About
The Great Parents, Great Start program, formerly known as ACTS (All Children Connected to Succeed) is a parent involvement and education program for all families with children from birth to kindergarten entry in Ingham County. The program is funded from a grant through the State of Michigan Department of Education, so services are at no cost to participating families. Some of the services the program provides are...
- Home-based personal visits for families in the target population
- Parent-child playgroups that focus on developmental learning activities for children ages 1-4
- Developmental screenings for all children up through 5 years old
- Distribution of R.E.A.D.Y. kits and Keys to Success Resource Guides
- Connection for parents and children, as needed, to other community resources and early childhood programs and services. The Michigan Great Parents website links parents to a multitude of services and activities in Ingham County.
The services address:
- child development information birth-5
- methods to enhance parent-child interaction, including encouraging reading 30 minutes per day
- examples of learning opportunities-promoting social, physical, and intellectual growth
- access to needed community services
- promotion of healthy relationships
Universal services are provided as well as more intensive services to a targeted population (identified by the community). Additionally, services are based on research-based models for the population served and anyone providing services is trained in early child development and Parents As Teachers.
The outcomes expected are:
- Improve school readiness for all young children
- Increase parent involvement in early education
- Foster the maintenance of stable families
- Reduce enrollments in special education
- Decrease retention of pupils in grade
