DECA Program users understand the value and importance of family involvement. YJT significantly expands upon the DECA Program’s family involvement opportunities through offering much more structured guidance and support to the family engagement process. YJT can be used during home visits or in group workshops.
“…the fact that the two (DECA Program and YJT) could work together to support children and families was most appealing to us. So many times, we end up with all of these separate pieces and we have to try and show staff how they work together…DECA and YJT did that work for us.”
YJT offers Head Start Programs a valuable resource to help meet the latest Performance Standards. The DECA offers a research-based tool to assess and strengthen children’s social and emotional health, and the research-informed YJT lessons help to build on parents’ knowledge and provides opportunities to practice parenting skills to promote children’s learning and development.
Early childhood programs using the DECA Program can now engage parents in a structured resilience-building journey. YJT connects work being done in the classroom and the home to strengthen children’s social and emotional health and resilience.
Are you looking to:
- Optimize the healthy social and emotional development and resilience of children
- Reduce behavioral concerns
- Improve family engagement & parenting practices
- Strengthen collaboration between staff and parents
Your Journey Together offers programs step-by-step guided lessons that engage parents in the process of building the resilience of their child AND themselves! A comprehensive Coach Guide provides all of the tools a family worker needs to deliver the 29 YJT lessons. The lessons, called Stepping Stones, are organized into four areas:
- Understanding Resilience
- Caregiving (i.e. parenting) practices that promote resilience
- Strengthening Children’s Protective Factors
- Promoting Parent Resilience
