parents' role in day care

P a r e n t s ' R o l e in D a y Care

Aline B. Auerbach* Child D e v e l o p m e n t Center o f the Jewish Board o f Guardians, N e w York

In recent years the recipients of many kinds of services have de- manded and been given an increasingly important role in influencing the policies and procedures of the services they receive. This has been clearly seen in the educational field where parents have become more and more involved in the educational programs of their children, in- c ludingthose for young children. The basic role of parents in the de- veloping lives of their children in the early formative years has been acknowledged again and again. Yet until recently parents were scarce- ly mentioned in connection with their young children's educational institutions; parents in turn tended to approach the schools with cau- tion, as if they were not welcome there--as many times they were not. However, att i tudes toward parent involvement have been chang- ing, and in many places igarents, administrators, and staffs are learning to work together in the interests of children. This new approach is now being seen in group day care, commonly identified as "day care," the publicly sponsored all-day child development programs for children.

How has this change come about? What are the results of parent participation? What factors seem to help parents move into this new role? What problems and difficulties present themselves? And what are the mental health implications of the experience?

Historical Background

The Child Development Center of the Jewish Board of Guardians has given mental health consultation to some 22 day care centers in

*Requests for reprints should be sent to Aline B. Auerbach, Parent Group Consultant, Child Development Center, Jewish Board of Guardians, 120 West 57th Street, New York, N.Y. 10019. This project was partially financed by a grant from the New York State Department of Mental Health and Mental Retar- dation Services.

180 Child Care Quarterly Vol. 4(3), Fall 1975

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New York City and has therefore been in a position to observe the various ways parents are participating in day care centers. This paper focuses on what we have learned in giving consultation specifically about parent programs, parent involvement, and parent development to a small group of day care centers as part of the agency's Communi- ty Mental Health Project on New York's West Side. These centers vary in size, serving from 30 to 80 children who meet in from two to four class groups. These centers are all interracial with a predomi- nance of Black and Puerto Rican families and a sprinkling of white, Cuban, Haitian, and European-born families.

When the parent group consultant joined the project some 5 years ago, occasional parent meetings were offered in the different centers in the hope of bridging the gap between home and school for the children. These meetings were usually arranged by the directors with the cooperation of the teachers and were devoted primarily to familiariz- ing the parents with the educational goals of the programs. At the same time they opened the way for parents to speak out about their questions and concerns; as a result in some centers special informal meetings were set up to discuss such matters as discipline, sex interests of young children, hitting and fighting, and even on occasion race awareness and the effects of prejudice on young children.

Creation of Policy Advisory Committees

An added dimension was given to parent programs and activities when guidelines for parent involvement were formulated by federal, state, and local agencies, as the importance of this aspect of early childhood programs was increasingly recognized. In New York City the guidelines issued by the Agency for Child Development of the Human Resources Administration mandated the setting up of parent "policy advisory commit tees" in each center funded by the agency. Specific rules and regulations were outlined covering such matters as the structure and size of the committees, election procedures, and the duties of committee officers and members, as well as the limitations of their responsibilities. These groups were to be advisory within the broad directive that parents "shall become involved in advising upon decisions concerning the nature and operation of the day care facility." Although these directives have been carried out unevenly from center to center, the plan and practices of the policy advisory committees have given new impetus and status to parent involvement, stimulating parent activity in many directions. At the same time they have raised many problems.

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Problems Involved in Parent Participation

The first problem is the question of what can be expected from parents, most of whom are working or in special training programs. How much time can parents devote to the center's affairs and how much energy do they have left at the end of long working days? Yet in the centers with which we are involved, parents, fathers as well as mothers, do come to meetings of different kinds, often at considerable sacrifice, eager to participate if by doing so, they can help their children. There are, however, always some who do not come and who cannot be persuaded to do so by the directors, the teachers, or the social worker or family worker. These parents seem to be so over- whelmed by their personal, social, and economic problems that they have great difficulty taking part in any group activity.

