Setting goals is an essential part of the family partnership process and the Family Partnership Agreement (FPA). Become familiar with your program’s specific procedures for both the family partnership process and the FPA. At the same time, keep in mind that this is a partnership that prioritizes the hopes and dreams of families. Your focus is on what is important to them.
Every family has dreams or desires. Some families may enter the program with goals, while others may not. Some families may need support to identify goals or make plans to reach them because they may never have been asked to think about goals. And some family members may fear they will not succeed.
Goal-setting is an ongoing process. When families develop trust with you and understand that you are their advocate, they may be ready to identify and share their goals with you. Consider using the seven Family Outcomes areas of the PFCE Framework (blue column) as a guide to help you and families work together to develop goals. Reflect on how the goal-setting process supports positive outcomes for families, which promotes child outcomes as a result.
A family goal may be connected to more than one outcome. Or one outcome may relate to more than one family goal. Consider which resources and services contribute to family progress and outcomes.
To support families with setting goals and making progress, it is important to:
- Know that families want the best for themselves and their children.
- Include fathers and other key family members as part of the goal-setting process.
- Recognize that different parents may have different goals and needs for support. Honor and address that accordingly.
- Know that a goal may need to be changed or revisited as family priorities shift.
- Understand that strategies for working toward a goal could change.
- Follow up, track, and document the family’s progress toward their goals.
Families as Partners in Promoting Family Engagement is a useful tool for reflecting on how your program is partnering with families using the PFCE Framework. This resource gives examples of how families and program staff can work together to make progress toward each family outcome in the framework.
Be sensitive to how families’ goals may reflect past experiences of trauma or current crises in their lives. Learn to recognize the signs and symptoms of trauma in families. You can support a family’s healing by listening to their stories with acceptance and without judgement. Seek support from program colleagues and leaders or community partners to find additional services for families when needed.
Setting and Reaching Goals with Families
Use the following 7 Steps for Setting and Reaching Goals with Families:
Set a goal.
Families decide on their own goals with the help of staff. Staff can ask questions to help families identify and prioritize what is most important to them. Staff may use the Family Outcomes in the PFCE Framework to help families generate ideas.
Identify skills.
Skills are specific talents and abilities that family and staff members have and can use to make progress toward a goal. Skills may be specific, like sewing or using a computer, or they may be broader, like solving problems or managing time.
Assess strengths.
Strengths are unique qualities that positively influence our lives. Strengths help people make decisions, adjust to change, reach goals, cope with stress, and create the lives they want.
Examine stressors.
Stressors are events, people, and other circumstances that make people feel worried or anxious. Examples include poverty, racism or structural inequities, food insecurity, addiction, unsafe neighborhoods, and language barriers. Many Head Start families experience multiple stressors, which leave them little time and energy for planning and reaching goals.
Explore strategies.
These are action steps that families and staff can take to achieve the family’s goals. After assessing and discussing combined skills, strengths, and stressors, families and staff design the strategies needed to achieve specific goals.
Determine support.
Support is the help needed to achieve a goal. Mothers and fathers or different family members may have different interests and needs for support. Both families and staff members need support to do their best work. They can receive support from friends, neighbors, other families, church communities, cultural organizations, social services, and others. Staff can also receive support from their co-workers and supervisors.
Track progress and celebrate successes.
Success is achieving something desired, but it can mean different things to different people. When family services staff know what success means to each family, they can help families celebrate each time they meet their vision of success.
Differences Between Family Goals and Program Goals
It is important to distinguish between individual family goals and program goals. The individual family goals are part of the FPA. Program goals are broad statements that describe what a Head Start program intends to accomplish. See the chart below for more information about the differences between family goals and program goals.
| Family Goals | Program Goals |
|---|---|
| Created for each family and recorded in the FPA, with goals that may be based on data from the assessment of each family’s strengths and needs | Included in the program’s five-year project plan |
| Provide staff with the opportunity to support the hopes, dreams, and ambitions of the family | Guides the development of systems and services that impact families in the program and community |
| Reviewed with families on an ongoing basis to adapt goals as needed based on shifting priorities | Informed by aggregated data gathered from community assessment data and family goals and progress data from across the program |
| Allow families and staff to track progress and celebrate successes | May change over time in response to families’ needs and progress |
The Foundations for Excellence resource discusses the program goals and outcomes for family and community engagement that are connected with the PFCE Framework, as well. You can also use the Integrating Strategies for Program Progress (ISPP) resource to track progress toward outcomes and to engage program leaders, staff, families, and community partners in conversations and collaborations to support lasting change for children and families.
Reflection Questions
Reflect on each question. Write your responses using the downloadable worksheet.
- What do you enjoy about setting goals with families?
- What do you find challenging about setting goals with families?
- What more would you like to learn about setting goals with families?
- How can professional development support your goal-setting efforts with families?
- How could you individualize the goal-setting process with each family? How could an equity lens support your goal-setting efforts with families?
Key Takeaways
- Goal-setting is an ongoing process. When families develop trust with you and understand that you are their advocate, they may be ready to identify and share their goals with you. Consider using the seven Family Outcome areas of the PFCE Framework as a guide as you and families work together to develop goals.
- The seven steps for setting and reaching goals with families are:
- Set a Goal
- Identify Skills
- Assess Strengths
- Examine Stressors
- Explore Strategies
- Determine Support
- Track Progress and Celebrate Successes
- It is important to distinguish between individual family goals and program goals. The individual family goals are part of the FPA. Program goals are broad statements that describe what a Head Start program intends to accomplish.
Action Starters
On your reflection worksheet, identify two to three key takeaways that you want to implement in your daily work.
Read more:
Resource Type: Article
National Centers: Parent, Family and Community Engagement
Audience: Family Service Workers
Last Updated: June 3, 2024