Every November, Family Engagement Month is an opportunity to highlight the vital role families play in children’s learning, development, and well-being. For Community Child Care Solutions (CCCS), a Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) agency serving New Jersey, family engagement isn’t just a themed month, it’s a daily commitment.
Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) recently spoke with Takiya VanDunk and Karen Merino, two CCCS staff members who bring deep compassion, curiosity, and energy to their work. Their approach is simple but powerful: meet families where they are, listen to what they need, and create pathways to resources that help children thrive.
When asked how CCCS defines family engagement, Takiya shared a powerful description of what this work looks like in practice:
“Family engagement is best described as a collaborative and strengths-based approach where staff actively go out into the community and engage families through community activities, meetings, and events, such as Books, Balls & Blocks or Parent Cafés, not just within the organization, but where families live and get together.”
Programs like Books, Balls & Blocks, an interactive parent event, provides information about child development, screenings, and community resources, while offering learning opportunities for children and meeting the needs of the families in the community at the same time.
Events, tabling opportunities, and partnerships with other community organizations help CCCS expand its reach. Their goal is to build trust so families feel comfortable seeking help, whether that means finding child care, accessing food assistance, or connecting to developmental supports.
As Takiya put it simply:
“We’re trying to get the parents help to get child care. If the parents don't have the child care, they can't work.”
A major part of CCCS’s outreach involves resource and referral services. Takiya emphasized how essential this is, not just to help solve immediate challenges, but to strengthen long-term family stability and community resilience.
“Explaining the importance of resource and referral as part of the job of the organization in family engagement is vital because it directly supports the well-being of families and empowers them to access essential services they might not otherwise know about or utilize. Resource and referral work helps bridge the gap between families and critical community resources, strengthening both family and community resilience.”
For CCCS, referrals aren’t just phone numbers or pamphlets, they are lifelines. They’re a way to empower families with knowledge, options, and connections.
One of CCCS’s most promising initiatives is the Parent Café, a community-building model that brings parents together to talk openly and support one another.
The program is still growing, but Takiya believes strongly in its potential:
“We’re hoping that the Parent Cafe is really going to be good for us… It’s an environment where parents can come together, network, talk about things that they’re not talking about with other people.”
To make participation easier, CCCS provides a separate child care space during the events so parents can fully engage. Activities, conversations, and peer connections help parents feel supported and less alone.
“We’re just trying to make it bigger and better,” Takiya said.
Sustaining programs like the Parent Café takes time and funding. Karen noted that continued investment is essential for building meaningful opportunities for families to connect and grow together.
CCCS uses a mix of strategies to reach families consistently: email blasts, printed pamphlets, tabling events, giveaways, and resource drives. Through each method, their goal is the same: ensure families know where to go, whom to ask, and how to access help.
“Just get the information out as many different ways as you can… Even through our giveaways, we make sure our logo is on everything,” Takiya said.
This month, CCCS held a coat drive as part of their ongoing outreach. Incentives help increase turnout, and the team is exploring more fundraisers and partnerships to support future events.
When asked what she would tell other CCR&Rs hoping to strengthen family engagement, Takiya didn’t hesitate to say, “Just get out into the community… partner as far as we can with community events going on. We set up our table, get out our information, answer questions… Collaboration is everything.”
Family engagement is more than a single event; it’s a system of relationships, resources, and trust. Community Child Care Solutions is building that system every day, one conversation, screening, referral, Parent Café, and community connection at a time.
Their work reflects what CCR&Rs do best: meet families where they are, guide them toward the resources they need, and ensure every child has the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive.
Learn more about CCCS and their ASQ Screenings to track children’s milestones at the following links: