Enhancing the parenting skills of Head Start families during the transition to kindergarten

Head Start centers provide an excellent context for the implementation and success of family-based interventions, particularly home visiting. Based on a developmental-ecological model, a universal family-centered intervention was implemented with Head Start families. Outcome data from this parenting and home visiting program is presented (Project STAR: Steps to Achieving Resilience). Results suggest that both parenting groups and home visiting interventions are effective at enhancing parenting skills: however, home visiting programs have a higher participation rate. Additionally, home visiting by familiar staff was particularly successful at improving parenting skills at follow-up. Results suggest that embedding targeted interventions in universal strategies can be an effective means of engaging families in services. The results have implications for service delivery methods in early childhood as a means of enhancing parent participation.