This is the second blog in a three-blog series regarding North Hartford Ascend’s Inaugural Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework Community of Practice facilitated by Childhood Prosperity Lab.
Alexander Yanlawk Chiu, Education Initiatives Manager at the United Way (UW) of Northeastern and Central Connecticut, was one of fifteen participants in the inaugural North Hartford Ascend Strengthening Families Protective Factors Community of Practice.
Can you share more about Education Initiatives at United Way of Northeastern and Central Connecticut?
As a part of our Community Impact and Engagement Department at United Way, our Education Initiatives focus on reinforcing and supporting early childhood literacy in Northeastern Connecticut. From birth to five years, we enroll and manage families in the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, a program that delivers free books to children each month until they turn five, which affords them up to 60 free books over the course of their enrollment.
From 1st grade to 3rd grade, we partner with local schools, libraries, and community organizations to deliver our United Way Readers program, which pairs caring volunteers with students who are behind on grade reading level, in an effort to ensure that our students are on track by the time they reach 4th grade (where they begin reading to learn, rather than learning to read). Each of these programs is aligned with United Way’s greater mission of ending poverty, as foundational reading ability and education are consistently shown to be predictors of future success.
What statistic, theory, or discussion point from the Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework Community of Practice resonated the most with you?
Overall, the interactive nature of the training resonated with me quite strongly. In the Concrete Support in Times of Need module, there was one activity that visualized the compounding toll of small yet, what might amount to be, significant challenges that families and children face. In the Social Connections module, we watched a video about adults who meet each other and connect in a ball pit. It captured the very real awkwardness of connecting with strangers, but also the payoff of getting to know people from different backgrounds and lived experiences. These activities resonated with me the most because they are exercises that could even be adapted with children because the messages are easy to grasp and leave a lasting impression.
How has learning about the Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework changed the way you think about and approach your work?
I think one of the most beneficial aspects of the Community of Practice is that it gave me and my team delineated categories to consider when designing and enhancing our programs. Before the training, certain practices of ours might have fallen under one category or another, but having clearly defined protective factors to reference allows us to see where our opportunities for growth are. For our Readers program, we have begun implementing more in-depth student attitudinal surveys and asking the volunteers to complete a more in-depth “Get to Know You” exercise during their first session as a way to strengthen the protective factor of social connection. Recognizing the importance of having warm adults in a child’s life, we hope this small yet significant change will strengthen the bond between the student and volunteer.
Furthermore, the program addresses the social and emotional competence of children, another protective factor of the framework. The United Way Readers program is intentionally ordering books that emphasize emotional regulation and well-being; the book chosen for Read for the Record, “Piper Chen Sings”, is one such example, as it addresses anxiety and offers coping strategies to readers.
What has your observed impact been on those you work with as a result of this experience?
While we are still early in our implementation of the Strengthening Families Framework, I can already see the benefit. Rather than volunteers asking me what their student might be interested in, more often than not, as a result of our orientation, they are now relaying to me “My student is interested in _______, so can we order books on that topic?” We will continue to track the effect these practices have on student attendance and reading scores, but regardless of that, the impact it has already had on their enjoyment of school and well-being is not at all difficult to see.
Personally, our shift in practice has also allowed me to get to know each student much better; the smile on one of our first graders’ face when I remembered her favorite Ninja Turtle (Michelangelo, even though her least favorite color is orange) reminded me of how important remembering even small things can be for someone - especially a child.
Is there a particular protective factor that is showing up in your work the most with the children participating in UW Readers?
A lot of our work intersects with the Social and Emotional Competence of Children's protective factors. Aside from the obvious age difference between students and volunteers, many of our volunteers come from very different social, economic, or cultural backgrounds from our students, and the one-on-one time allows for both the volunteer and student to learn things they might have otherwise not. They learn each other’s names, and all employ different methods to best engage each other – some prefer to draw scenes from the books, others prefer to stand up and dance while reading, and at least one student that I am aware of this year is teaching his volunteer basic Spanish.
Anything else?
I participated in this training with a coworker of mine, and I can say without a doubt that participating has equipped us with a strong toolset to shape our work. Both of us are relatively new in our roles and capacities, and the training has provided effective concrete definitions and concepts that were otherwise vague and nebulous. For me, that is what I appreciated most about the training – and both Annika and Jacquelyn ensured that the sessions were interactive and that everyone was equally heard. I look forward to any future training opportunities, and will certainly recommend them to my team going forward!