ECED2340: Family and Community Engagement Project

Part Three: Community Agency Visit

(6a. Identify and involve themselves with the early childhood field and serve as informed advocates).

In this section, candidates will visit and collect at least one resource and interview at least one community agency/specialist related to the challenges/concerns faced by the family they interviewed.

During the interview, candidates will discuss the services and resources that the agency provides for the community. For example, if a family with a child with exceptional needs is interviewed, you could visit a therapy office, TEIS, etc. If you interview a family who has experienced financial challenges, food shortage, etc. you could visit an agency like Good Samaritan or a local food bank.

Based on the family interview, candidates will develop a list of questions to ask the community agency/specialist based on the identified challenges/concerns of the family interviewed. Candidates will include a list of questions with answers provided. This should be submitted to the assignment dropbox. The course instructor will provide a signature form to be signed by the community agency/specialist at the interview. The interview questions, responses, and signature form will be uploaded to the dropbox.

Here are some talking points to help guide the community agency/specialist interview.

• An introduction about yourself
• The key points you hope to make during the interview
• The Vision/Mission of the agency
• Cost of Services
• Benefits of the agency? How can they help children and families?
• Do you require referrals for families, or can anyone get services?
• Types of families/children served (age, sib groups, families)
• Does your agency have any resources for families/children…? What are they?

After the Community/Agency Interview, candidates will summarize the interview findings as follows:

• Based on the community specialist interview, write about your key findings.
• Identify connections between the early childhood field, other related disciplines, and professions with which you may collaborate while working with the family interviewed.
• Include a copy of the questions you asked along with responses and the signature form in the dropbox. Responses can be handwritten.