Preface

Introduction
Overview
Purpose
Context
Audience
Performance Standards
Orientation to the Guide
Definition of Icons
At A Glance

Module 1
Where Does Mental Health Come From?
Outcomes
Key Concepts
Background Information
Activity 1: Me, Myself & I-Persona/Definitions of Mental Health
Activity 2: Looking at Mental Health: Pictures in a Frame
Activity 3: Protection From the Storm: Building Resiliency
Next Steps: Ideas to Extend Practice
Kinship Map (Sample)
Handout A: Protection From the Storm
Handout B-1: Strategies to Support Resiliency-The Child
Handout B-2: Strategies to Support Resiliency-The Family
Handout B-3: Strategies to Support Resiliency-The Community

Module 2
Getting to Know the Whole Child
Outcomes
Key Concepts
Background Information
Activity 1: Gifts From the Heart
Activity 2: What Am I Supposed to Do With This Child?
Activity 3: Play a Day in My Shoes
Activity 4: Caregivers Are People First
Next Steps: Ideas to Extend Practice
Handout C-1: What Am I Supposed to Do With This Child?
Handout C-2: Developmental Stage
Handout C-3: Individual Differences
Handout C-4: The Head Start Environment
Handout C-5: The Home Environment
Handout C-6: Skills & Knowledge
Handout C-7: Trying to Satisfy Emotional Needs
Handout D: Temperament Characteristics

Module 3
Getting to Know Ourselves
Outcomes
Key Concepts
Background Information
Activity 1: From Contest to Partnership
Activity 2: Hot Spots
Activity 3: Stress Busters
Activity 4: Care for the Caregivers: Creating a Mentally Healthy Workplace
Next Steps: Ideas to Extend Practice
Handout E- 1: Kingpin County Head Start
Handout E-2: Keeping Well-Hydrated
Handout E-3: Headache Visualization
Handout E-4: Simple Partner Massage
Handout F: Action Plan for a Mentally Healthy Workplace

Continuing Professional Development

Resources
Books & Manuals
Head Start Publications
National Organizations
Videos


Preface

"When the Head Start teacher told me that she would like us to meet with Paul, the mental health consultant, it really disturbed me: I told her, 'My child is not crazy-BJ may be a little wild, but he's not crazy!' But she explained that Paul could help BJ get along with the other kids better, so I agreed to let him come observe BJ and then talk with me and the teachers.

Now I can admit I'm glad I did. Paul is a regular guy-and he really understands BJ. He had some great ideas about how the teachers and I can help BJ work out his problems without pretending to be an action hero and punching and kicking the other kids: BJ is figuring out that when he does what Paul suggests, the other kids want to play with him more. Paul has hung in there with BJ for a while now, and BJ really trusts him. Not only that, but he has great suggestions for me. I like talking to Paul he really helps me when I feel overwhelmed."

For BJ's Mom, as for many people, the words "mental health" trigger fears and visions of serious social and emotional problems. But this view of mental health focuses on illness and makes it easy to forget about real emotional health and wellness. Mental health is not only the absence of mental illness but a condition where children and their families can experience positive social and emotional development.

Promoting Mental Health is a guide to help Head Start staff understand how to promote mental health, so they can contribute to Head Start programs that support the social and emotional development of children, families, and their community. After completing the activities in this guide participants will be able to answer the question, "What can I do to help promote mental health?"

It offers direction in how the strengths and abilities that characterize mental health can be encouraged and reinforced. Often Head Start programs are faced with situations that require responding to emotional and behavioral illness. The tools to aid responding are a critical part of any comprehensive mental health program, but they will not be addressed here. Other guides in this series, as well as additional publications from the Head Start Bureau and from elsewhere, which do address the issues of early identification, referral, and treatment of emotional and behavioral disorders are cited in the "Resources" section.

The concepts and activities in this guide build on each other. For a comprehensive approach, proceed through the guide from the beginning to the end. However, the learning activities can be adapted to specific situations. For example, a workshop activity can be adapted to coaching, or stories from the individual program can be inserted.

Training materials are effective only when they can be applied to the everyday work setting. Knowledge and skills that are developed in training must be supported by follow-up activities. This guide contains sections titled "Next Steps: Ideas to Extend Practice" and "Continuing Professional Development" to help users design long-term learning plans.

