Parent, family, and community engagement (PFCE) is essential to meeting children’s school readiness and later school success. ACAD promotes an integrated and comprehensive approach to engagement in early childhood settings where PFCE:

• Is embedded as a core component in all practices to promote child development and learning
• Is rooted in all of the processes designed to meet an organization’s goals for young children
• Addresses and supports the different needs, strengths, and interests of all children and their families

In order to support this approach, our early childhood work is built around a framework that includes six areas of practice that are key to affecting child and family outcomes:

• Program environment
• Transitions
• Engaging families as teachers
• Home visiting
• Educator–family relationships
• Community partnerships

In order for these practices to be effective, however, they must be built on strong program foundations. These key program foundation areas are:

• Professional development
• Program leadership
• Evaluation and continuous improvement

The areas of practice and program foundations exist in support of building capacity for quality ECE programs. ACAD works to do this by:

• Sharing knowledge about effective ECE programs and practices in support of family and child outcomes 
• Improving outreach and communications
• Informing ECE policy and grant making