91 Family & Community Partnerships (FCP) Rationale Children develop in the context of families and communities that are characterized by diversity in family composition, languages spoken, race, ethnicity, culture, socio-economic status, and religion. While families serve as the primary framework for development, early care and education settings comprise another key context that dramatically impacts development through the quality of care and education provided. Research indicates that children thrive when collaborative partnerships between the families, program, and community resources are formed and feature ongoing, interactive communication and a commitment to confidentiality. Additionally, communities that adequately support parenting as well as early education and care, tend to prosper socially and economically, thereby contributing to the quality of life for all members of the community. Core Knowledge Components In order for children to develop optimally, early childhood professionals in all types of settings must strive to know and understand: Knowing and Respecting Families – They recognize that families are children’s first and foremost educators. They establish partnerships with families based on mutual trust and respect. Communication – They use various strategies to initiate and maintain family involvement and a variety of communication skills to engage and promote reciprocal interaction about all aspects of the program. Community Partnerships – They facilitate mutually beneficial connections among families, agencies, businesses, organizations and other community resources. Advocacy – They nurture the capacity of family members to serve as advocates for their own children and for children of the greater community. Core Knowledge Competencies The competencies and indicators on the following pages specify how the specific knowledge, behaviors and practices are demonstrated by early childhood professionals across five levels of proficiency that follow a progression of knowledge, skills and abilities. The levels build on one another, with the belief that a person working on competencies at Level III has already achieved most or all of the competencies at Level I and II.