This training guide was developed through the assistance of Head Start programs and staff from across the country. Our thanks to the Head Start staff and parents who shared their stories, participated in training, and provided feedback on the activities. We appreciate the assistance provided by the Head Start Bureau in Washington, D.C., Regional Offices, Technical Assistance Support Centers (TASCs), Resource Access Projects (RAPs), National Training Contractors (NTCs), and our expert Development Team.

We hope that Promoting Mental Health contributes to your mental health by providing an opportunity for satisfying professional growth. For when you, the Head Start practitioner, are experiencing fulfillment and growth in your work, everyone you touch benefits.


Introduction

The purpose of this guide is to promote mental health for all members of the Head Start Community. This will be accomplished through activities that build skills in creating responsive, respectful relationships with co workers, parents, and children. These skills play an integral role in building programs and communities that support the ability of children and families to respond well to challenge and adversity.

The focus of this guide is exclusively on promoting mental health, while acknowledging that promotion alone is not a complete picture of mental health services in Head Start. Programs in the field are also engaged in early identification and intervention for children and families experiencing emotional difficulties.

Trainers using the series Training Guides for the Head Start Learning Community, who wish to provide mental health training which addresses the full spectrum, from normal emotional development through coping with emotional and behavioral problems, may also wish to look at activities from the guides, Enhancing Children's Development and Supporting Children with Challenging Behaviors: Relationships are Key.

This guide will be most helpful for "front-line" staff  classroom teams, family service workers, home visitors, and family advocates, for example. Module 1: Where Does Mental Health Come From? is valuable to orient any staff to important concepts in the Head Start approach to promoting mental health. Module 2: Getting to Know the Whole Child offers hands- on tools to promote resiliency in Head Start children. Module 3: Getting to Know Ourselves stresses the importance of policies and practices that promote the mental health of the adults in Head Start. This is an issue of concern for supervisors as well as front-line staff.

The central mission of Head Start is to bring about a greater degree of social competence in participating children. In plain language, social competence is healthy social and emotional development, and that is what promoting early childhood mental health is all about.

While planning a program's mental health activities is typically the responsibility of the health or mental health coordinator, the task of creating a Head Start climate that encourages mentally healthy development "belongs" to everyone involved in Head Start.

The Promoting Mental Health guide has five working sections:

· Module 1: Where Does Mental Health Come From?
· Module 2: Getting to Know the Whole Child
· Module 3: Getting to Know Ourselves
· Continuing Professional Development
· Resources

Each module provides learning opportunities for workshop sessions (12 to 25 people) and coaching (two to three people). Each has the following sections:

Definitions of Icons
Coaching A training strategy that fosters the development of skills through tailored instruction, demonstrations, practice, and feedback. The activities are written for a coach to work closely with one to three participants.
Workshops A facilitated group training strategy that fosters the devel opment of skills through activities which build on learning through group interaction. These activities are written for up to 25 participants working in small or large groups with one or two trainers.
Next Steps: Ideas to Extended Practice Activities assigned by the trainer immediately following the completion of the module to help participants review key information, practice skills, and examine their progress toward expected outcomes of the module.
Continuing Professional Development Follow up activities for the program to support continued staff development in the regular use of the skills addressed in a particular training guide. They include:

1) opportunities tailored to the participant to continue building on the skills learned in the training; and

2) ways to identify new skills and knowledge needed to expand and/or complement these skills through opportuni ties in such areas as in higher education, credentialing, or community educational programs.

 
Modules
Activity
Time
Materials
Module 1: Where Does Mental health Come From? Activity 1: Me, Myself, & I-Personal Definitions of Mental Health (C) 30 
minutes		 3x5 Index Cards
Activity 2: Looking at Mental Health: Pictures in a Frame (W) 30 
minutes		 Easel, chart paper & markers
Activity 3: Protection From the Storm: Building Resiliency (W) 60-90 
minutes		 Handout A & Handout B: 1-3
Module 2: Getting to Know the Whole Child Activity 1: Gifts From the Heart (C) 30 minutes 3x5 Index Cards
Activity 2: What am I Supposed to Do With This Child (W) 60-90 minutes Handouts C: 1-7
Activity 3: Play a Day in My Shoes (W) 45-60 minutes Handout D
  Activity 4: Caregivers Are People First (C) 30-45 minutes Handout D
Module 3: Getting to Know Ourselves Activity 1: From Contest to Partnership (W) 45 minutes EAsel, chart paper & markers
Activity 2: Hot Spots (C) 1 week Journals
Activity 3: Stress Busters (C) 45-60 minutes Handouts E: 1-4
Activity 4: Care for the Caregivers: Creating a Mentally Healthy Workplace (W) 45 minutes Handout F, chart paper & markers

