities to support their children’s needs.

Brazelton Touchpoints - the Touchpoints model provides a common
language of child behavior and development that enables families, the
community and care providers to work more effectively together for the
benefit of children. This model also reinforces parents' roles as the first
teacher of their children. (95% participant registration rate)

Recognizing the Signs of Post Partum Depression - offered an overview
of post-partum mood disorders, with a review of signs, symptoms, risks,
protective factors and effects on young children’s behavior and development.
Training included concrete information, strategies and tools for supporting a
family through this experience. (40 CFCE and MASS211 representatives;
EEC will be offering a second introductory training in January)

Read and Rise - a six session family-focused program centered on the
components of literacy development in children. Model includes research,
resources and activities to engage families in how best to support literacy
development at home. (85 CFCE representatives were trained. EEC plans
to offer additional training in FY13)
FY12 – FY13 Intentional Professional Development
Opportunities to Support CFCE Implementation (continued)

Financial Literacy training - provides resources and guidance on specific financial
issues and problems. It was designed as a toolkit, to be used with families on a oneon-one basis, in small groups or in a classroom setting. Training is available in person
and online. (96 out of 99 CFCE grantees participated in statewide trainings, with 96
community partners)

Conferences




A View From All Sides: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Parenting Education &
Family Support (CTF)
Brain Building and Early Literacy and Numeracy: Strategies and Supports for
Young Children (Birth to 8)
The Journey to Literacy Begins at Birth... and continues in many
languages (ROR)
The New Normal School: Engaging Diverse Families addresses the challenges
faced by children and families dealing with the issues of adoption, gender identity and English
language acquisition; and offers ways for programs to better serve these families.

Ongoing Advanced Learning Opportunities




Creating Access to Partners

24
CFCE Statewide Meetings
Communities of Practice Meetings
STEM Pre-Meeting and STEM Summit

Regional Grantee Meetings
Head Start/Public School Meetings
FY14 Coordinated Family and
Community Engagement
25
FY14 CFCE Changes

Increased expectations in reporting, tracking, data collection and
accountability in the following areas:
 EEC will require a a list submitted of children and families with a signed parental
consent on file
 Grantees will need to measure and report their reach in the community:
percentage of the number of children birth to 8 in the community by birth to 3, 3 to
5, and 5 to 8 served by CFCE grant compared to population numbers in each age
range

Outreach strategies
 for children in age groups birth to 3, 3 to 5 and 5 to 8;
 for using the ASQ to support parents understanding of the developmental needs of
children at multiple points
 for early literacy programming

Methods for maintaining up to date community resource information and
documentation of gaps in comprehensive services

Methods for measuring satisfaction with CFCE services

Explicit linkages of parent/child playgroup goals to early learning standards
Intentional partnerships with public school elementary schools for 3 years (for
child find) and 5 year olds (for kindergarten entry) and 5 to 8 (for out of school
opportunities.)
Detailed reporting on early literacy programming

26

CFCE: Multiple Funding Streams

Federal State Advisory Council Community
Support Grant (SACC) –
Approximately 20 CFCE grantees have benefited from
SACC grant awards;
 FY13 available funds $437,000 – CFCE grantees are
eligible to apply


RTT-ELC Evidence-based Grant Funds: $800,000
($400,000 each year for two years)

27
State Funds –$13,665,637.00
Appendices/Background
Information
28
Appendix A: Background Coordinated Family and
Community Engagement
29

FY2010 – First year of CFCE grant - CPC, MFN, PCHP and
JFSP programs were asked to voluntarily consolidate their
programs into CFCE grants (CPC was mandatory).
 This consolidation resulted in 120 CFCE grantees representing
137 CPC, 34 MFN , 22 PCHP , and 11 JFSP programs
 71 CPC, 8 MFN and 3 PCHP programs did not apply in
consolidation with other programs.
 Grantees that did not consolidate made a commitment to
continuing to work toward that goal for FY2011.

FY2011 –All independent MFNs (8) and PCHP programs (3) were
required to merge with an existing CFCE grantee or submit a new
CFCE application for FY ’11.
 Mergers in FY11 resulted in a total of 110 CFCE grantees.

