Parents As Teachers SC (2013) | WhatWorksSC

The Parents as Teachers (PAT) evidence-based home visiting model is designed to ensure young children are healthy, safe, and ready to learn. The model has demonstrated successful results in increasing parent knowledge of early childhood development, improving parenting practices, providing early detection of developmental delays and health issues, preventing child abuse and neglect, and promoting young children’s healthy development and school readiness, including social-emotional and early literacy skills. Services to families are delivered by certified parent educators who emphasize parent-child interaction, development-centered parenting and family well-being in their work with families. PAT services include four interrelated and integrated components of the model: personal visits, group connections, screening and resource network. Together these form a dynamic package of services. South Carolina Parents as Teachers Affiliate Programs served 3,136 children and 2,726 families in 2012 and is currently the largest home visiting model implemented in the state. South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness is the state lead for PAT and provides technical assistance, training and support to each of the states’ 63 affiliate programs.