(C)=Coaching Activity
(W)=Workshop Activity


Module 1

Where Does Mental Health Come From?

Outcomes
After completing this module, participants will be able to..

 Key Concepts

Mental health is a positive state, not just the absence of mental illness. Head Start fosters mental health by promoting the healthy social and emotional development of every child, family, and staff person.

Building respectful, responsive, supportive relationships with children, families, staff, and co-workers is a critical skill in promoting mental health.

Some common characteristics of mentally healthy people include:
curiosity, optimism, self-confidence, ability to exercise developmentally appropriate self-control, ability to cope with frustration and solve problems, and the ability to form meaningful relationships with others. Some common characteristics of mentally healthy families include: adults are in charge, children feel they belong, it is safe to express feelings and needs, change is expected, and sources of help and support are used when necessary. Head Start works to instill and confirm these qualities.

Resilience is the ability to succeed despite adversity and challenges. Head Start supports qualities in children, families, and communities that encourage resiliency and healthy social and emotional development in every child.


Definition: Resiliency- The ability to recover readily or "bounce back" from adversity and stressful events.

A. Where Does Mental Health Come From?

Each child comes into the world wanting to connect with others, to grow, and to explore. Social development (our feelings about and expectations of relationships with others) and emotional development (our feelings about and expectations of ourselves) take place in the context of relationships from the very start. Newborn infants enter the world ready to be responsive and active partners with the most important people in their lives: family and other primary caregivers. As infants grow and come to know and trust the small day-to-day interactions that make up those relationships, they learn that they can affect the world and are worthy of love. The child's feelings of security, confidence, and trust blossom.

These early relationships are the foundation of continued mental health and will have a profound affect on how children come to view themselves and what they expect of other people and the world. A child who has had the positive relationships and experiences that allow emotional and social development to flourish will come to Head Start and subsequent new experiences ready to learn and grow.

B.What Does Mental Health Look Like?

There are individual, family, and cultural variations in how someone who is mentally healthy feels and behaves. While there is no one definition of mental health, and while many roads can lead there, mentally healthy young children display the following characteristics':

Families, like the individuals within them, display characteristics of healthy social and emotional functioning. The mental health and development of a family is more than the sum of the mental health of the individuals within it. Mentally healthy families display a great deal of diversity, but tend to share the following characteristics: The nature of the relationships a child has may be the single most important factor in her emerging sense of self. Also important, however, are the unique qualities that the child brings to the relationship, for example, physical characteristics, temperament, and individual life experiences that shape expectations. As much as we would like to, we cannot guarantee that a child will have only positive experiences. All children and families will face stressful circumstances and events. Fortunately, we can support the development of families, schools, and communities that encourage resiliency in our children to increase the likelihood that they will rebound from stressful experiences.

C. What Is Resiliency and How Does Head Start Build It?

Resilience is the ability to recover readily or "bounce back" from adversity and stressful events. Researchers have found that resilient children and their families share certain qualities which seem to help protect them from the damaging effects of negative life circumstances and events. A resiliency approach to supporting children and families focuses on developing and confirming those protective factors.

Historically, a great deal of research about vulnerable children and families has come from a "risk" approach. Researchers begin by identifying a group of people who share a "problem"- for example, substance abuse or juvenile delinquency-and ask... "What early experiences does this group of people have in common?" These researchers then consider those common experiences to be "risk factors" that increase the likelihood of a problem occurring. Identified risk factors can be used to help target limited resources and direct support where it is most needed. The limitation of this approach is the focus on what goes wrong, instead of what goes right.

