Transcript Opportunities and Barriers for Engaging Baby Boomers in

Boomers and Babies:
Engaging Boomer-age Volunteers
in Oregon’s System of
Early Care and Education
Prepared for The Oregon Community
Foundation
by Oregon State University
College of Health and Human Sciences
July 2008
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Team Effort
4 OSU doctoral students
 Molly Trauten
 Doris Cancel-Tirado
 Brandi Hall
 Rica Amity
5 OSU campus faculty
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Denise Rennekamp
Kate Mactavish
Clara Pratt
Sally Bowman
Bobbie Weber
4 OSU county Extension faculty
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Sharon Johnson – Jackson &
Josephine Counties
Fern Wilcox- Wasco County
Jeanne Brandt – Washington
County
Nina Roll – Lincoln County
ESPP II Parenting Ed. Programs
 Kim Deck, Douglas Co.
 Kathy Barber, Coos Co.
Other support from OSU & Partners
 Michaella Sektnan - IRB
 Rocci Taylor – Budget
 Diane Redd –OCF
 Dawn Norris- Child Care Division
93 Participants
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Boomer Potential in 5 areas
Parenting: Interventions to help parents develop skills
Early literacy: Improve the literacy of young children
EC workforce:
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Fill gaps in the workforce
Mentor and improve the workforce
Advocacy: Build the capacity of advocacy in 3 areas
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High quality early care and education
Access to health care in early childhood
Other critical family supports
Early childhood program infrastructure:
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Help EC organizations effectively manage business planning, staffing, or
tax completion
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Research Questions
1.
What would make work in these areas of
interest attractive or unattractive?
2.
What barriers exist to participation?
How might these barriers be addressed?
3.
What structures and incentives would make
this work most attractive and meaningful?
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Focus Group Method
A discussion to collect knowledgeable participants’
perceptions in a “non-threatening environment.”
9 focus groups:
• 4 Boomer volunteers
• 5 EC Program Staff
• Total of 54 participants
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Location of 9 Focus Groups
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Key informant interviews
Gather qualitative information from
a “key informant” who can provide detailed
information based on his or her unique knowledge
of a particular issue.
39 interviews:
•19 Boomer volunteers
•9 EC program directors
•11 volunteer placement program directors
RSVP, Experience Corps, Foster
Grandparents, community volunteer
centers
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Boomer Volunteer Experiences
Motivations
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Life histories (families; kids/school)
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Sense of obligation and purpose
“We wanted to change the world”
“Be part of the solution”
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Boomer Volunteer Experiences
Limitations/Barriers
 Personal responsibilities, energy
“When my Dad needs me, I have to go.”
 Getting in – difficult to find a pathway to
volunteering especially for
“No one ever called me back!”
“ …we have enough volunteers – we’re full.”
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Boomers want…
“Meaning, membership and mastery”
Meaning
“Do meaningful work”
“Make a real difference”
“Hire a volunteer to do real job
– like a business hires a
worker”
Mastery
“I want to be good at what I
do…”
“Clear expectations”
“Training and supervision”
Membership
“Be an integral part of
endeavor…”
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Incentives/structures
1.
Flexibility in time
2.
Opportunities for social interaction
with staff and volunteers/ feel part of a team
3.
Organizational support:
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Clarity in job, expectations, training, positive
guidance “Harriett, let’s try it this way…”
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Want agency to assign meaningful work,
responsibility
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Procedures to keep the volunteer safe/address
liability issues
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Mileage reimbursement/expenses
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Incentives/structures
Stipends and job sharing not highly
ranked – meaning flexibility,
organization, mileage were most
important
“Staff can’t have so much on their
plates that they don’t have time for
the volunteers.”
“…someone to help me do a good job.”
“Be organized, be READY…”
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Boomers see some unique
barriers in EC work
High levels of need in
kids and families
“Even little kids come
with baggage.”
“Too draining… not fun,
not rewarding…
endless.”
“These young families
aren’t like ours…”
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Other EC barriers
 Enough energy,
patience?
 Child illnesses
 Language, cultural
issues
 Technology gap
 Liability concerns
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Boomer Advice
“BE organized!!”
 Create flexible roles, variable levels of
commitment
 Get into community and clarify your needs
 Match volunteer skills with your needs
 Maintain communication with volunteers;
include them in your team
 Show your appreciation “Say thanks!”
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“Decide what the volunteer can do to really assist
the program, take the time to explain why this
work is important and why it must be done on
time and within certain parameters, then
volunteers will feel like their work matters.”
“Even if it is only pouring coffee…”
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EC Views of Boomer Volunteers
Too little energy or personal flexibility for
work in child care settings
 Boomers only want short episodic jobs
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“They want to come in, utilize their skills, stand
back, say ‘Wow! That’s really cool!’ and then
go to Mexico for
two weeks.”
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EC volunteer recruitment and
retention strategies
“We wait for them to come to us.”
“We use our personal and organizational networks.”
“Offer one time task that can be done in teams of
people they know, make it a success and recognize
their effort…they will come back…”
“RSVP doesn’t know we exist.”
RSVP says “we don’t have to recruit placement sites
and Boomers don’t ask for EC jobs”
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EC program expectations
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“Compassion, empathy, openminded, tolerance,
Dependability especially in
patience.”
work with vulnerable kids,
families
“Trainability” and
responsiveness to direction
from a younger supervisor
Professional behavior;
confidentiality
Pass background check; no “People who have a heart for
children and families.”
drugs, alcohol.
‘Buy-in’ to philosophy
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Challenges of Boomers in EC
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Work with young children is
challenging.
“Once kids are past being cute and
cuddly, they aren’t as appealing”
“Kids say things (‘My uncle was
arrested.’) that shock volunteers”
Will volunteers stay when it gets
tough?
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Challenges of Boomers in EC
Generational differences/conflicts with today’s families
“Are they able to work with different values?”
Training and Supervision
“(They have) a lifetime of (inappropriate) responses… like you are a bad boy!”
“(Will they) learn and understand professional practices and
respect boundaries”
Confidentiality
“How much does volunteer need to know to work with a
child vs. families right to privacy?”
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Other EC concerns
Preparing staff & children for volunteers
“Staff have to see how volunteers are a help,
not just another responsibility.”
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Letting volunteers go
Liability
Costs of volunteers
“Volunteer management is a whole other job…”
“Anything that costs $ is out of the question.”
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Implications & Recommendations
Reframe EC Volunteering
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Broaden limited views of volunteers roles
 Address concerns of EC programs
 Better engage volunteer placement programs
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Implications & Recommendations
Respect Boomers’ diverse
interests, needs
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Offer time flexibility– balance with job
structure and length of commitment
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Offer a menu of viable jobs that meet
diverse EC program needs- short to
longer term
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Build EC Organizational Capacity
Review program models ReServe and Experience Corps
 Work with partner programs to define volunteer
positions and required skills
 Recruit, screen & match volunteer to the job
 Provide skill-focused training and on-site supervision
 Facilitate communication
 Manage paperwork and bureaucracy
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Assess success of placement
Capacity is simply lacking in EC, especially in
smaller, more rural programs
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Final Big messages
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Tap unrealized potential by reframing current
views of all parties
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EC and Boomers some similar perceptions and
concerns
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Meet needs of both Boomer and EC
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Build EC organizational capacity
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Remember Boomers want:
“Meaning, membership, mastery”
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