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National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement

Start Early leads the National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement, providing training & technical assistance to build capacity and strengthen Head Start professionals’ relationship-based practices to support families.

National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement logo

The National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement (NCPFCE) promotes excellence through the development of high-quality training and technical assistance (TTA) and practical resources that reflect current evidence, are research-informed and promote best practices in professional development and adult learning.

Offerings range in topic area, including:

  • Family and community engagement
  • Health and well-being
  • Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment, and Attendance (ERSEA)
  • Family services and experiences
  • Building early childhood education program capacity

Core Values of Equity & Reflection

The NCPFCE approaches its work with an equity mindset grounded in the perspective that program and family voices should continually be at the heart of the work. It also promotes reflection in its TTA efforts to ensure continuous quality improvement and data-informed action, growth and sustainability across all its experiences and projects.

The NCPFCE is part of a federal TTA system consisting of national centers, a regional TTA network and grant recipient funding. The NCPFCE builds the capacity of Head Start and Early Head Start programs as they provide high-quality, comprehensive services to expectant parents, children and families and support the school readiness of young children who live in poverty.

The NCPFCE is proud to collaborate with other federal national centers, including:

  • National Center on Program Management and Fiscal Operations
  • National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning
  • National Center on Health, Behavioral Health, and Safety

Learn More

NCPFCE Reach & Impact

With a $5.7MM annual budget, a team of dedicated staff and its partners from Child Trends, LIFT and the University of North Carolina’s Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, since kicking off work under Start Early’s leadership, NCPFCE has:

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Reached more than 42,961 participants through regional and national professional development offerings

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Provided training at more than 179 virtual and in-person professional development events

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Developed and disseminated parent, family, and community engagement resources to Head Start audiences through the Office of Head Start’s Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center (ECLKC) website, which were accessed by more than 569,160 users, had over 1,919,663 page views and more than 289,324 total downloads

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

Home at Head Start Institute 2024
May 7-8, 2024, 11-5 pm ET | May 9, 2024, 11-3 pm ET

Join us for a virtual three-day professional development event for directors, managers, staff, and parent leaders. We’re exploring how to increase enrollment and provide supportive, comprehensive services for children and families experiencing homelessness. Hear from Office of Head Start (OHS) leaders, specialists from each OHS National Center, and featured experts on housing instability in early childhood communities.

The Institute is offered with simultaneous interpretation in Spanish, with several sessions presented entirely in Spanish.

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