ConnPAT - Connecticut Parents as Teachers

Guadalupe Kuilan, B.S.-Trainer​

National Office:

(314) 432-4330
2228 Ball Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63146 

STAY CONNECTED

Building strong families
 and promoting positive parent-child interaction,
so children are healthy,
safe and ready to learn.

CONNPAT History

CURRENT OFFERINGS:

• PAT Foundational and Model Implementation Trainings  (3 and 5 days) offered four times per year
• PAT Foundational 2/Three to Kindergarten (2 days) offered two times a year
  

PILOTS:

1989 - The formation of the training team through an agreement with DHR/ DOE to train staff of their Family Resource Centers (a pilot of the Schools of the 21st Century)

2002 – A cross-training agreement with Wheeler Clinic’s Healthy Families Training Team offered Parents as Teachers Institutes to Healthy Families staff and Healthy Families (High Need) Training to PAT staff

2002 – ConnPAT offered special technical assistance along with extended training in Prenatal to Three Institute to the Hartford School’s Parents as Teachers program which hired staff from the neighborhoods in an effort to reach young families and also provide employment and education to 22 women. 

2005 - A cross-training agreement was developed with Children’s Trust Fund whereby their Nurturing Families Network staff would become certified in PAT and Connecticut’s PAT programs could attend CTF/NFN workshops.  PAT certification is now mandatory for all Nurturing Families home visitors.

2006 -  A new PATNC training of trainers certified three members of the ConnPAT Training Team as PATNC Child Care trainers (offering 2 day workshops to those working with home based providers and 4 day workshops to center based staff).     

2007 – ConnPAT began their Technical Assistance system which follows the PATNC    

Quality Standards site visit plan.  PAT programs are offered site visits and observation visits along with questionnaires in order to highlight the quality standards being met and set goals for further development.  
   
2013 - The Connecticut Department of Public Health chose the PAT model for the majority of their federally funded home visitation programs (MIECHV).

2014 - ConnPAT training team added a fourth training to accommodate the other New England states. 

2015 - New MIECHV funding extends the reach of each of the MIECHV/PAT affiliates throughout Connecticut.

In Connecticut the Parents as Teachers model is used in the largest and most well known home visitation programs – SDE’s Family Resource Centers and CTF’s Nurturing Families Network programs.  Both of these systems require that their staff attend the PAT Training; CTF also requires the Foundational 2 training.  In 2010-11 Early Head Start has trained the majority of their staff in PAT.  It has also been successful in  Even Start, Head Start, Youth Service Bureau, Parent Aide and other programs.

Certification in PAT occurs after the participant attends all five days of training and completes all assignments.  New programs need to complete a Program Plan in order to have their staff certified and for the program to become PAT affiliated.  An Affiliate Program Report (due in the Spring) and renewal of all staff are the necessary steps to remain an affiliated program.  Each parent educator must complete professional development hours (20 for the first year, 15 for the second and then 10 hours every other year) to be recertified.  The Foundational/Model Implementation training carries two credits from Charter Oak State College and is one of the Foundational Curriculum choices required for the Connecticut Parenting Educator Credential.

PAT National Center has other materials and trainings available as needed to staff; such as Working with Teen Parents, Working with Parents of Children with Special Needs and curriculum on Nutrition on Working with Fathers. 

Dr. Edward Zigler completed a study in January, 2007, which demonstrates the connection between the Parents as Teachers model and school readiness.  This and other studies can be found on the Parents as Teachers website.