Honoring Home in Home-based Programs

Honoring Home in Home-based Programs

Joyce Escorcia: Welcome, everyone, to our Home Visiting webinar for today, Honoring Home in Home-Based Programs. We are so excited that you decided to spend this hour with us. I am Joyce Escorcia. I am one of your webinar hosts for today. I work at the National Center for Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning. If this is your first time here for the Home Visiting webinar series, welcome. We're so glad that you're here. This season, I'm joined by my partner in all the good things and all the good work, Melisa. Melisa, did you want to say hi to everyone?

Melisa Jaén: Hello, everyone. My name is Melisa Jaén and I'm a senior training and technical assistant with the National Center, known as DTL. I am excited to be here and excited for all the information we're going to share about honoring families and the role that we play. Back to you, Joyce.

Joyce: We are so excited to have a dear friend with us. We have Patricia Castrodad with us. She is a bilingual team case specialist from the National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement. We are so excited to have you with us, Patricia. Thank you so much. I want to give you a chance to say hello to our home visiting community and just tell them a little bit about yourself.

Patricia Castrodad: Good afternoon. Buenas tardes. Or good morning for some of you. I'm truly honored to share this space with my colleagues and friends from DTL, Joyce Escorcia and Melisa Jaen. I'm grateful for the invitation. As Joyce mentioned, my name is Patricia Castrodad Rodriguez. My pronouns are she/her/ella. I work with the National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement. And I'm thrilled to be with you all here.

Joyce: Thank you. We're so excited to hear more from you in just a few minutes. Thank you again for joining us. Before we get started, we want to just remind everyone to download your Participant's Guide for today. If you haven't already done so, that includes lots of resources that could be useful for you. It also provides a place for like reflection as we're going through and having conversations of just thoughts and ideas that come to mind for you or maybe questions that you want to follow up later with other folks on your team. We're going to be referencing the Participant's Guide throughout our time together.

If you haven't done so, please check it out under that resource widget. And now, to get started with our time today. We're really wanting to spend some time and talk about how perceptions and unconscious biases can affect support offered to children and families. And also talk about how the Multicultural Principles and other resources or strategies can really equip home visitors to examine their own personal perceptions and unconscious biases that they may have.

We're really hoping this is a time of like self-reflection and growth, you're able to walk away with some great ideas and strategies to help you in your role. And I already mentioned making some of those connections to the multicultural principles that we know that culture is really a fundamental feature of Head Start programs, systems, and services. And it really is at the heart of everything that we do.

The Multicultural Principles Handbook was first published in 1992 and it was really all about challenging programs to focus efforts on individualizing services so that every child and family feels respected and valued and the sense of belonging to be able to grow and accepting differences. And the newest version of the Multicultural Principles was revised to incorporate new research and organizes the 10 principles into like these three different action categories that's for nurture and grow and things are separated out as that.

Now, we will not be going through all 10 principles and we know that knowledge and culture and home languages are essential to providing effective Head Start services. And we know that this resource is really a foundational piece in supporting our work. Our webinar today has been grounded in multicultural principles and we're going to be digging into one specifically as we think about honoring home and home-based programs.

I just want to frame our conversation in that. When you get on the resource list, you'll find resources related to multicultural principles as well. And if you were hanging out in the lobby before the webinar started, you'd see we were trying something new out with Poll Everywhere. We wanted to just get an idea of like when you hear the word culture what comes to mind. We used Poll Everywhere to try that out. We're going to take a look at the results of that. There you go.

You should be seeing our wonderful word cloud that we created collectively here. Thank you for trying out this new thing with us. And you can see like we had a variety of your responses, right, that when we think about culture, it means so many things. Everything from family to traditions, to food. Please feel free, if you haven't already and you want to join in the fun, scan that QR code or you can send that text and you can add to it. As we go through our time together, please feel free to keep adding. What we can do afterward is we'll take an image of this and we'll pop it up into MyPeers as a follow-up from our webinar today.

But again, when we think about culture, it does really mean all of these wonderful things here together. Customs, I saw food on there that really speaks to me. Just ways of being, community, family, togetherness, all of those things. We just see more and more of you adding to that as far as what culture really means to you and what those thoughts and those feelings that it evokes. Thank you so much for adding to that. And again, this is just the way to get our heads in this space as we start having this conversation. Feel free to keep on adding to this. We will post it to MyPeers too. This is like our own little collective project for today. Thank you for playing along here.

