ParentChild+ envisions every child entering school ready to succeed because every parent has the knowledge and resources to build school readiness where it starts: the home.

ParentChild+ is an evidence-based early literacy, parental engagement and school readiness model committed to closing the achievement gap by providing families with the knowledge, skills and materials they need to prepare their children for success in pre-kindergarten and beyond.

ParentChild+ is an intensive home visiting program that hires and trains Early Learning Specialists (ELS) from within the community. They come into the homes of families with children aged 2-4 who do not have access to quality early childhood education and work together with parents to strengthen parent-child interaction and build learning-rich homes. In turn, enhancing children’s literacy, cognitive, and social-emotional skills, while supporting the transition to pre-k. Over the course of two program cycles, children will receive 92 home visits and accumulate a library of 46 toys and books.

For over 50 years, ParentChild+ has documented important longitudinal impacts for families: children who have graduated from the program enter school doing as well or better prepared than their classmates, and perform significantly better than their socio-economic peers on school readiness measures in kindergarten and first grade. ParentChild+ graduates are reading and doing math on grade level and are 50% less likely to be referred to special education services. They are also graduating at a 30% higher rate than their socio-economic peers. The ParentChild+ network reaches over 7,000 families annually in 14 states. For more information on ParentChild+’s impact please click here.

GreenLight has worked with ParentChild+ to build exciting local partnerships with the Charlotte Bilingual Preschool, Charlotte Housing Authority and the UCity Family Zone. The program will officially launch in the fall of 2019 with the goal of serving 100 families—50 from the Charlotte Bilingual Preschool serving the immigrant community and 50 from Southside homes. The early metrics for success established for ParentChild+ will be evaluated alongside the childhood resilience work led by the UCity Family Zone steering committee.