Parents who in many instances have never before had opportunities to be part of a decision-making team, gain leadership skills they can use for the rest of their lives.

The ESC-20 Board of Directors is the governing body of the ESC-20 Head Start Program and is responsible for legal and fiscal administration of the program. Members are invited to attend monthly Policy Council meetings.

At least 51% of the Policy Council membership must be comprised of current Head Start parents.

Specific roles and responsibilities of parent decision-making groups are defined in respective By-Law documents.

The Policy Council approves and endorses any application submitted to the federal government to formally request funding.

Parents have opportunities to participate in program governance using Parliamentary Procedure by attending Parent Committee meetings or participating on the Policy Council.

A President, Vice-President, and Secretary are elected at each site to conduct Parent Committee meetings.

Each site Parent Committee elects Community and Parent Representatives as well as an Alternate to serve on Policy Council.

A Chairperson, Co-Chairperson, and Secretary are elected by the Policy Council Committee membership to conduct monthly meetings.

Parents participate with the management team and other community membersto conduct the annual self-assessment activity, which is a critical process for the program to monitor effectiveness and compliance.