Second, it takes time for parents to learn how to participate in the various parts of the centers' programs that are opening up for them. Even when they come to meetings that are given for all the parents, many are hesitant at first to speak up. Those who are elected by the total parent body to serve on the policy advisory committees have further problems. In spite of the general interpretations given all the parents, usually by the director before elections are held, they are often bewildered, not knowing what is expected of them. Each parent is given a copy of the Guidelines for Parent Involvement in Group Day Care Centers distributed by the Agency for Child Development. But this information is overwhelming in its detail; as they think about it, parents are often doubtfu l as to whether they will be able to do what is expected of them. As they begin to function on the committee, some are quite timid and passive. Others, excited by a sense of power, sometimes try to dominate the group and seem to become involved in a power struggle for its own sake, though the struggle may be masked by seeming to be in the interests of the children. These differences in the parents ' functioning, however, become less appar- ent as they learn to work together, among themselves, and with the directors and staffs. It has been clear from the beginning, however, that the policy advisory committees and their "chairpersons" cannot be expected to plunge into their new role as responsible participants without help and support . The day care center directors, the family workers, and the consultants--where they are available--all do their part in helping parents find their way.

Unfortunately consultation help has not been readily available across the board. The consultants on parent involvement in the re- gional offices of the Agency for Child Development are of ten preoc-

Aline B. Auerbach 1 8 3

cupied with administrative details and are not free to give help with the more general aspects of parent development. In the centers in which we are participating, considerable use is made of the parent group consultant who is familiar with parent group and advisory committee procedures and who has given consultation to the parent committees and the directors when this was indicated. Her activities have varied from center to center: chiefly she helps interpret the functions of the advisory committees, attends their monthly meetings, makes suggestions and comments--on occasion pointing out pos- sibilities for action when the committees seem to need some new stimulus--and works closely with the directors as they see the need for consultation. Together she and the directors t ry to encourage the parents' efforts where these further the work and the goals of the centers. They also try to discourage or rechannel those that are be- yond committee prerogatives.

Each year the orientation of the parents and the learning proc- ess has to be repeated. Since children usually remain in these pre- school programs for only 2 or 3 years--or somewhat longer in those centers that offer an after-school program for those former day care pupils who have gone on into elementary school--the turnover in the parent population is great. Policy advisory committees are elected at the beginning of each school year and of necessity include new parents. Often committee members from the previous season are reelected and they are helpful in introducing the new members to their " job." In centers where advisory committees have functioned for sev- eral years, parents are now asking for a special "training" session to be given by the consultant at the start of the season for new members. "Old" members (those reelected for a second or third year) are free to attend, too, if they care to.

Functioning of Policy Advisory Committees

Although the committees function differently in different centers, it is surprising how quickly these parents take hold and how valuable their contributions are. In the main they become interested in all aspects of the centers' work with and for the children. Their bylaws committees formulate and amend bylaws applicable to their particular centers. From time to time as members of the policy advisory committee they represent their centers on local and city-wide parent committees. They plan meetings of various kinds to meet the ex- pressed interests of the parents as a whole. In one center, for exam- ple, there burst through in an advisory committee meeting a demand


for a "Single Parents Group"; a mental health consultant on the staff of the Child Development Center was provided as leader; a small group of single parents at tended faithfully for four sessions and then for two additional ones, and the parents have asked that the group be held again the next season. The policy advisory committees also plan social gatherings and family outings. They sometimes raise questions about administrative procedures. They determine how funds allotted by the city for parent activities should be spent, each center receiving $10 a year for each child enrolled. Their fund-raising committees hold special events to provide monies for extra equipment or other needs not covered in the centers' budgets. Recrui tment committees assist in recruiting and advising as to the selection of new staff members when vacancies occur. These committees meet with the director and assist in interviewing applicants. They share their judgments with the director who listens carefully to the parents' recommendations, although it is unders tood that the final decision is in the director 's hands.

Their interest has always been directed to the children's activities. In some centers teachers are asked to meet with the commit tee from time to time to discuss what goes on in the classroom; parents of ten question procedures and even, on occasion, atti tudes of the teachers, and make suggestions on many points. These discussions among parents and teachers are sometimes heated, always full of strong feeling. Representing as they do many different life-styles, they are important in that they bring parents and staffs closer together in an honest discussion of differences and build a better understanding of their re- spective purposes as they affect the children and a heightened mutual respect.

