Family engagement is widely considered a key component of high quality early care and education (ECE).  While most efforts to improve the quality of family engagement focus on teacher training, strong evidence from health care research suggests that the organizational context is a critical determinant of the quality of client-professional relationships.  The importance of the organizational context for effective programs and quality improvement in child care has been largely neglected in both research and policy.  This study examined the influence of the organizational context on the quality of family partnerships in four ECE programs involved in the Strengthening Families initiative in one state, and tested the theory of a “relational bureaucratic” organizational system as a determinant of high quality family partnerships in formal child care settings.   Results showed that 1) a “relational bureaucratic” organizational context was associated with high quality family partnership practices and 2) a “conventional bureaucratic” context was associated with low quality family partnership practices. The  “relational bureaucratic” organizations shared several key characteristics, including administrators who model and support caring and responsive staff relationships within the organization, and the use of specific structures and processes to promote a caring and responsive professionalism.  Results point to the importance of a relationship-centered organizational system as a key ingredient for effective partnerships with families, with implications for policy and practice.