More on Parent-Child

Parent-Child is a unique research-based and research validated home visiting model focused on preparing two- and three-year-old children to enter school ready to succeed by developing strong language, cognitive, and literacy skills through quality parent-child verbal interaction. The Program’s non-directive approach empowers parents. They experience the joy and value of reading, talking and playing with their children and discover their role as their children’s first and most important teachers.

Program Details

• Families served are challenged by poverty, limited education, literacy and language barriers.
• Families receive two ½ hour visits a week over a two-year period.
• Trained Home Visitors model verbal interaction and learning through play and reading for the parent and child together.
• The Program takes place in homes at times that fit families’ schedules.
• The carefully chosen books and toys are gifts to the family. Over the two-year program, families receive a library of high-quality books and a collection of educational toys.
• Approximately 30% of Home Visitors are former Parent-Child Home Program parent-participants.

Results
Years of rigorous research demonstrate the strength of the Program model:

• 85% of the families who enroll complete the two-year program.
  
• A 2003 New York University study concluded that the Parent-Child Home Program successfully bridges the achievement gap, preparing children to enter school as ready to learn as their more advantaged peers.
  
• In a 2002 South Carolina study, 93% of free-lunch-eligible Program graduates passed the state’s Cognitive Skills Assessment Battery, compared to only 74% of free-lunch-eligible students statewide.
  
• A study in Massachusetts showed that 84% of program participants go on to graduate from high school, a 30% higher rate than the control group of similarly situated students.
  
• Program parents’ verbal interaction with their children is 50% higher than similarly-situated non-program families. This increase is correlated with the children’s school success.
  
• Program graduates, who come from the most educationally disadvantaged homes, score equal to or above the national average on standardized reading and math tests in elementary school.

Implementation

• Parent-Child Home Program sites are sponsored by and partner with local organizations in communities around the country. Local partners include school districts, community health centers, social service agencies, and community-based organizations.
  
• The Program model can be incorporated into Even Start and Early Head Start programming.
  
• The Program can be offered as part of continuum of services to families, bridging the gap between infant programming and center-based pre-school.
  
• The Parent-Child Home Program's National Center provides Coordinator training, on-going technical assistance and quality assurance to all local sites.
  
• Coordinators are trained to train and supervise their Home Visitors who receive 16 hours of training prior to conducting home visits and two hours of on-going staff development every week.
  
• Costs average $2,000 per family per year, including books, toys, home visits and administrative costs. Sites can lower these costs by using existing program staff.
  Visits are funded by a combination of federal, state, school district, foundation and corporate dollars.
  
• Sites have been established in California, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Washington.

Also feel free to contact DL21C Steering Committee Member Alyssa Zeller to learn how you can get involved!

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To join the Education Issues Committee, please contact DL21C at contact-dl21c@dl21c.org.