Policy & Practice | Summer 2023

the human in human services By Yi-Hui (Bessie) Chen

The Power of Social Capital S ocial capital is a network of con nections and relationships. Each link in this network has resources and In my town, the CFCE program

among families allowed the CFCE com

The Human in Human Services is a recurring article featuring authors with lived experience as clients of the human services system. In this issue, we highlight Yi-Hui (Bessie) Chen ’s experiences and insights. Bessie works with parent leaders and organizations from cities and towns to boost Massachusetts’ family social and civic engagement. Previously the Founder and Executive Director of Global Cooking Inc., she focused on international cooking classes, facilitating intercultural dialogue, and promoting healthy eating and wellness. Bessie has a Master of Science degree in Leadership from Northeastern University, a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Chung Yuan Christian University, and a Certificate of Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University.

information offered by individuals and groups connected with each other. These connections allow its members to access benefits from this social network. Research shows that these social relationships provide upward economic mobility in certain circumstances. For example, children who grow up in a community con nected across economic and social statuses are more likely to rise out of poverty. These children acquire valuable information about schools, internships, and job opportunities through cross-class relationships. 1 Promoting cross-class interaction is challenging because people are unlikely to connect organically with those who have different life experi ences. For example, families with low incomes cannot afford private children’s services, or parents with higher incomes avoid sending their children to the programs where the families with lower incomes go. In Massachusetts, the Coordinated Family and Community Engagement (CFCE) programs, funded through the Department of Early Education and Care, provide child development services and resources to families with young children, regardless of economic status. 2 There are more than 90 CFCE programs across the state that serve 350 cities and towns in Massachusetts. With CFCE programs being designed for any family with young children, families gain oppor tunities to interact with other families from different backgrounds through playgroup activities and parent educa tion workshops.

munity to diversify, which allowed families to feel more welcomed and increased overall enrollment. The staff also become motivated to learn new tools to communicate with any parents who did not speak English. I brought this family engagement experience to Families First, a non profit organization in Massachusetts that provides parent leadership training. I mentored parent leaders from CFCE and Head Start programs across the state. My focus was to remove barriers, like language, for parent leaders so they could learn, connect, and collaborate with others from different backgrounds on a com munity project that benefits everyone. In my parent leadership learning cohorts, most parent leaders spoke either Spanish or English. Instead of separating them into different cohorts, we hired an interpreter. The cohort was primarily conducted in English, but all parent leaders used the interpretation service to engage with each other as equals. Providing an interpreter was not just a service for Spanish-speaking parents to understand the training, but also a

used to host its activities in schools. Unfortunately, because school build ings were not open to the public, many parents did not know about the program, especially new residents and minority families who did not have as many connections with local people. In addition, if parents did not feel that they belonged to the program, they stopped participating in activities. To improve diversity and equity, I launched a family engagement project with the CFCE staff and one other parent. We invited parents to share about their families at the local library. The purpose was to create a parent-led space that brought topics as diverse as the community itself. Families shared celebrations, such as Diwali, Saint Patrick’s Day, and Black History Month. Some parents talked about their occupations; a state trooper father described how he trained a K9, and another father showcased his fire fighter equipment. Life experiences were included as well. One parent shared how her family coped with the grief of infant loss. Once people had shared who they were and their life experiences, they found connections with others they may not have made otherwise. Promoting interactions

See Social Capital on page 43

5

Summer 2023 Policy & Practice