FY2012 – Additional mergers resulted in 107 CFCE grantees

FY2013 – Four existing grantees did not renew and one grantee
merged four grants. Three of the non-renewal grants were awarded
to existing CFCE grantees through a competitive process. A second
competitive process is underway for the fourth grant that was not
renewed. Currently, there are 99 CFCE grantees.
Appendix B: CFCE Funding History

FY10 - $15,180,421.00
Funding represented a merger of EEC funding from:

Line Item 3000-6000 Community Partnerships for Children Local

Planning and Coordination $10,114,569

Line Item 3000-4060 Supplemental Services $1,374,776

Line Item 3000-7050 Family Engagement and Support (MFN,PCHP and

JFSP) $3,691,076

FY11 - $14,521,328.00


To address the FY11 funding reduction, EEC implemented a three-tiered approach,
applying the reduction at a higher rate to higher funded agencies ; protecting low
funding amounts believing that a reduction would impact the ability of the agency
to carry out the CFCE mission.
FY12 - $13,665,637.00
EEC raised the base grant amount ($33,870 ) to support core functions, and
implemented this funding adjustment and the FY12 funding reduction by creating a
formula incorporating the following criteria to FY11 grantees with grant awards
of 100K or higher*:

Level 4 school district

DPH Community – Home Visiting Task Force data

50% or higher child poverty rate

FY13 - $13,665,637.00
*Reduction percentages were applied based on the number of criteria grantees met. The more criteria
met, the lower the percentage of reduction applied.
30
Appendix C: Evolution of CFCE Grant Priorities
CFCE priorities have remained consistent, with some refinement as
the development of EEC’s System of Early Education and Care has
evolved.
FY2010 Priorities





31
Increase knowledge of and accessibility to high quality programs
and services;
Promote family education, engagement and literacy;
Facilitate collaboration and community planning between local
early education partners and community stakeholders;
Provide support and information to families with children
transitioning between and among early education and care
settings, home and school, and
Support early education and care programs across the public and
private sectors in delivering high quality services.
Appendix C: Evolution of CFCE Grant Priorities
(continued)
FY2011 Priorities EEC built on the objectives of the FY10 CFCE grant, with
some refinement of the goals and activities to support the successful
implementation of the grant priorities.
 Increase knowledge of and accessibility to high quality early education and
care programs and services for families with children prenatal through
school-age.
 Support early education and care programs across the public and private
sectors in delivering high quality services by facilitating access to consumer
education, technical assistance, and training that scaffolds high quality
programming.
 Expanded definition of “transitions” to expand scope of CFCE grantees
beyond typical transitions to Kindergarten.
Changes in 2011
 With the inception of the Educator/Provider Support (EPS) grant, the role of
the CFCE grantees was shifted from being a provider of professional
development to communicating PD opportunities to local
educators/providers and providing EPS grantees with information about the
PD needs of their community
 EEC instituted a monthly reporting process to measure grantees’ progress
toward meeting the objectives.
 All CFCE grantees conducted the Strengthening Families selfassessment.
32
Appendix C: Evolution of CFCE Grant Priorities (continued)
FY12 Coordinated Family and Community Engagement
EEC built on the objectives of the FY11 CFCE grant 1, with additional refinement of
the goals and activities that support the successful implementation of the grant
priorities. In FY12, there is a continued emphasis on:
 Reaching hard to reach families
 Evidence based early and family literacy activities
 Transition supports for children and families
 High-quality, accurate consumer information
 Referrals to locally available comprehensive services
Changes in 2012






33
Condensed Objectives from 5 to 3
Targeted direct service efforts for families on literacy-based activities
Emphasized referral over provision, of comprehensive services
Established a funding formula that ensures a minimum staffing level of at
least one part time person per grantee, supporting core functions in all
regions.
Addressed Strengthening Families Self-Assessment Findings.
Waitlist management - maintaining accurate family data on the local level as
part of the new waitlist system
Appendix C: Evolution of CFCE Grant Priorities
(continued)
EEC built on the objectives of the FY12 CFCE grant, 1 with additional refinement
of the goals and activities that support the successful implementation of the grant
priorities. In FY13, there is a continued focus on:

Reaching hard to reach families

Evidence based early and family literacy activities

Transition supports for children and families

High-quality, accurate consumer information

Referrals to locally available comprehensive services
34
Changes in 2013
In order to create a more consistent, high quality network of support for children and
families
across the Commonwealth, CFCE grantees are required to meet the following
requirements.

Create intentional family engagement activities and connections that create
trusted relationships with families. Grantees will:

Select an evidence-based early literacy model that meets specific
criteria and EEC approval;

Incorporate the use of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire as a tool to
enhance families’ understanding of child development and to link families
with community-based resources;

Incorporate the use of the EEC parental consent form as part of the Early
Childhood Information System (ECIS);

Participate in training to support the financial literacy skills of families;

Align their implementation of parent/child play groups with specific EEC
guidelines.