A more positive, strength-based perspective is the resiliency approach. Resiliency researchers have looked at very young children who share certain vulnerabilities, for example, low birth weight or very low-income families, and studied these children over a period of time. They have discovered (and we know) that not all children who share the same risk factors end up developing problems later in life.

Resiliency researchers ask: "Of this vulnerable group, what do the children who succeed have in common? What are the characteristics or protective factors that have helped these children succeed in spite of their vulnerability and/or negative life events?"

The answers to these questions point to "protective factors" or qualities that resilient children share. These factors can be at the level of the individual child, at the level of the family, and at the level of the school and larger community. Every child, no matter how resilient, can develop problems. The more risk factors and negative life events a child has to deal with, the greater the threat to that child's well-being.

The resiliency approach is a hopeful and empowering one because it sets forth a road map for promoting positive results. If we, as parents and Head Start staff, expect to prevent all our children's negative life circumstances and experiences, we will often feel as though we have failed. We can not always control these things. If we focus on how we can build and support protective factors for the individual child, for families, and for our schools and communities, we are focusing on giving children tools to successfully cope with difficulties.

"As long as the balance between stressful life events and protective factors is favorable, successful adaptation is possible. However, when stressful life events outweigh the protective factors, even the most resilient child can develop problems. Intervention may thus be conceived as an attempt to shift the balance from vulnerability to resilience, either by decreasing exposure to risk factors and stressful life events, or by increasing the number of available protective factors (e.g., competencies and sources of support in the lives of vulnerable children). "

Throughout this guide, we will explore how Head Start can reduce risk and encourage resiliency by supporting protective factors in individual children, in families, and in the institutions that make up the larger community.

Questions for Discussion/Reflection

Activity 1: Me, Myself, & I-Personal Definitions of Mental Health

Purpose: This activity allows participants to reflect on their own personal definitions of mental health. By starting with the assumption that mental health is a positive force, we can get past the common perspective of mental health as merely the absence of distress or crisis.

For this activity you will need:

· A 3x5 index card for each participant

Step 1: Direct participants to work with a partner and take five minutes or so to finish the following sentence:

Have them write their responses on the 3x5 index cards.

Ask them to:

Step 2: Each partner should take five to 10 minutes to share and discuss how they finished the sentence, referring back to the index card if necessary.

Ask participants:

Step 3: Have participants discuss with their partners whether the things they have listed and talked about are the kinds of circumstances and experiences that they normally associate with the words "mental health."

Points to Consider:

Activity 2: Looking at Mental Health: Pictures in a Frame

Purpose: This activity is an icebreaker to get people involved and to bring their attitudes about mental health out for discussion.

For this activity you will need:

· A flip chart and some markers

Step 1: Place two flip chart sheets side-by-side and draw a square inside each one, creating an inner "mirror" and an outer "frame" as illustrated below.

Step 2: Tell participants that this is a word-association game. Ask them to call out the first words and feelings that pop into their heads when you say the words "mental health." Encourage them not to give it too much thought or worry about the "correct" answer.

Step 3: As participants start calling out their word associations, place the words in the frame areas of the flip chart.

On the first flip chart, place all the associations that reflect a wellness-oriented, positive approach toward mental health in the "frame" section. On the second flip chart place all the word associations that reflect a deficit approach toward mental health in the frame. (An example of how the text should be written in the "frames" is illustrated on page 12.)

Remind people that this is a word-association exercise that has no right or wrong answers.


 Trainer's note:

Sometimes a group will be reluctant to call out word associa tions. If you sense that this is happening, invite them to call out associations that they imagine some parents in their program might have. This allows participants to attribute the attitudes elsewhere and still brings the full spectrum of associations out for discussion.

Step 4: After group members have had enough time to call out their associations, ask them to imagine that each blank square is a mirror, and the words around it are a frame. When a Head Start program refers a family for mental health consultation or a supervisor refers a staff person to see a counselor, they are holding out a mirror and asking the people being referred to look at their reflections.

Have participants imagine themselves in the place of the person being referred to a counselor. Ask them: Would you prefer...

A: A mirror that places mental health in a context that is positive, supportive, constructive, and oriented toward the wellness that all of us strive for;

 or

B: A mirror that places mental health in a negative, deficit context of stigma, fear, and blame?

