Implementing the Program in Your Community:

Identify a Local Partner Agency

Those interested in bringing The Parent-Child Home Program to their community should begin by identifying a local partner agency to sponsor the Program. These local partner organizations typically include: school districts, individual schools, charter schools, social service agencies, community-based organizations, libraries, community health centers, and universities

Identify and Obtain Funding

The local partner organization, in consultation with The Parent-Child Home Program’s National Center, identifies/obtains the funding to operate the Program in the community. Parent-Child Home Program sites access funding from federal, state, and local public agencies, as well as from foundations, corporations, United Ways, local service organizations, and local businesses. The Parent-Child Home Program’s National Center works with local partner agencies to develop funding sources and proposals.

Replication Agreement

All partner organizations sponsoring local Program sites enter into a Replication Agreement with The Parent-Child Home Program’s National Center. The agreement specifies that the Program will be replicated according to the National Center’s protocols and outlines the training and technical assistance to be provided by the National Center:

• Site Coordinator Training
• Management Information System Training and Access
• Two-Year Technical Assistance Period
• Copyrighted Training, Program Administration, and Program Implementation Materials
• Certification Process

Planning the Program Year

Local site start-up generally coincides with the start of the school year; however, a site can start serving families at any time (provided they have been trained) and can start with simultaneous or rolling registration. All families must receive a minimum of 23 weeks of visits in each program year. Longer program-year schedules are acceptable. Some sites operate year-round. Many local partner organizations also offer summer supplemental group programming (i.e. in parks or libraries) , providing families with recreational and social experiences they might not otherwise be able to access.

Coordinator Job Description

Site Coordinators, most often certified early childhood teachers or social workers, are the employees of the local partner agency. The Parent-Child Home Program Site Coordinator oversees all aspects of the local Program, including hiring/training/supervising Home Visitors; recruiting/selecting families; maintaining assessments/evaluations, records, and data entry in the Management Information System; selecting appropriate curricular materials for the populations being served; and serving as the social service and community resource referral point person for all families in the Program.

Coordinator Training

All Site Coordinators are trained by The Parent-Child Home Program's National Center, in the theoretical basis of the Program and become familiar with research and methodology on the Program, as well as related early childhood research. Site Coordinators then train Home Visitors in the core values, best practices, and fundamentals of the Program and emphasize the ethics of delivering home-based services. This train-the-trainer approach is cost-effective and maintains fidelity to the model.

Click here to learn more.

Materials for Home Visits

The Site Coordinator selects/orders the books and educational toys/materials that are the curricular materials for the home visits. Within the criteria there are choices to best suit the language and cultural needs of the local community. This flexibility allows each site to choose appropriate materials for the population it will be serving.

Family Information and Data

To assist local partner organizations in evaluating both their effectiveness with families and the long-term impact of the Program, each local Parent-Child Home Program site is required to enter their site data in the Program’s Management Information System (MIS). The system is designed to store and report information entered by each replication site on the families they serve. It generates aggregate site reports and state and national reports while maintaining families' confidentiality.

Creating a Community Network

The local site staff is responsible for working with local community agencies to create a support and referral network to facilitate referrals of participating families when appropriate. The Site Coordinator will also work with these agencies to recruit eligible families to The Parent-Child Home Program. These agencies include: health clinics; food pantries; WIC programs; schools/school districts; early intervention services; Head Start programs; and social service and mental health agencies.

Home Visitors

Program guidelines do not impose a minimum education requirement for Home Visitors; they focus on the qualities needed to be a successful Home Visitor. Sponsoring organizations may set such guidelines, pursuant to their own funding or structure. Ideally, Home Visitors should: speak the native languages of the families being served; be from the community; enjoy playing and reading with young children; relate to parents/caregivers as equal partners; exhibit warmth and patience; and be nonjudgmental and flexible in adapting to the home setting.

Families

The Parent-Child Home Program is designed to reach families whose children are at risk of educational disadvantage because the family:

• Is low-income; and
• Has had limited access to educational opportunities; and/or
• Faces literacy, cultural and/or language barriers that make connecting with the educational system a challenge; and/or
• Is a teen parent, single parent, or grandparent raising a grandchild; and/or
• Has multiple young children; and/or
• Has older children who have qualified for remedial services in school.