As a Parents as Teachers™ Affiliate, the Healthy Start Coalition implements evidenced-based developmental parenting services with Healthy Start participants in each county. The Parents as Teachers™ program, targeted to teens and first time moms is a home visiting model with four goals:
- Increase parent knowledge of early childhood developments and improve parenting practices.
- Provide early detection of developmental delays and health issues.
- Prevent child abuse and neglect.
- Increase children’s’ school readiness and school success.
The Coalition implements Parents as Teachers™ with infants in response to the incredible gap in identifying developmental delays for children in these communities. Although high quality school readiness services are available in the community, not all children are included, due to parents’ high unemployment rates and lack of transportation required to attend early learning centers. Healthy Start seeks to address that gap, for those infants that are not in early learning centers, to provide intensive home visiting services designed to improve parent knowledge about child development, and to provide early detection of delays.
Core Values
The early years of a child’s life are critical for optimal development and provide the foundation for success in school and in life.
Parents are their children’s first and most influential teachers.
Established and emerging research is the foundation of our curricula, training, materials and services.
All young children and their families deserve the same opportunities to succeed, regardless of any demographic, geographic, or economic considerations.
An understanding and appreciation of the history and traditions of diverse cultures is essential in serving families.
How do we do it?
Personal Visits – we meet with families once or twice a month to partner, facilitate, and reflect when sharing research-based information.
Group Connections – a group event is held monthly with a guest speaker or lead topic, driven by families.
Screening – we screen for developmental delays using the ASQ questionnaire at every milestone age.
Resource Networks – we refer families to resources in the community to build resiliency and parental capacity.
