Online Discussion with Karen Stephens
Program Communication Strategies: Reaching Out to Families and the Community
February 18-23, 2008

Topic description: Early childhood programs need to continuously attract new clientele while at the same time maintaining current clienteles’ satisfaction and on-going community support. A program’s public image and “word of mouth” reputation for service quality has an enormous impact on a program’s success at both recruitment and retention. The foundation of that success lies in a program staff’s ability to competently communicate program services in a manner that is accurate, organized, consistent, respectful, relevant and engaging. This online discussion will address a variety of program communication strategies for family outreach and community support, including: identifying targets for communication; developing a public relations philosophy and plan; delegating communication tasks; fundamentals of good communication, including speaking to a diverse audience; training and scheduling staff to maximize communication; utilizing communication technology in creative, efficient ways; and evaluating the success of communication components.

About the moderator: In the early childhood field since 1975, Karen is now Director of Illinois State University Child Care Center as well as child development instructor for the ISU’s Family and Consumer Sciences Department. Her parent advice columns on a wide variety of topics, titled Parenting Exchange Library, are available online at www.childcareexchange.com. Ms. Stephens has also published books and is a regular contributor to Exchange magazine.

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