Parents as Teachers (National Model)
Parents as Teachers is a national home visiting program recognized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Home Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness project as a home visiting model that meets the criteria as an “Evidence-based Early Childhood Home Visiting Service Delivery Model.” The national Parents as Teachers model program builds strong communities, thriving families, and children who are healthy, safe and ready to learn by matching parents and caregivers with trained professionals, known as Parent Educators. Parent Educators make regular personal home visits during a child’s earliest years in life, from prenatal through kindergarten. The national Parents as Teachers model program provides a broad context of parenting education and family support that builds protective factors, especially for those families in vulnerable situations. At its core, the national Parents as Teachers model program is relationship-based and parenting-focused. Curriculum focuses on parent-child interaction, development-centered parenting, and family well-being; on strengths, capabilities and skills; and on building protective factors within the family. Services are provided primarily in the home and through group connection activities. The national Parent as Teachers model programming assists primary caregivers to identify strengths and set goals for themselves and their family.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Childhood, supports contracted national Parents as Teachers model programming in Dunklin County and St. Louis City. Services are offered voluntarily and at no charge to eligible families.
- Geographic Availability/Contact
- Eligibility/Additional Information
-
- Pregnant women and primary caregivers with children birth to kindergarten entry who meet at least two program characteristics and are from families with low income. Children from homeless families and families receiving public assistance such as TANF or SSI are also eligible. Foster children are eligible regardless of their foster family’s income.
- Families receive at least 24 personal home visits per year. Each visit is approximately 60-minutes.
- Maximum of 18 families per home visitor (Parent Educator)
- National Model Information