The frames represent prevailing social attitudes about mental health.

Step 5: Discuss the process of filling in the frames.

Acknowledge that negative attitudes about mental health are real and prevalent. If the group easily created a wellness-oriented frame, congratulate them on their health-promoting perspective.

Points to Consider

Activity 3: Protection From the Storm: Building Resiliency

Purpose: This activity offers an alternative way to present the background material on resiliency for those learners who respond better to metaphors and visual stimuli than to a lecture format. Participants will have the opportunity to take the concepts of protective factors and resiliency and translate them into concrete Head Start actions.

For this activity you will need:

· Handout A: Protection From the Storm ora piece of flip chart paper & markers
· Handout B-1: Strategies to Promote Resiliency-The Child
· Handout B-2: Strategies to Promote Resiliency-The Family
· Handout B-3: Strategies to Promote Resiliency-The Community

Step 1: Review the background material on resiliency in this module.

Trainer's note:

For those trainers who might like to read more about the resiliency approach, there are two articles listed in Next Steps: Ideas to Extended Practice that are a good place to start.

Step 2: Begin by explaining that, in order to demonstrate the concept of resiliency and protective factors, this activity uses the metaphor of protecting children from the weather.

Tell participants: We all are subject to weather, both good and bad, and we cope with it better when we are equipped properly, that is, when we have protective factors.

Step 3: To illustrate this metaphor, you can either copy Handout A: Protection From the Storm, onto an overhead or draw the graphic onto a blank sheet of flip chart paper, adding elements
as you discuss them. As an alternative, you can complete the background presentation and give participants drawing materials, so they can draw their own pictures of protecting children from the storm.

Step 4: If you are drawing, begin with a plain stick figure to represent the individual child. Ask the group to imagine that their goal is to protect this child from some dangerous weather.

The first level of protective factors that promote resiliency are those that are intrinsic to the child. Some examples of intrinsic protective factors are health, temperament, and communication skills. These are represented by drawing a raincoat, boots, and rain hat onto the stick figure. These are things the child owns and carries.

The second level of protective factors are those that exist in the family. Some examples of protective factors at the family level are good relationships with caregivers and loving parental authority. These are represented by the larger stick figures carrying an umbrella over the child.

In a very heavy storm, rain gear and umbrellas are not going to be sufficient, and more protection will be required. Over all the figures draw the outline of a house, which represents the protective factors that occur at the level of communities. Examples of community characteristics that promote resiliency include opportunities for youth participation, high expectations, youth valued as a resource, and so on.

Step 5: Acknowledge that children and families face hardships much tougher than stormy weather. Some stressors in the lives of children are common and mild, such as coping with the birth of a new sibling. Other stressors are severe and long lasting, for example, homelessness, family violence, or a chronic illness. Reinforce that no one can prevent bad things from happening or eliminate all risk factors, but Head Start staff can promote those ''protective factors'' that build resiliency.

On a flip chart, make three columns, one for "The Child," one for "The Family," and one for "The Community." What are some factors in each category that would help a child bounce back from or withstand negative life events?

Distribute the following handouts to each participant: B-1: Strategies to Promote resiliency-The Child; B-2: Strategies to Promote Resiliency -The Family; and B-3: Strategies to Promote Resiliency-The Community.

Explain to the participants that these handouts summarize research findings on protective factors at the individual, family, and community levels. Compare the lists on the flip chart to the lists on the handouts. Add items the group likes from the flip chart onto the handouts. Go over the handout and clarify the meaning of each of the protective factors (see Trainer's Keys to Activity 3 for definitions).

Now the group will have the opportunity to think about ways that Head Start can encourage and support protective factors.

Step 6: Split the workshop participants into small groups (each small group should have no more than 10 people, allowing time for discussion).

Assign each group five protective factors. Have each small group designate a recorder who will report back to the large group.

Step 7: Explain to the small groups that their task is to come up with at least one concrete, realistic, Head Start action that could support each protective factor on their list. This discussion will take about 20 minutes.

Step 8: Draw the groups back together and invite the recorders from each small group to share their Head Start strategies to support protective factors. While small groups report back to the full group, encourage listeners to write down strategies that they like from other groups. Discuss.