Engage in partnerships with local libraries and/or museums.

Participate in the Massachusetts Home Visiting Initiative if available in their
community as a resource.
Appendix C: Evolution of CFCE Grant Priorities
(continued)
FY13 Expectations: Evidence-based Literacy
Why is literacy a priority?

Brain Development Research:
 Early experiences literally shape how the brain gets built. A strong foundation
in the early years increases the probability of positive outcomes.
 “Serve and return” interaction between children and significant adults in their
lives is fundamental to the wiring of the brain, especially in the earliest years.
SAC Needs Assessment: Family Survey Results (Random sample) indicate:
 37% of families do not read to their child every day;
 14% of families do not read to children at all;
 8% have less than 9 books in their home library.
35

Almost half of Massachusetts third-graders are not proficient readers .3

Call for action: At the recent Massachusetts Education Summit, Governor Patrick
outlined his education strategy that will focus on four goals:
(1) getting every child to reading proficiency by the third grade;
(2) providing every child with a healthy platform for education;
(3) creating a differentiated education system that meets each student,
particularly English Language Learners, where they are; and
(4) preparing all students for college and career success.
2 The Center on the Developing Child. Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/
3 Boston Globe. Grade Three Students Lagging on Reading. Retrieved from
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/mcas/articles/2010/06/10/grade_3_students_lagging_on_reading/
2
Appendix C: Evolution of CFCE Grant Priorities (continued)
FY13 Expectations: Evidence-based Literacy Practice
Interactive and Dialogic Reading are evidence-based literacy models 4

Interactive Book Reading
 found to promote expressive/receptive language development;
 includes explicit interactive techniques such as asking children to
point to the story title, predict what might happen next, and retell story
events.

Dialogic Reading 5
•
found to promote Verbal Fluency/Auditory Comprehension;
•
scaffolds adult-child language interaction around reading;
•
can be used to assess and support oral language and vocabulary
development through multiple readings and conversations about books.
•
Models that incorporate dialogic reading include: Raising A Reader; Every
Child Ready to Read;
Role of the adult includes:
 prompting children with strategic questions;
 Providing careful responses that encourage children to say more;
 Encouraging children to become the storyteller by asking open ended
questions.
4
5 retrieved from http://dww.ed.gov/Preschool-Language-and-Literacy/Use-Interactive-and-Dialogic-Reading/practice/?T_ID=15&P_ID=31
1
36
retrieved from http://www.childtrends.org/Files/Child_Trends-2011_06_10_FS_WWLanguage.pdf
“WHAT WORKS FOR EARLY LANGUAGE AND LITERACY DEVELOPMENT: Lessons from Experimental Evaluations
of Programs and Intervention Strategies ,” Alison Chrisler, M.A. and Thomson Ling, Ph.D. June 2011
Appendix C: Evolution of CFCE Grant Priorities
(continued)
FY13 Expectations: Parent/Child Playgroups
Consistent Implementation Aligned with EEC Guidance
37

To provide children
with intentional
developmentallyappropriate learning
experiences with their
peers and caregivers;

To provide families
with information,
resources, support,
and connections to
promote optimal
development of the
children in their care;

Effective playgroup
work results in social
and learning networks
(groups that enable
parents/caregivers to
meet, share ideas and
resources and learn
from each other in
social settings)which
may reduce isolation
and strengthen families;

Playgroups take place in
neighborhood parks,
schools, libraries and
other local settings
which may not require
transportation;
Appendix C: Evolution of CFCE Grant Priorities (continued)
FY13 Expectations: Parent/Child Playgroups
Consistent Implementation Aligned with EEC Guidance


38
Facilitators have
backgrounds in child
development/early
education and guide
children and adults
through group and
individual activities
focused on developing
early learning skills;
Facilitators use asset
based approaches in
their work with
families;

Facilitators are
culturally competent
and able to support the
needs of diverse
cultures;

Facilitators use data to
inform program
development,
improvement and
outcomes for children
and families;
Appendix D: Efforts to Support CFCE Implementation
FY11 Strategic Planning Opportunity
39
Eighteen CFCE grantees were awarded funding to support the development of a
community based strategic plan for meeting the needs of families with children
birth to eight years old.

A total of $246,436 in ARRA funds supported individual grants ranging from
$6600 to $15,000. The purpose of the Strategic Planning RFP was to support CFCE
grantees in defining methods to meet the objectives of the FY2011 CFCE grant.