Melisa: It looks so beautiful, Joyce. I love that family list. Thank you for bringing that activity to this session. Because, again, this is what we're going to be doing is starting off exploring what culture is. Thank you all for sharing. As we see from your responses, as Joyce said, there's many different words that came to your mind and for me, I think of food but I also think of family and community.

When we think about culture, it is challenging to really define what that means because, not only based on our different experiences and everybody's uniqueness, there are just so many definitions out there of what culture means. To put this into context, dating back to 1952, there is actually researchers, after doing such a literature review determined that there is about 160 different definitions. But that, not surprisingly continues to go today. We have so many different definitions, variations of what culture means. But for today, regardless of what culture definition we use, we really just want to have you think about your role as a home visitor, as a program leader.

Just think about how culture plays in your interactions with others. If you're a program leader, your interactions with home visitors or families, and if you're a home visitor, what those interactions are with families. And again, thinking of what culture means and just the impact that it has. It's similar to the words that you all shared. When we think about culture, culture does include those values that the people uphold, as well as the beliefs, also practices. These are all things that are shared by a group, right, but this is also true for relationships.

When we think about working with children and families and staff, a lot of our relationships are shaped by our culture. It's how this is developed. What is culture? We like to use this culture tree metaphor to think about what culture is but this is very similar to the cultural iceberg you probably have seen in other trainings. But just again as we see this metaphor, this image of the tree, culture is everything beyond what we see. We have here this image of a tree where culture is what we see the behaviors, so physical, language, ceremonies, stories, sort of things that you're saying about customs, ways of being. These are some of the things that we see. That this is on the surface.

But culture is more than that, as we see in the roots. There is the roots we have values, models, perception, our values, our assumptions that we make, what we've learned. When we think of culture, we have the tendency to focus on what is visible or noticeable. We only focus on that surface, the leaves like I was just sharing. But when we do this, it limits our understanding of what culture really is because in order to really fully understand, we need to look beyond that level and into the root to expand our view to those pieces that are non-visible.

And just to name a few, because there is many, it is the nature of friendships, right, friendships are different in different cultures, approaches to problem-solving, the importance of time. I know for my family, the importance of time is different from my colleague's. Views on raising children, notion of self. Again, these are just the things that are not visible, that are important to understand as we think about culture. It's those less visible aspects of culture that we need to keep in mind because they are key to developing an understanding and building relationships.

As we enter the space of building those relationships with family and children, this is important to know. The other thing here is when we enter in these spaces, we know that we come into spaces and work with diverse families as well as staff, as well as families and children. Keeping that in mind, as I mentioned, when we walk into the space, we need to be conscious of making sure that we're developing these relationships with that cultural humility, walking into the spaces of looking beyond that surface and really entering that space to build the relationships with family with intentions of honoring their beliefs, their customs, and their values. These things that I talked about that are not visible.

The raising their children, the notions of self, cultural humility, again, is just a process that can help us do that because it involves that critical consciousness. It goes beyond that self-awareness, and it's really about understanding our own biases, values, and assumptions that come into play when working with families developing the relationships with them. But just wanted to take a minute here just to pause and give you guys a minute to reflect on cultural humility and really thinking about why is cultural humility an important skill for a home visitor to have.

If you're here as a program leader, how can you help strengthen the relationships how can you support home visitors to build this understanding of the cultural humility so that they could strengthen relationships with family. Just take a minute and please enter your responses in the chat, just what comes to your mind as you think about cultural humility and that role that it plays in home visitors, and why is important, why it's an important skill. I'm seeing some responses. And Jenna says that she loves the term critical consciousness. Yes, that is also important because that's that critical consciousness that we have to do.

And I was looking at the multicultural principles when it said honest. I think critical and honest are really two things that we have to really pay attention to when we're doing that self-reflection and deep learning about families and children that we work with. Crystal is sharing sensitivity. Yes, learning that important skill of being sensitive, walking into the spaces. I don't know, Joyce or Patricia, if you wanted to chime in if you see anything coming in in the chat that I missed.

Joyce: I just see other things also coming up like respect and also thinking about the cultural humility that really helps home visitors relate to families. Olivia says that — put that in the chat as well. And then we also have like an example like one example would be like asking like, hey, should I take my shoes off before I enter your home or where should I sit, those kind of things are all connected to that cultural humility.