Points to Consider:

Next Steps: Ideas to Extended Practice

Do More Reading on Resiliency and Mental Health.

Good places to start doing more research on resiliency and mental health are:

Invite Mental Health Consultant to a HSAC meeting

Invite your mental health consultants to the next meeting of the Health Services Advisory Committee (HSAC). Have the group review the program's mental health services plan to evaluate if the current plan as written is focused on promoting mental health as opposed to responding only to mental illness or emotional distress. If health promotion takes second place in terms of emphasis and resources, consider redrafting the plan.

School-linked Services

Many schools have embraced the concepts of resiliency and are pursuing them through school-linked services initiatives. Find out if this is going on in your community. If it is, make sure Head Start is involved in these initiatives. If your local school district is not informed about what it can do to build resiliency at the school level, invite school personnel to participate in head Start's resiliency-oriented training.

Kinship Mapping

One important way that Head Start supports resiliency is to nurture and respect the important relationships in the life of every shild, whether those relationships are parents, other relatives, friends, or neighbors. It can sometimes be difficult to know who the important support people in a family's life are. One tool to identify a child's and family's network of relationships is kinship mapping. A simple example of a Head Start child's kinship map looks like this:

This diagram represents the family and caregivers of Paula, our imaginary Head Start child. Paula was born on September 2, 1992. She has a five year-old sister Ann, a 2 1/2year-old brother Simon, and her mother was pregnant when this kinship map was drawn in September 1996.

Looking at the next older generation, we see that Paula's mother is Marie. She is 28 years old (born in 1968). Paula's father, Jeff, is 32 (born in 1964). Marie and Jeff are married, as represented by the two parallel lines joining them. They were married in 1986, noted as "m86" above the lines joining them.

If we look at Marie's side of the diagram, we see that she was one of five children. She has one older brother, age 31, and sisters who are 23 and 30. A younger brother died in 1994 when he was 24.

Looking at Jeff s side of the diagram, we see that he has a younger sister living in Anchorage, Alaska, and an older brother and sister living in Oregon. His two older brothers died, one in 1952 and one in 1968.

Moving up to the next older generation, we learn that Paula has three living grandparents. Her paternal grandparents live in Sitka, Alaska. Paula's maternal grandmother is a widow who is 53 years old. This grandmother has a younger sister, and their mother, Paula's great- grandmother, is still living at age 75. All of the people on the kinship map who do not have a different community written under their name live in the same community as Paula.

To show who lives in the household with Paula, we draw a "bubble" or circle that includes the relatives who live in the house with her. These include Paula's sister and brother, her mother and father, and her maternal grandmother.

As the sample kinship map shows, the map is an economical way to capture a lot of information. The Family Wellness Project of the Alaska Head Start Health Improvement Initiative has developed an instruction manual designed to help staff develop a kinship map as part of a comprehensive family-wellness assessment. The instruction manual is straightforward, and staff in Alaska who have used kinship mapping have found it to be a useful way to keep track of complex information and invite conversation and reflection about important family relationships. Kinship maps can help Head Start programs include important people who may not be automatically considered when involving family.

Consider incorporating kinship mapping as a routine part of assessing family strengths and concerns. The Instruction Manual for The Kinship Map can be ordered for a modest cost from:

Family Wellness Project
Prevention Associates
101 East Ninth Avenue, Suite 7A
Anchorage, Alaska 99501
(907) 272-6925

Handout A: Protection From the Storm

Handout B-1: Strategies to Support Resiliency-The Child
 
Protective Factors
Head Start Strategies
Age-appropriate independence. "I can do it myself!"
Sense of humor
Good health at birth and beyond
Good communication skills (age appropriate)
Good social skills with peers and adults
A sense of purpose and future

Trainer's Key To Activity 3-Definitions & Examples for Handout B-1
 
Protective Factors
Head Start Strategies
Age-appropriate independence. "I can do it myself!" Allow children to struggle with tasks, problems on their own-don't jump in to help unless asked to. Allow the extra time it takes for children to do self-care tasks themselves.
Sense of humor Choose humorous books and games to share with the children. Model play! Encourage the involvement of fathers and other men in children's lives. (Children with involved cathers have better senses of humor.)
Good health at birth and beyond Implement Head Start's required health screenings, exams, and follow-up. Refer pregnant staff and parents to early comprehensive prenatal care. Encourage immunization of younger siblings.
Good communication skills (age appropriate) Model and encourage the use of words to express strong feelings. Have responsive conversations where adults talk and listen, listen listen.
Good social skills with peers and adults Help children learn to resolve conflicts without adult intervention. SEt up tasks/games that inviet cooperative efforts.
A sense of purpose and future Invite guests into the classroom to talk about what they do in the community (parents, other relatives, Head Start graduates, etc.). Provide play materials for future-oriented fantasy play.

