Parent Perceptions of an Early Childhood System’s Community Efforts: A Qualitative Analysis
Understanding how parents, and other primary caregivers, perceive and experience early childhood programs and services is essential for identifying family-centered facilitators and barriers to service utilization. Therefore, this paper aims to explore parent knowledge of and experiences with communi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Children |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/10/6/1001 |
| _version_ | 1797595473159127040 |
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| author | Brandie Bentley Tuyet Mai Ha Hoang Gloria Arroyo Sugg Karen V. Jenkins Crystal A. Reinhart Leah Pouw Ana Maria Accove Karen M. Tabb |
| author_facet | Brandie Bentley Tuyet Mai Ha Hoang Gloria Arroyo Sugg Karen V. Jenkins Crystal A. Reinhart Leah Pouw Ana Maria Accove Karen M. Tabb |
| author_sort | Brandie Bentley |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Understanding how parents, and other primary caregivers, perceive and experience early childhood programs and services is essential for identifying family-centered facilitators and barriers to service utilization. Therefore, this paper aims to explore parent knowledge of and experiences with community efforts of an early childhood system in Illinois: the All Our Kids Early Childhood Networks (AOK Networks). Our research team conducted focus group interviews with 20 parents across four Illinois counties. A semi-structured interview guide was used to examine parent perceptions of an early childhood system’s community efforts in promoting the health and well-being of children aged from birth to five. Thematic network analysis was used to analyze all focus group data. Parents indicated three salient themes, including: (1) comprehensive information sharing practices, (2) diverse service engagement, and (3) barriers to service access. Overall, parents reported general satisfaction with the quality of available services and provided feedback regarding identified areas of need to increase the accessibility and utilization of local services. Engaging parents as partners is essential to the effective implementation of family-centered early childhood services. Families are the experts of their lived experiences, and incorporating their voices in program development and evaluation efforts works to increase positive child and family outcomes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:37:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-80474cbe656b4eb6a81d40b3455f390e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9067 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:37:58Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Children |
| spelling | doaj.art-80474cbe656b4eb6a81d40b3455f390e2023-11-18T09:50:11ZengMDPI AGChildren2227-90672023-06-01106100110.3390/children10061001Parent Perceptions of an Early Childhood System’s Community Efforts: A Qualitative AnalysisBrandie Bentley0Tuyet Mai Ha Hoang1Gloria Arroyo Sugg2Karen V. Jenkins3Crystal A. Reinhart4Leah Pouw5Ana Maria Accove6Karen M. Tabb7School of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61801, USASchool of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61801, USASchool of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61801, USASchool of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61801, USASchool of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61801, USASchool of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61801, USAAll Our Kids Early Childhood Networks, Chicago, IL 60607, USASchool of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61801, USAUnderstanding how parents, and other primary caregivers, perceive and experience early childhood programs and services is essential for identifying family-centered facilitators and barriers to service utilization. Therefore, this paper aims to explore parent knowledge of and experiences with community efforts of an early childhood system in Illinois: the All Our Kids Early Childhood Networks (AOK Networks). Our research team conducted focus group interviews with 20 parents across four Illinois counties. A semi-structured interview guide was used to examine parent perceptions of an early childhood system’s community efforts in promoting the health and well-being of children aged from birth to five. Thematic network analysis was used to analyze all focus group data. Parents indicated three salient themes, including: (1) comprehensive information sharing practices, (2) diverse service engagement, and (3) barriers to service access. Overall, parents reported general satisfaction with the quality of available services and provided feedback regarding identified areas of need to increase the accessibility and utilization of local services. Engaging parents as partners is essential to the effective implementation of family-centered early childhood services. Families are the experts of their lived experiences, and incorporating their voices in program development and evaluation efforts works to increase positive child and family outcomes.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/10/6/1001early childhood developmentcommunity systemsparent perspective |
| spellingShingle | Brandie Bentley Tuyet Mai Ha Hoang Gloria Arroyo Sugg Karen V. Jenkins Crystal A. Reinhart Leah Pouw Ana Maria Accove Karen M. Tabb Parent Perceptions of an Early Childhood System’s Community Efforts: A Qualitative Analysis Children early childhood development community systems parent perspective |
| title | Parent Perceptions of an Early Childhood System’s Community Efforts: A Qualitative Analysis |
| title_full | Parent Perceptions of an Early Childhood System’s Community Efforts: A Qualitative Analysis |
| title_fullStr | Parent Perceptions of an Early Childhood System’s Community Efforts: A Qualitative Analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Parent Perceptions of an Early Childhood System’s Community Efforts: A Qualitative Analysis |
| title_short | Parent Perceptions of an Early Childhood System’s Community Efforts: A Qualitative Analysis |
| title_sort | parent perceptions of an early childhood system s community efforts a qualitative analysis |
| topic | early childhood development community systems parent perspective |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/10/6/1001 |
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