Melisa: The word that's coming a lot in the chat is respect. And really thinking about cultural humility is that walking in and building that respect and knowing that we don't know everything. It's just really that commitment to that life-long learning about others and then just a couple of things here as we see in the slide. It's really also about challenging — recognizing and challenging that power imbalances that exist as well as institutional accountability, where we're all being advocates and really doing the work that it takes self-reflection and learning. Well, continue to share in the chat so that others can speak.

Or I just saw this, it's not all — I love, Theresa, that you brought this up because I was going to transition that not all Spanish-speaking families are of the same culture. I love that because, again, going back to our what culture is and how it shapes us and not making assumptions, right, that all people that speak Spanish are from the same culture. Thank you for sharing that.

Perfect. Well, I know we are from — Patricia has a lot to share more on cultural humility and relationship with families. I’m going to just transition us over to this last section. And again, just putting this all together when we think about the work that we do with families, it's really thinking about this and approaching it from a multi-layered approach, beginning with our own culture. We need to really understand our own culture, what our values are.

Really taking the time to know home visitors as well as the family's cultures that are in our program. Back to the comments that you all said, it's important that we must not make assumptions as there are cultures within cultures. As I mentioned and from the responses, cultures influence our beliefs and behaviors. Culture, I like to think of it, it's a gift and it's passed on from generation to generation so that also is changing. Culture changes depending on the current environment. Somebody wrote in the chat language.

Home language is the key component of children's identity formation. This is just an impact that culture has. And as we see, it's so important to incorporate this into our work with children and families. And again, the outcome is always to support children and families to reach their potential. Incorporating family is just so important but also knowing the impact that it has. With that, Patricia, I'm so excited that you are here to share your knowledge around honoring the diversity. And you got lots of love in the chat from people who know you. I'm going to transition it over to you with this question, Pati. Just thinking of all this work that we're doing, can you share about having an equity lens and a PFCE framework, and connecting that to equity. How that connects to equity?

Patricia: Thank you, Melisa, and Joyce. And there is a lot of engagement in the chatbox. And that's exciting. And as I went through and read all the comments, I was thinking about how we are all shaped by culture. And as we continue with the conversation about culture and your role as a home visitor and the interactions with families and how that supports building relationships, building, trusting, respectful relationships.

Let's begin with one of the tools for cultivating equity in your program, in your home-based program option. And that is the PFCE framework. We cannot think about current family and community engagement without talking about equity. And as we all know, the PFCE framework offers us a roadmap for all the work that we do with families, children, communities, and staff, specifically it provides us with guidance on how to promote effective family engagement in program systems and services by showing us how we can intentionally support positive lasting outcomes for children and families.

And the central part to the PFCE framework is the relationship arrow, that top arrow. Everything, all the work that we do begins there, right here on that top arrow. Positive goal-oriented relationships that are equitable, inclusive, and culturally and linguistically responsive. As we build relationship with families and their children, it often like you said, Melisa, requires an awareness of one's own personal biases and how these biases can affect mutual respect and trust.

Let's look at the PFCE framework this way. All the interaction and practices in the first two columns, program foundations and program impact areas are supported by positive goal-oriented relationships that are equitable, that are inclusive, that are culturally and linguistic responsive. Therefore, it is more likely for families and children to make progress and reach positive outcomes. In home-based programs, our work is to lean into the top arrow of the PFCE framework.

We need to be mindful that equity is an action word that is embedded in all parts of the PFCE framework like I just mentioned. In all actions, right, we take in our programs, especially home visiting. Let's continue with the conversation and expand on the PFCE framework and explore what does equitable PFCE mean and look like. Before we delve into equitable PFCE, I truly want to acknowledge and honor the office of Head Start. Consistent, unshakeable, steady commitment to equity, inclusion and belonging. And fundamental to this commitment is the belief that all children, families, communities, and you staff, including those adversely impacted by persistent poverty, racism, and bias should have the opportunity to thrive and reach your full potential.

In in my work with home visitors, and I just saw a few of them from Puerto Rico, I truly believe that in home visiting we are gifted with the unique opportunity for families to allow us to enter their space. And as we enter their space, we must be open to acknowledging diversity among families and children, and tailor the services based on their unique strengths, needs, and we need to also consider circumstances. I want to tap into one of the elements of the program impact area that is the second column, the red one, what we say the red column.

