Enhancing Parenting Skills

What Can Policymakers Do?

• Provide for parent education services particularly targeting vulnerable parents through home visiting programs that are an effective vehicle for parent education and have demonstrated a significant impact on long-term child outcomes. Missouri’s Governor recently expanded Parents as Teachers , an evidence-based home-visiting program started in Missouri in 1970 and replicated in over 3,000 sites. Arkansas has led the country in investing in the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY). Several states including Colorado and Minnesota are working to make the highly effective Nurse Home Visiting program available to every low income new mother.

What the Research Says.  Family support programs and policies are designed to support and strengthen parenting and include such diverse efforts as home visiting, parent education, family literacy, income and workforce support, family preservation services, and extended paid family leave.

• Parents’ knowledge and skills to support children’s healthy development .  While more research is needed, evaluations of parenting education programs show that they can have short-term positive effects for parents. Families in the greatest need may derive the greatest benefit, and parenting education that is embedded in comprehensive family support programs may be more effective than stand-alone programs. [i] For young children in vulnerable families experiencing programs that simultaneously provide direct support for parents and high-quality, center-based care and education for the children can have positive impacts on both. [ii]

• Young children (0-8) who live in safe, stable, and supportive families.   Work-based income supplements for working parents have been demonstrated to boost the achievement of some young children. Research confirms these benefits in later preschool years when parents are employed and receiving support benefits, supplements and services. [iii]

• Families and children in the child welfare system. Close to 30 percent of all children in foster care are below age 5, and nearly 80 percent of these children are at risk for medical and developmental problems, 40 percent suffer from physical health problems, and more than half display developmental delays. [iv] Early intervention and screening, health and mental health treatment, and family support services to foster parents and biological parents can promote early identification of children’s developmental challenges and encourage secure, healthy, stimulating home environments. [v]

Funding Sources. These are often funded through separate sources, including:

• Federal funding through the new Health Care Reform bill, Title V of the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant, Medicaid, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grants, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), and Title I. 

• State funding. At the state level, they may be funded as separate state home visiting or family support program line items, or as part of larger community-based or school programs.  Programs may be administered through the state Departments of Education, Human Services, or Health, or even through the court system.

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