The policy advisory committees also serve as the central point for parent communi ty action when this is found to be necessary. Recent- ly they have mobilized parents in their centers to protest when the centers were faced with such matters as possible cuts in funding, high- er fee schedules for those who can afford to pay for their children's attendance, new formulations of eligibility in terms of their income levels--which i f enacted would rule out many families now being served--and having to make available to the central office information about their financial situations and other details about their lives that the parents felt were private and confidential and might be im- properly used. So they wrote letters, a t tended protest meetings, and made their voices heard. Some of these decisions were pos tponed and others modified, apparently in response to what seemed almost like a mass uprising. But many issues in the complex picture of day care to-

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day are still unsettled and there is no knowing when parents will have to take up the battle again. Their recent ventures in social action, however, have given them a sense of what they can do.

Some policy advisory committees are also attempting to develop closer relations with the centers' sponsoring boards but are encoun- tering a variety of problems, problems of defining the responsibilities of both sides and of facilitating communicat ion between individuals from widely different backgrounds.

In general it can be said that the committees act as a liaison between the parents and the centers, the parents and the children, and the parents and the community . As a result of their greater know- ledge and understanding, they act as informal advisors on many points.

Undeniably, however, the organization and varied activities of the advisory committees put a heavy demand on the directors who already are often overburdened. Though the family workers can help in many aspects of contacting parents to gain their cooperation, it is the directors who must make the final decisions as to what plans are feasible and what are not. This entails their being present at meetings of all kinds. It is they who must see that arrangements are made for everything from the mechanics of election procedures to supervision of the children during parent meetings. Directors sometimes have mixed feelings about parents being given more of a say in the affairs of their centers. Though they would be reluctant to admit this, some tend to resent "being interfered with." Others, however, are sincerely glad to have a closer relation with parents and encourage their participation wherever possible, even though this takes a great deal of their time and energy. In each case the director plays an important role. In reviewing the happenings of these past few years it seems that the directors' atti tudes were probably the most important factor in further- ing the work of the policy advisory committees.

Some additional impetus was given to the development of the advisory committees, and much information gained as well, through a demonstrat ion training project conducted by the Child Development Center at the request of parents in the centers with which we are working and authorized by the Agency for Child Development. This took the form of a series of eight workshops at tended regularly by a small number of advisory commit tee members from each center. The weekly sessions dealt with the purposes and procedures of good day care programs; the duties, responsibilities, and limitations of the parents' role as parent representatives; and the organizational structures within the government agencies and the private sponsoring organiza- tions under which the centers operate. The series was judged to be


helpful, it was recommended that it be repeated on a wider scale, and efforts are being made to secure the necessary funding.

Accomplishments of Policy Advisory Committees

What then have the day care centers accomplished in the way of parent involvement and parent development? A summary of their achievements may encourage other centers to experiment along simi- lar or different lines.

In addition to the practical aspects of their involvement already described lie subtle changes in att i tudes as well as performance that have broad mental health implications. In response to new opportuni- ties for involvement directed to improving the lives of their children, many parents gain new understanding of their children and of themselves and even new skills of working together in groups, and do so with a minimum of help. In participating in many of the activities suggested in this report, parents--and not just policy advisory committee members--reveal greater confidence in themselves, as well as greater ability to express their ideas and feelings and to act coopera- tively. Above all, they reveal amazing strengths, which have often not been fully recognized, as wel las sound, intuitive awareness of their children and their children's needs.

The children, too, seem to respond to their parents with more spontaneity when they enter the classrooms. They are pleased when their mothers--and some fathers-- appear for meetings, and proudly show them their block building, paintings, and other "creations." Somehow the gap between home and school seems to close a little for the children. And teachers are taking a new look at parents, as teachers and parents come closer together. In staff meetings teachers sometimes volunteer that they see unsuspected competence in parents, within the context of their particular life-styles. So it can be said that as parents come in and out of the centers more freely, there develops a greater mutual understanding between parents and staff as they learn more about the others' background, experiences, expecta- tions, and manner of living. Out of communication, honest communication, come greater acceptance, even tolerance and compassion, which have their effect on the lives of the children at home and at school.

The message is clear.

parents' role in day care

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