And the program impact area is where all the equity action takes place. And I just want to lean into one of the elements and that is family partnership. And as we think about family partnerships, and Joyce and Melisa just talked about it maybe we want to reflect on whose voices are at the table. And when we think about that, we need to also remember and be mindful that this means that families are equal partners. We work with and that with I always say is capital letter, it's capitalized. We work with families and we meet them where they are.

And also program staff like home visitors value family's unique expertise about their children. And we also engage in regular communication to understand their strength, their hopes, their needs, their dreams. As we work with them, we will be supporting, making that progress toward their goals. I'm just thinking about an example of home visitors and how home visitors engage in a warm, accepting relationship with parents as they enter their homes. At the same time as you are engaging in a warm accepting relationship with parents, you're also supporting a strong and secure relationship between the parent and the child.

With this in mind, I think we can move on to the equity drivers. What do you think? These are the five equity drivers that strengthen family engagement. And this is very important for me. Please know that the numbers are not relevant. They're simply here as identifiers. And you can use equity drivers in any order. The equity drivers that strengthen family engagement were developed with the two arrows of the PFCE framework as their foundation, the top arrow of the PFCE framework. The drivers are intended to support your partnerships in programs and integrate equity within the PFCE framework program foundations and program impact areas as I just mentioned.

I'm just going to go briefly through the five equity drivers. Are we ready? Let's start with be open to the many ways families may want to be engaged. This driver is about remaining open, curious, and really continue learning about family strengths, viewpoints, and expertise. I think about an example in home visiting context. This is about making space to understand and explore the culture of the family. We might encounter that a mother in the home request that the grandfather or the eldest sibling is present during the visits. Let me see which other.

Discover and uplift family and community strength. This driver is about using a strength-based approach to discover and uplift, acknowledge and honor the strengths of families and communities, and not just see them for their needs or for what they lack. Using your power responsibly. This driver is about recognizing power and how to use it responsibly. We may be more intentional about sharing and shifting power during our home visits. Recognize families as partners and honor their contribution.

This driver is about making sure that we are culturally responsive to family's interests and needs. By making space for families as partners and decision-makers, especially families from cultural groups that have been historically and —I include — currently are underrepresented.think I'm going to be in the fifth equity driver, and that is understand and challenge biases. And this equity is about understanding that biases are attitudes or stereotypes that favor one group over another. And we all have biases.

And Melisa mentioned that. We are socialized that way through social interactions with others and within our communities. The purpose of this equity driver is for program and staff to develop approaches to challenging and changing those biases to improve equitable PFCE. For the purpose of our time together, Joyce, we're going to lean into this driver, understand and challenge biases.

Melisa: Before we transition to the next section, I just wanted to thank you for giving that thorough review of the great drivers. This is new to me and I really like that you're going to ground us in that first one. Thank you.

Patricia: My pleasure. And we're going to watch. I'm really excited because we're going to be watching a short video about racial biases. And I consider this a powerful video and tool that you can use in your programs. I also recognize that it will evoke self-reflection. As you watch the video, you can jot down thoughts and feelings, or even ideas. Are we ready to watch the video? Great.

[Video begins]

Bailiff: All rise!

[Video ends]

Patricia: Powerful video. You can express bias with just a look. And I want to spark some reflection. Let's see. What assumptions did you make about the main character as you watched the video. And maybe I can share some of my experiences just to start us going. And I've gotten the look when I am at an elevator and I start speaking Spanish and my accent is noticeable, And also because I get the look when I say I am Puerto Rican. My ethnicity is also a reason to get that look. I just want to hear from you all.

Melisa: That we're getting from — yeah, we're getting from Jay G that they were foolish because of the skin. Powerful video. Discrimination. Some reactions to —

Joyce: Even disturbing.

Patricia: Interesting.

Melisa: Such a powerful video. Always.

Patricia: Let's see. And I'm wondering — I'm seeing some they are being ignored but they didn't let it affect them. And also the small gestures, that says a lot. I just want to emphasize that racial equity focuses on fair treatment for communities impacted by historical and we can say currently disadvantages due to their race. And racial equity also acknowledges that racism toward people of color remains systemic and institutionalized. This is something that we live, it's part of our lived experiences.

