Building Capacity to Reach Minnesota’s Underserved Families

1. Building Capacity to Reach Minnesota’s Underserved Families Jennifer Barshack Manager & State Leader, Minnesota

2. My goals for today • Get the word out! Great working partnerships & our mission as a resource collaboratorin Minnesota • Share information on what Parents as Teachers can bring to your early care and education community • Answer your questions

3. What is Parents as Teachers? • A national nonprofit leader in early childhood education, parenting education and evidence-informed curriculum and practice. • An approved home visiting model meeting the evidence-based criteria of the Maternal, Infant, Early Childhood Home Visiting program (MIECHV) and considered a promising approach for the Tribal Home Visiting Grantees.

4. What we do • We develop curricula. • We train professionals. • We advocate for children and families. • We set high standards.

5. Mission To provide the information, support and encouragement parents need to help their children develop optimally during the crucial early years of life.

6. Vision All children will learn, grow and develop to realize their full potential.

7. Serving 212,000 children and their families in all 50 states, 11 Tribal governments and 7 countries outside the U.S.

8. Goals • increase parent knowledge of early childhood development 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

9. Measurable Outcomes • Improved prenatal health and birth outcomes • Improved child health and development • Improved parent-infant attachment/relationship • Fewer childhood injuries • Reduced incidents of child maltreatment • Improved early literacy/school readiness • Improved early detection of child health and developmental delays • Improved parent involvement

10. Research shows Participation in Parents as Teachers, together with preschool, not only positively impacts children’s school readiness and school achievement scores, but also narrows the achievement gap between children in poverty and non-poverty households.

11. Mission for the Minnesota Regional OfficeTo serve as a resource collaborator with Minnesota organizations, building additional capacity to provide parent education to underserved families with children ages prenatal to five years.Developed by our Community Advisory Council and Staff as a part of our Strategic Plan November 2008

12. Parents as Teachers in Minnesota • Merged with MELD in 2005 • Currently, 21 PAT partners statewide - including Early Head Start, Head Start, Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE), Twin Cities Healthy Start, Goodwill/Easter Seals FATHER Projectand others delivering parent education. • All are using PAT’s evidence-informed curriculum for home visiting and/or parent groups

13. Parents as Teachers in Minnesota Serving very vulnerable families with children prenatal to kindergarten entry. Together we will serve an estimated 3,500 vulnerable families with 4,000 children in 2012. In 12 counties: Anoka, Becker, Cook, Dakota, Freeborn, Hennepin, Lake, Olmsted, Ramsey, St. Louis, Washington, Wilkin, and on the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa reservation.

14. Why Add the PAT Model? • Include a home visiting component with demonstrated results • Draw from an evidence-informed curriculum • Deliver hearing, vision, health and developmental screenings which can result in early identification of delays • Implemented by school districts/Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE), Early Head Start, Head Start, Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), tribal governments and non-profit entities.

15. Target Population • Pregnant adolescents/women and families of children prenatal through kindergarten-entry. • Additional eligibility criteria varies according to requirements by sponsoring organization. • Age range of children: Pregnancy through kindergarten-entry, age 5 or 6

16. Service Intensity/Duration Four Components: • Personal Visits • Group Connections • Screenings in health, vision, hearing and child development • Resource Network Services are ongoing from pregnancy through kindergarten-entry; families can enroll at any time during this period.

17. Quality Standards of the PAT Model • Visits are provided by certified parent educators that range from paraprofessionals to professionals depending upon plan developed by the sponsoring organization. • Evidence-informed curriculum. • Initial training and ongoing professional development is required for home visitors and supervisors. • Requirements for model fidelity and quality assurance – option for approved user/more flexibility.

18. Strengths-based Approach • Strengthening Families approach to build five protective factors in families. • Adaptable to diverse and high needs populations.

19. Training Pathways

20. n Foundational Training • Three-day training on Foundational Curriculum • Emphasis on: • Parent-Child Interaction – enhancing child development and supporting the development of positive parenting behaviors • Development-Centered Parenting – understanding parents’ perspectives and facilitating parenting decisions around developmental topics • Family Well-Being – recognizing the impact of the family system on child development and partnering with parents to strengthen protective factors.

21. n Affiliation • The pathway to high quality replication and strong, significant outcomes for children. • Essential Requirements • Affiliate Plan required • Two-day Model Implementation Training • Incorporates the Parents as Teachers Quality Assurance Guidelines and offers implementation strategies • Learn how to successfully replicate the Parents as Teachers model and explore strategies and program components not covered in Foundational Training.

22. Knowledge Studio • Issues in Working with Teen Parents • Supporting Families of Children with Special Needs • Building Relationships within Family Systems • Supporting Care Providers through Personal Visits • Neurotoxins: Their Effects on Development, Learning & Behavior • Parents and Children at Play • Ages and Stages (ASQ) and Ages and Stages: Social Emotional (ASQ:SE) training • Life Skills Progression Training • Young Dads, Young Moms: A Curriculum for Peer Facilitated Group Meetings And more . . .

23. Supporting Fatherhood Fathers are critical to promoting school readiness for children with high needs.

24. Supporting Fatherhood Research shows that young children with involved fathers demonstrate: • enhanced social skills - greater empathy and self-esteem, more self-control, and less impulsive behavior; • important problem solving abilities - increased curiosity, greater tolerance for stress and frustration, and greater willingness to try new things

25. Supporting Fatherhood • increased cognitive capabilities - higher verbal skills, higher scores on assessments (and a son’s IQ is related to his father’s nurturing). As children grow, with involved fathers they have less than average contact with criminal justice system, less substance abuse, and fewer accidental and premature deaths. PAT offers curricula and a free online Fatherhood Toolkit on our website www.ParentsasTeachers.org to support programs that are engaging fathers.

27. Questions? Contact Jennifer Barshack Jennifer.Barshack@ParentsAsTeachers.org phone: 866.728.4968 ext. 205