Home Instruction for Parents and Preschool Youngsters
Local governments can invest in this strategy using State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
- This strategy can help promote healthy childhood environments and address educational disparities. The U.S. Department of Treasury has indicated that strategies that help achieve these outcomes are eligible for the use of Fiscal Recovery Funds.
- Investments in this strategy are SLFRF-eligible as long as they are made in qualified census tracts or are designed to assist populations or communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
Program overview
- Supporting early development: Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) is an early literacy curriculum and peer home visiting program designed for parents and caregivers of children aged two through five. The model aims to build parents’ capacity to support their children’s cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development.
- Providing a structured curriculum: HIPPY includes four separate curricula, one each for children aged two, three, four, and five. Each curriculum consists of structured lesson plans that focus on literacy and language development, social-emotional development, and problem-solving skills. Lessons are designed to last 15-20 minutes and to be delivered by parents. Necessary supplies, like story books, activity books, and crayons, are provided.
- Conducting home visits: Typically, the HIPPY curriculum is delivered for 30 weeks per year. During that period, peer home visitors (who are often former HIPPY participants) conduct weekly one-on-one visits with parents. The peer home visitors train parents in delivering the HIPPY curriculum and connect them with community resources to address any personal, social, or educational needs. The peer home visitors are supported by a full-time professional coordinator.
- Appropriate for a range of implementers: HIPPY may be implemented by a range of community-based organizations, including school districts, preschool programs, Departments of Health or Education, child welfare agencies, and more. Typically, HIPPY affiliates aim to recruit families with children at risk of entering kindergarten unprepared (e.g., those without access to quality preschool programs).
- Strategies
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Early childhood curricula and interventionsSupports for expecting parents and families with young children
- Cost per Participant
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$1,500-$2,500
Multiple studies with rigorous designs provide some evidence for Home Instruction for Parents and Preschool Youngsters as a strategy for supporting child wellbeing and academic achievement.
- This assessment is based on evidence from a 2021 systematic review.
Note: This content is under review.
- Leverage support from the program office: HIPPY US Network provides local affiliates with training and technical assistance, manages data collection to ensure model fidelity, coordinates program evaluations, and more. When a new affiliate begins operation, it receives formal training for its home visitors and coordinators, including as part of site visits both before and after the affiliate begins delivering programming. The program office also advises affiliates on any adaptations to the program model that may be appropriate for their local context (e.g., adjusting to alternative living environments).
- Hire and train effective coordinators: HIPPY coordinators oversee the day-to-day implementation of the program and both supervise and coach home visitors. As such, affiliates should hire coordinators with a background in education (or a related field) who have strong training, communication, and administrative skills. Affiliates are required to provide coordinators with at least 15 hours of job-relevant training per year.
- Recruit relatable home visitors: To effectively deliver the HIPPY model, home visitors must develop a sense of rapport with participating families. As such, affiliates should identify home visitors who have young children and whose experiences reflect the community the affiliate intends to serve.
- Create structures to ensure fidelity: HIPPY US has developed an assessment process to determine whether affiliate sites are implementing the model with fidelity. As such, affiliates should adopt practices to monitor and support effective program delivery. Programmatic monitoring visits are conducted by HIPPY US national trainers to measure model fidelity and support program growth and development.