And, Melisa or Joyce, do you see anything else that stands out for you? Exhausting to experience that on a daily basis. Oh, interesting. I have been on the other side of the look. One person, I think it's Jessica Puig says I saw judgment, assumptions, racism, but then I saw courage, powerful, success. And it was so powerful and touched my emotions. Yes, and this is something that I've written on my professional book, on one side of my professional book.

And when we talk about equity, it involves — I remind myself, Patricia, talking about equity involves a deep constant and also painful self-interrogation. And in the process, it's also inner healing, involves inner healing. And most of all and most important, action. I keep that note to myself and I read it constantly because equity, it's an ongoing process an ongoing work that we do every day.

Melisa: We're getting a lot of responses in the chat but I just want to say it resonates with a lot of folks here and their own lived experience. And knowing that their loved ones have to go through this as well or have experienced this.

Patricia: Why don't we transition — oh, Joyce, you wanted to say something? Do you want to say something? Sorry, I interrupted you.

Joyce: No, I was going to say I see a lot of folks sharing their own lived experience and things that they've been through. And I think you prepped us for that. This video is going to cause you to feel something. I think from the chat we can see that, and even from ourselves, that every time I watch this video like this feeling and different feelings just come up.

Patricia: And that's the emotions are part of the ongoing work we do with equity when we talk about equity. That's part of. Since we're leaning into understand and challenge biases, this is one of the five equity drivers. Let's explore what that means. And as I mentioned briefly, bias is an assumption, stereotype, or unintentional action.

It could be positive or negative because humans, we're all the time making those assumptions toward others based on their identity labels such as race, ethnicity like my experience, religion, age, gender identity, and expression. It could be with sexual orientation and/or ability. It is human nature to see differences and have a reaction. But our biases are taught. As I mentioned, we are socialized into that. And are learned. And they are learned as we interact or have social interactions within our communities.

There are two types of bias, one is implicit bias and explicit bias. And implicit biases are unconscious. Thoughts or attitudes we have that affect our behaviors and actions and decisions, our ways of being. And those biases are involuntary and unintentional. I'm thinking about an example of a home visitor. And a home visitor may unknowingly assume that parents who speak with certain accents like me are less intelligent than other parents.

And if we look at explicit biases, our thoughts or attitudes we are conscious and aware of. A person may assume that coworkers of a certain culture or a certain age are difficult to work with and may avoid working with them. Both implicit and explicit biases can lead to harm. And racial bias is an example of persistent implicit and explicit bias that many families experience. I'm going to transition to Joy — oh, you want to say something. Sorry.

Joyce: No, no I was just going to say when we're thinking about for a home visitor and thinking about those explicit biases, would you think, an example may be the home visitor is even, as a home visitor maybe having assumptions or just feelings about certain ways of raising and childrearing practices of going in, having a certain mindset about the way a child is raised or things that are happening within the home? Like going in with that mindset, would you consider that as well, that bias as well?

Patricia: Absolutely. Yes. That's a great example, Joyce, yes. Thanks for bringing that up.

Joyce:  Just to digging in there, just a little bit more. You see these questions here on screen and our chat is just on fire here, we just encourage you like to keep adding there, thinking about these questions what is something that you know about bias. And then also what is something that you wonder. What's something that you know and then also what is something that you wonder? 

And, again, feel free to share in the chat. Or also feel free to take it to your reflection guide, your Participant's Guide, you have space in there for reflection as well. What are some of those things. Again, thinking about the definitions that Patricia just shared with us. Those about explicit and implicit bias. What's something that you know and something that you wonder? And then also thinking about you and your own practice as a home visitor, how does bias play role in home visiting? 

How could you, one, as a home visitor, what's one way for you to examine your own personal bias? If you're here in a role of supporting a home visitor, what's something that you could do to support a home visitor? A lot to think about there. Miranda in the chat she's sharing. She believes that biases are learned from environment and community. Yes, definitely. From environments, community, and experience, I would add to that as well.

Great response there. Crystal shares that bias is about — I lost that one. My chat went up. That biases are about rooted mindset that are passed down from different generations. Definitely. Definitely I agree with that one as well. Thank you so much you guys for sharing. Everyone has bias. And that is so, so true like if you're here and we all have bias.

Melisa: I heard that. If we all have brains, we all have bias. That if you have a brain, you have a bias.

