Federal Grant Enables Parents as Teachers to Expand in Illinois

St. Louis, MO, August 11, 2011 --(PR.com)-- The Illinois Department of Human Services will receive over $3.1 million in Federal Fiscal Year 2010 grants allocated for the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV). About $1.5 million of the grant will be used to expand evidence based home visiting services, including Parents as Teachers, in the following six areas:

· Three communities on the South side of Chicago (Englewood, West Englewood and Greater Grand Crossing)
· Cicero Township
· The City of Elgin
· The City of Rockford
· Macon County
· Vermilion County

The federal MIECHV program is designed to strengthen and increase program goals, coordinate services and improve outcomes for at-risk communities through early childhood home visiting programs. Parents as Teachers, the nation’s largest network of home visiting programs, has been improving outcomes for families nationwide for more than 25 years. The Parents as Teachers evidence-based home visiting model is one of just eight models approved for use under federal guidelines for MIECHV.

“The funding will be used to reach out to more vulnerable families,” said Andrea Palmer, Acting Chief of the Illinois Bureau of Child and Adolescent Health. “A valuable role Parents as Teachers plays is being able to serve families with children over 2 or 3 months of age that might not be eligible for other home visiting programs. Parents as Teachers will be able to help us meet the needs of those families.”

Last year in Illinois, more than 16,000 children and their families received Parents as Teachers services. Of those, many faced a variety of family risk factors such as low income, teen pregnancy, and involvement with mental health and social services, issues Parents as Teachers educators are uniquely trained to address. If left unresolved, these issues can quickly escalate and negatively impact young children. Parent educators also provide well-researched information to help all families make good parenting decisions. They screen children for developmental issues and connect families to each other and additional community resources.

“Parents as Teachers has a very strong presence in Illinois,” Palmer said. “We’re looking forward to expanding that relationship with this grant.”

About Parents as Teachers

Headquartered in St. Louis, Mo., Parents as Teachers champions the critical role of parental involvement and early intervention in a child’s development. Parents as Teachers supports a network of professionals and organizations who serve more than 300,000 families across the country and around the world through a proven parent education model.

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