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Strategies to Engage 4-H Parents and Caregivers

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Program Contact

Autumn Britt, 4-H Program Manager
Phone Number509-588-7817 Email Address • autumn.britt@wsu.edu

Parent and Caregiver Involvement in 4-H

4-H is a family affair! Or it should be, and this means the parents and caregivers of 4-H youth members are an important part of a 4-H program. Parent involvement is key to the success of a 4-H club, providing an ongoing foundation for club support and expanding the potential for club programs. Active parents lead to active members:

Importance of Engagement

Parent and caregiver engagement makes a significant impact on club success and the fostering of life skills in youth participants.

Parents and caregivers turn to 4-H club volunteers for their information and updates on club activities. If the leader doesn’t inform families directly of 4-H activities, events, policies, or other important information, families may never find it on their own. It is extremely important that club volunteers engage families in their child’s 4-H experience, both at the club level and within the larger 4-H program.

Four key skills club leaders need to have for a successful experience engaging parents:

  • Keep parents and caregivers involved
  • Facilitate the active involvement of parents, caregivers, and other adult 4-H volunteers
  • Provide information and training to parents and guardians

4-H club leaders have the largest impact on parents and guardians and their experiences with the 4-H program. They see families regularly, help youth develop life skills, guide them in their project areas, and are also the face of 4-H for most families.

This guide is intended to help 4-H volunteers learn effective strategies to engage with the families of their 4-H youth.

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Benefits of Parent and Caregiver Engagement

Family engagement positively impacts youth, parents and caregivers, and the club leader. It has been shown that increased parental and caregiver involvement results in increased youth success. Not only will youth be more successful, but this engagement also increases satisfaction for both the families of 4-H youth and the club leader and improves the club atmosphere. Youth whose families support their 4-H experience are more likely to continue in 4-H.

Parent and caregiver participation in 4-H results in other benefits as well.

  • Family involvement offers opportunities for youth and their parents and caregivers to participate in activities around a common interest, which strengthens family ties.
  • Active parent and caregiver participation can strengthen and broaden the 4-H program in any local club or county.
  • Positive family support is likely to lead to stronger, larger, and more active clubs.
  • In clubs with evident family support, individual members receive more personal attention and guidance from leaders and parents and caregivers.
  • Club activities and events develop and expand with family support.

4-H can have a positive influence on the lives of thousands of youth. This happens when parents and caregivers care and are engaged and supportive of youth members.

Ideas to help inform and interest parents and gain their cooperation

  • Involve members and their families in setting goals and planning club programming for each year.
  • Become familiar with the interests and talents of 4-H members’ parents and caregivers. Ask for advice in areas where they can contribute and make good use of their expertise and skills. Be specific with requests.
  • When parents and caregivers volunteer to help, make sure the work they are doing is worthwhile. Follow up with the offer within a few days with a specific task with which they can help.
  • Involve parents and caregivers in leadership and sharing their skills as project leaders. Emphasize they can teach short-term projects that only take a few meetings. Engage parents in other volunteer opportunities such as fundraising or staffing a booth.
  • Keep parents informed so they understand 4-H objectives. Send letters and notes directly to parents and allow time for conversation before or after meetings with parents. Be sure the club has a phone or text chain for emergency cancellations and important meeting reminders.
  • Encourage 4-H members to make their club work a topic of family conversation.
  • Solicit family involvement at the fair and other activities where 4-H club work and youth projects are showcased.
  • Use an Interest Survey to gauge where parents and caregivers might be able to engage with the club.

Strategies for Engagement

Club leaders spend most of their time focused on helping youth develop targeted life skills and it can be challenging for them to additionally develop different ways to engage families.

Family support of the club leader’s efforts make everyone’s experiences more satisfying and the volunteer leader’s job easier! When using these strategies, club leaders should also remember that individual differences and family situations will mean that not every strategy will work with every family.

Along with knowing club members’ names, the club leader needs to learn the names of the parents and guardians in a youth’s family. Using nametags at the beginning of the year can be helpful toward getting to know the names of youth and their family members.

When club leaders are asking questions about scheduling, they need to involve a youth’s parents and/or guardians in those discussions. This is one instance when a 4-H leader can make the adults the focus of the conversation, because they provide transportation for their youth. Be sure that program decisions are still made through the youth-adult partnership between club volunteers and youth 4-H members.

Survey the parents on their interests, skills, and availability to find out how they would like to contribute and discover what they aren’t wiling to do.

The club leader should thank their parent volunteers regularly, even for small tasks. Larger tasks could include joining a committee, coordinating field trips, creating a club newsletter for other families, orienting new families, and connecting the club to potential community partners and resources.

Hold a special meeting for parents and caregivers hosted by the youth. Whenever parents and caregivers are involved, the youth should still be leading the activities.

Host a family orientation at the beginning of the year and explain the expectations for the 4-H youth and their family. Having the parents sign a “contract” to acknowledge their agreement to support the club is one way to confirm that they understand the expectations and responsibilities of the club.

Always keep youth the focus, but take time to recognize the contributions of their families. At the end of the year, when the club leader gives out awards, a little time can be devoted to acknowledging families and their contributions to the club through certificates or other tokens of appreciation.

Have the 4-H club members create an event, such as a dinner, in which they lead activities or serve a meal for their families.

When there are upcoming county or regional events, club leaders can ask county or regional 4-H staff what 4-H families can do to help. Club leaders can bring these opportunities back to their 4-H families and encourage parents, guardians, and other family members to sign up for specific volunteer requests. This also serves to encourage youth participation in county or regional events.

Specific instructions on how to help 4-H youth with record books is one example of a way club volunteers can make sure families know what their youth are doing in the club and to facilitate family involvement in the youth’s experience.

A buddy system can help new families thrive in a 4-H club. Pair a new 4-H member with an experienced member and encourage their families to work together for information and support.

Challenges in Communicating with Parents and Caregivers

Some parents are especially difficult to engage. Club leaders who take the time to get to know their 4-Hers’ families may recognize characteristics that could impede positive engagement.

The following personality types are some that leaders may recognize in club parents. When a leader identifies one of these personality types, it can be helpful in identifying successful strategies to effectively engage the family member in the 4-H experience.

This parent or caregiver meets their emotional needs by reliving childhood through their own child. Generally, this kind of person is seeking affiliation. The club leader can involve them by engaging them to work with other children, which takes their focus off just their own child.

Authoritarian parents and caregivers normally engage in negative verbal and emotional behaviors as opposed to being physically abusive or neglectful. In general, these parents or caregivers seek achievement and a need to succeed, sometimes bullying their child to make it happen. These adults are best engaged behind the scenes, such as in food booths or barn management where they can hear others compliment their child. This provides them with evidence of their child’s success.

“Overextended with little time to spare for their own children” describes these parents and caregivers. They are often coming from or going to one activity after another. Tasks for this type of parent or caregiver should be short-term and with limited commitment, such as taking a short shift at an event. Give them plenty of advanced notice.

For this parent or caregiver, the goal is winning. They are eager for competition, looking for achievement, and eager to succeed. 4-H is about more than winning, and these parents and caregivers are best engaged in areas that don’t involve competition, such as supporting activities where cooperation, education, and life-skill development are the goals. This means they may be excellent volunteers at educational camps and learning opportunities.

Adapted from University of Florida’s Strategies to Engage 4-H Parents (PDF) by Julia S. Kelly and New Jersey 4-H’s Leader Training Series PDF document Parent Involvement in 4-H (PDF).