Joyce: That's it, right?

Melisa: Absolutely.

Joyce: And those different biases manifest themselves through our interactions and experiences that we have with children and families that we support, whether it's in home visits whether it's in socializations, all of those things. There's bias in the way we think, in the way we interact. It comes out.

Patricia: Melisa mentioned something really important and that is cultural humility. It's not only that self-awareness, but also being able to step out and really think about, hey, Patricia, where is this coming from. Being able to navigate those thoughts and your behaviors, your ways of being.

Joyce: Yes, definitely. And again, this is a lot to think about. I just thank everybody in the chat for just being open to going there. Also knowing that there's science behind this. We know that from the beginning, like at birth that caring and supportive relationships are crucial for children's healthy brain development. And that teaching and learning aren't just about the impartation of like knowledge, like academic knowledge and skills, but it's about motivations and dispositions that really stem from those safe and trusting relationships.

Those safe spaces, those safe relationships, those nurturing relationships are really at the heart of it all. And that implicit bias can really manifest itself through microaggressions. Having that deficit view of a certain group of people or treatment and learning environments, all of those things. And that implicit bias can impact — as a home visitor it can impact your relationship with parents like your ability to connect with them, which in turn impacts that child.

And again, whenever our physical and our psychological safety is threatened in our brain, and that amygdala and that's like that fear center that danger, danger, and it responds with either that flight or freeze reaction. And as brain receives messages from implicit biases like social threats and it reacts in that same way of what do I need to do to protect myself and survive. All those things kick in.

On the other side of that, those positive relationships, those nurturing relationships trigger the oxytocin in our brains, which has the power to regulate emotions and responses to like different things that are happening, pro-social behaviors, thinking about trust, empathy, positive memories, those bonding cues, positive communication. All of that helps the amygdala to stay calm so that prefrontal cortex can really focus on those higher order thinking and learning.

This is really the foundation at the heart of everything that we do within Head Start. Just something else to think about there as well. Again, if you want to dig more into that, we have resources included in the participant guide as well. And with that, I'm going to give it back to you, Pati, to take us into one of those great resources.

Patricia: Thank you,, Joyce. This is just an amazing resource. And you might be familiar with the relationship-based competencies to support family engagement. But if you're not, it's okay. I hope that what I shared will spark some curiosity and you will go directly and look at it. This is like Joyce has mentioned, this is a fundamental tool to assess and support home visitors in making progress in each competency and to identify areas for professional growth.

And the RVC, as we know them, right, is organized as a set of four resources. One is an overview, and then there are three additional resources, these are for specific roles. And I want to tell you that there's one for home visitors. I also want to mention that quickly just this is the definition of the relationship-based competency. And I just want to highlight the words in bold. And knowledge refers to like what, for example, home visitors need to know. The skills refer to what home visitors need to apply their knowledge.

And individual practices are those key examples of what home visitors do. This resource can help home visitors build their skills and further develop their professional practice. Let's take a closer look at competency number two, self-aware and culturally responsive relationships and explore some of the individual practices that would support home visitors in prioritizing equity when partnering with families. here we have competency.

We're taking a closer look, zooming in, and competency number two, self-aware and culturally responsive relationship means that home visitors develop or have the knowledge, the skills and practices that support family partnerships that are respectful, and respond appropriately to the cultures, languages, values, and family structures of each family. Let's do the second zoom in and look at the example of just a few examples of individual practices in competency number two.

I got to be really honest. There are 10 practices. And I'm just highlighting here three. And just as a reminder, individual practices are those key examples of what, in this case, home visitors do. Maybe one of the practices is that a home visitor communicates with families in their home languages to the extent possible or arranges for an interpreter as needed to communicate fully and effectively. Another practice could be that the home visitor follows household routine and customs and shows respect for cultural symbols and caregiving practices when visiting the family's home.

These are just some examples of the individual practices, those key examples of what home visitors do. Now, let's do a pause and reflect. We have been sharing a lot of information and I want to invite you to share with us some thoughts or ideas that come to mind on how you are or might, right, integrate a more intentional equity focus when supporting families who participate in the home based program option. Let's see. I'm going to check the chat quickly.

Joyce: Zaida says one idea was to learn how to greet the family in their language.