Priority was given to grantees who met the following criteria:
• Served a community that was currently being served by more than one
CFCE grant;
• Included a merger of multiple department grants (e.g. CPC, MFN, JFSP
and PCHP);
• Had multiple governance structures or inconsistent service areas (e.g. as
a result of mergers of former CPCs and MFNs with different coverage
areas), and
• Served a Commissioner's District or was in a district with an
Underperforming School(s).

Grantees used the process to address key issues related to their
implementation of the CFCE grant, which could have included:
• governance/council consolidation;
• service area realignment;
• expansion of services for families with school age children;
• delineation of roles and responsibilities;
• ability to meet child family and community outcomes;
• coordination with other public and private resources to develop and
implement an effective local model for the delivery of CFCE and support
activities, and
• refinement of local service delivery.
Appendix D: Efforts to Support CFCE Implementation
Highlights of FY11 CFCE Strategic Planning
The Process:

Developed and implemented information collection tools: e.g. Parent and
Provider surveys, focus groups and interviews; all offered in languages
accessible for participants;

Mapped community resources;

Accessed needs assessment data collected by other community partners;

Synthesized data to identify strengths, opportunities and gaps in the
current system and used data to drive decisions, and

Grantees with overlapping communities focused on inter-agency
collaborations to facilitate community-wide activities and improve
efficiencies in the delivery of services.
Plans included:

Leveraging relationships with new community partners to support outreach
to isolated families and for translation support;

In overlapping communities, creating a shared vision about service delivery
in order to maximize resources and to eliminate consumer confusion;

Identifying new funding opportunities to implement strategic plans, and

Creating social media opportunities for families to connect with CFCE.
40
Appendix D: Efforts to Support CFCE Implementation
FY12 Rural Community Support Grant (ARRA/SAC)
Rural Community Strategic Planning Funding
FY12 Coordinated Family and Community Engagement (CFCE)*
grantees whose catchment area is represented predominantly by
rural communities were eligible for Rural Community Strategic
Planning funds.
 One-time grants to support community-based, Birth to 8, three
year strategic plans, anchored in local data;
 Plans will be based on child and family needs and the quality and
effectiveness of B-8 aligned systems linking local schools, local
providers and families through grants to communities
CFCE Grant Recipients:
 Ashburnham–Westminster RSD
 Cape Cod Children’s Place
 Nantucket Public Schools
 Sandwich Public Schools
41
Appendix D: Efforts to Support CFCE Implementation
FY12 Help Me Grow/ASQ Pilot
Fifteen CFCE grantees and one Reach Out and Read site participated as
pilot sites for the implementation of one of the Help Me Grow
components, the Ages and Stages Questionnaire.
ASQ screening tool used to support parental understanding of
child’s growth and development and to determine developmental
risk;
 Parents asked to sign a parental consent form so data can be used
to measure growth over time and linked to child’s longitudinal
record;
 Targeted focus on “hard to reach” families;
 CFCE grantees provided links to comprehensive services for
families as needed.
• Results from the ASQ3 online questionnaires indicate that 59%
(76 out of 129 surveys) have shown at least a possible
developmental concern or a delay.
• Of the completed ASQ SE questionnaires, 17%
(11 out of 64 surveys) have shown a concern for socialemotional delay.

42
Appendix E: Efforts to Support CFCE Implementation: Use of the
Strengthening Families Self-Assessment Tool FY11- FY13

43
FY11 CFCE grantees conducted the Strengthening Families Self-Assessment – results
indicated the following:

CFCE Programs were most confident in the areas of:
• Welcoming ALL families
• Making a wide range of information available via many avenues
• Providing info on services in the local community (DV, Shelter, Mental Health, Food
Pantry etc.)
• Supporting transition to kindergarten
• Helping parents understand and support the social/emotional development of their
child.

CFCE Programs were least confident in the areas of:
• Involvement of/outreach to fathers
• Language and Culture: materials in languages other than English and awareness of
parenting practice across cultures.
• Trauma: training for staff and addressing the impact of trauma on children and families

FY12 Follow-up:

EEC worked in partnership with CTF to have the topics of fathers, language and culture, and
trauma addressed at the CTF “View from All Sides” conference.

Individual CFCE grantees provided a plan to address topics specific to their individual selfassessments in their FY12 renewal applications.

FY13 Follow-up: All CFCE grantees are in the process of repeating the Strengthening Families
self-assessment to measure progress. Plans to address results will be part of
the FY14 grant application.