Program Type: Children's Programs

Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) is a parent involvement, school readiness program that helps parents prepare their two through five-year-old children for success in school. The parent is provided with a set of carefully developed curriculum and materials designed to strengthen their child’s cognitive, early literacy, social/emotional, and physical development skills.

HIPPY empowers parents to become their child’s first teacher by giving them the tools and confidence they need to work with their children in the home. The program was designed to bring families, organizations, and communities together and remove any barriers for participation like limited financial resources or lack of education.

This program is available for individuals living in Manatee and Hardee County.

The Parents As Teachers (PAT) program provides support for families through home visits, group events, a variety of health and developmental screenings, and a network of community resources. Using the PAT integrated service model, families work on a variety of goals, including increasing parental knowledge of child and family development, improving school readiness skills, and linking early intervention services to children with developmental concerns.

Families and Parent Educators work together to support the optimal development for children while meeting the needs of the family. Parent Educators provide fun, educational, and engaging activities for family members to enjoy together. During COVID, Parents as Teachers continues to provide home visits virtually. They have provided families with virtual learning kits to foster parent child interaction.

This program is available to families living in DeSoto, Hardee and Manatee counties.

Parents as Teachers is supported by the Florida Maternal Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Initiative.

Healthy Families Manatee is a voluntary home visiting program providing family support, parent education, and child development. Healthy Families can work with you and your family from pregnancy through the early years of your child’s life. A family support worker will meet with you in your home and provide you with support and information to help you become the best parent you can be!

Here are some of the ways we can help:

• Provide prenatal education for a healthy pregnancy
• Provide fun, creative, hands-on activities to help you learn about your child’s development
• Share ideas on caring for babies, toddlers, and young children
• Help you to locate and utilize community resources that can assist you in reaching your goals
• Provide assistance with problems that can make parenting stressful
• Provide support individualized to meet your family’s needs

This program is available to families living in Manatee County who are expecting a child or have a child under three months of age.

Head Start and Early Head Start provide early childhood education and family engagement services focused on closing the achievement gap for children throughout Manatee County. At our six Rise and Shine Early Learning centers, we offer comprehensive childhood development programs serving children from birth to five years of age.

Our center-based programs foster development in a safe, stimulating learning environment and prepare children – including children with disabilities – for kindergarten, while enhancing social and cognitive development and addressing health, nutritional and social services for our families.

This program is available to families living in Manatee County.

Enrollment for the 2022-2023 school year will begin in May 2022.

Head Start Application Request

The CATCH program provides speech and language screening for children aged 30 months through five years. Parents receive the screening results as well as referrals for further evaluation and therapy if the screening identifies a possible concern. On a limited basis, CATCH funded speech therapy may also be available to families.

Screening focuses on language, articulation, connected speech, social/interpersonal communication skills, stuttering, and voice disorders.

This program is available to families living in Manatee County.