Handout B-2: Strategies to Promote Resiliency-The Family
 
Protective Factors
Head Start Strategies
Able to provide stable care and close bond with children, especially in the first year of life.
Good relationship with at least on parent
Children has more than one adult in his life with whom he has a stable, important caregiving relationship.
High (but developmentally appropriate) parental expectations.
Adults in charge-family provides structure, limit setting, clear rules, and expectations.
Belief in a meeting and purpose of life, has a source of spiritual renewal and sustenance-"I believe things will work out."
Opportunities for participation by children and youth.
Kin and neighbors available for social support networks.

Trainer's Key to Activity 3-Definitions & Examples for Handout B-2
 
Protective Factors
Head Start Strategies
Able to provide stable care and close bond with children, especially in the first year of life. Home visits to help new parents feel competent in caring for babies. Recommended resources for education and support when a parent's relationship with an infant is challenging. Advocate for policies like the Family Leave Act which allow parents time for maternity/paternity and sick-care leave.
Good relationship with at least on parent Parenting support and education. Involve non-custodial parents.
Children has more than one adult in his life with whom he has a stable, important caregiving relationship. Allow the family to define who the important caregivers are and include non-parental adults (e.g., grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends).
High (but developmentally appropriate) parental expectations. Parent education that clarifies appropriate developmental expectations. Point out child's strengths, abilities, and potential.
Adults in charge-family provides structure, limit setting, clear rules, and expectations. Respect parent's role as primary teachers and care providers for their children. Reinforce their being "in charge" by respecting their authority. offer support  in making appropriate rules and developing strategies for setting limits.
Belief in a meeting and purpose of life, has a source of spiritual renewal and sustenance-"I believe things will work out." Validate families' spiritual beliefs. Model a respect for diverse religious beliefs-through the way holidays are observed, for example. Include religious communities as resource when helping families draw on their support networks.
Opportunities for participation by children and youth. Encourage parents to create age-appropriate responsibilities for children. Preschoolers can set the talbe, help put away folded laundry, feed a pet.
Kin and neighbors available for social support networks. Include extended kin and important friends and neighbors in Head Start clelbrations and events. So "Kinship Mapping" with families to learn who the important people in the support network are.

Handout B-3: Strategies to Pormote Resiliency-The Community
 
Protective Factors
Head Start Strategies
Caring relationships with teachers and other important adults
Access to basic necessities including housing, food, health care, education, child care, recreation, employment, and so on.
Children/youth given opportunities for meaningful participation and responsibilities
Culture of high expectations
Positive realtionships with and among families
No labeling
Youth valued-seen as resources rather than problems to be solved

Trainer's Key to Activity 3-Definitions & Exaples for Handout B-3
 
Protective Factors
Head Start Strategies
Caring relationships with teachers and other important adults Support teacher-child ratios and staffing patterns that allow for ralationships with special adults to flourish.
Access to basic necessities including housing, food, health care, education, child care, recreation, employment, and so on. Have knowledge of community resources.
Children/youth given opportunities for meaningful participation and responsibilities Participate in civic clean-up days. Even the little ones can take on tasks that make a difference in the community. One Head Start classroom was responsible for keeping the city playground (that they used) near the school free of trash.
Culture of high expectations Support public events that recognize and honor youth who achieve.
Positive realtionships with and among families Create opportunities for families to meet each other.
No labeling Use thoughtful language to reflect principles of respect, inclusion, and individuality.
Youth valued-seen as resources rather than problems to be solved Have Head Start friendly folks "at the table" on school boards, community panels, and elswhere to keep the focus on the potential and strength of community youth when the temptation is to place all the energy on "troublemakers."