Starting Early Starting Smart: Summary of Early Findings.

N

25

Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (DHHS/PHS), Rockville, MD.
Casey Family Programs, Seattle, WA.

6-UD1-SP08255

At Risk Persons; Caregiver Child Relationship; Child Development; Early Childhood Education; Family Programs; Integrated Services; Parent Child Relationship; Program Effectiveness; Program Evaluation; School Community Programs; Social Services; Young Children

Starting Early Starting Smart (SESS) provides an integrated system of child-centered, family-focused, and community-based services targeted to at-risk children from birth to age seven at twelve sites across the country. To access families that are often not in the mainstream of service access and use, SESS programs partner with primary care institutions and early childhood education institutions. Rigorous evaluation of the project has produced early findings demonstrating that SESS programs have succeeded in: increasing access to needed services for participating families; helping families strengthen the ways in which they guide and support the development of their young children; strengthening positive interaction between caregivers and infants in the early months of life; and strengthening the development of young children in ways that are crucial for future school success. This summary elaborates and explains findings of positive program effects across the broad scope of intended outcomes. Results of the SESS demonstration reveal scientifically validated successes with respect to the major sequential stages of positive outcomes that represent the intent of the programs. Three appendixes present information about starting SESS, SESS program acknowledgements, and SESS grant sites. (GCP)

2003

ED466899