Melisa: There was a couple of messages before but it goes to this question learning how to greet the family as well. Is that the one that you — that's the one that you read, Joyce?

Joyce: Yes. And then, Courtney also popped in about presenting books that represent family's culture would be another intention.

Patricia: I was going to say that. And they are sharing some of the practices that they are putting in place like having access to language line. Hey, great. Thank you for sharing. And let's move on into — because we've been — during the time that we spent together, we have called attention to the equitable program, embrace reflection and change. We've been emphasizing on that.

And in this section, we're going to be shifting gears to discuss practices and taking action to support the work of home visitors. And for that, I'm just going to share that home visiting practices are grounded in strength-based attitudes. Fundamental to reflection and taking action is really thinking about and integrating a strength-based attitude as we partner with families. And I am really honest here. And I acknowledge that making the adjustment to a strength-based attitude takes time and can be challenging.

Remember, this is an attitude. And an attitude is a way of thinking or feeling about someone or something that is often reflected in a person's behavior. As you all mention in the chat, this is what I get. Our attitudes create that frame of mind, right, that shaped how we behave, our ways of being. Not only in our personal but also our professional life. Why don't we think about the activity, Joyce and Melisa, should we move on to activity? We're going to have an activity to practice using the strength-based approach.

We have an image on the next slide and we want you to take a look at and identify the strength you see in them. Enter your response in the chat and remember a strength-based attitude sees and honors that all families have strengths, that families are the first and most important teachers of their children. That families are our partners like we began this webinar, right, and they play a critical role in their child's development. Families have expertise about their child and family. And also, we need to honor and acknowledge that family's contributions are important and valuable.

Joyce: Again, for this image, Pati, people have a lot of great things to say. Love, connection, bonding, security.

Patricia: Asking versus just assuming. That's powerful.

Melisa: Attachment.

Patricia: There's a lot of engagement.

Melisa: Just if you don't know something about their culture family, ask. That's that learning like a lifelong learning process.

Patricia: Yes. And that takes me back to the equity drivers. Just be open to the way — to the many ways the family wants to engage. That means be open. Be curious and learn about the family's strength, expertise, and viewpoints. I'm scrolling down and just reading all of the wonderful and powerful responses. Any response that stands out for you?

Joyce: All of them. Closeness. And just even I love Maureen even mentions like the family bed has a lot of wonderful strengths such as bonding and attachment. And I tell you I identify with that. Some of my best like childhood memories revolve around whether it was cuddling or like wrestling on the bed with my brothers.

Patricia: I do. That resonates with me, with my experience. Yes.

Melisa: Well, Pati, I think we have time for one more picture before we wrap things up. If you're up for it.

Patricia: Sure, why not. Awesome.

Melisa: Here's our next one.

Patricia: That's a powerful image.

Joyce: And as a reminder, what are we looking for in the chat here, Patricia?

Patricia: We're identifying the strength. What strength do you see in this image?

Melisa: Attachment, closeness, bonding, security, maternal love.

Patricia: Purity, safety, feeling safety, safe, right? What else?

Joyce: Nurturing. Nurturing.

Patricia: I agree with that. Yes.

Joyce: Freedom to be a mother. Oh, I love that.

Patricia: I didn't see that. Let me check. Closeness, bond, security.

Joyce: Compassion.

Patricia: Oh, freedom to be a mother.

Melisa: Beautiful.

Patricia: Your responses are really valuable. It's meeting really a need also. It's meeting the child's need, right? Wonderful. I just want to share some conversation starters that can be used by home visitors. And these are just examples but I want to share other examples like tell me how you think your child learns best. How can you tell your child is really interested in something.

Another example could be, and I'm using my children's names here. Paula, what do you imagine it will be like for Paula when she is in the program with other children? Tell me what you like for us to know about Paula. These are other examples of conversation starters that can be used by home visitors. What else can you come up with? Are there any others that you use? Or would like to use. I'm checking the chatbox.

Joyce: Yes. And thank you so much, Pati. As folks are putting their responses in, I want to encourage you by we have our community in MyPeers, the home visiting community there like let's continue the conversation there. I'll post our word cloud results there for everyone. And thank you again for all the questions that are coming through.

Patricia, I just want to say thank you, thank you so much for just spending this time with us and sharing your heart and your passion about this. And really we hope we had an hour of really honoring home and the home-based program option. Thank you for joining us.