PAT Program Description
Parents as Teachers (PAT) is an evidence-based parent education and family support program serving families throughout pregnancy until their child enters kindergarten.
The 4 component PAT model includes:
- Personal Visits during which certified parent educators share age-appropriate child development information with parents and engage the family in activities that provide meaningful parent/child interaction
- Group Meetings designed to relay important information about child development and offer parents opportunities to interact and support one another
- Health and Developmental Screening
- Resource Network to connect families with resources that meet their specific needs
PAT Program Reach
Currently, PAT reaches 2,679 children and their families through 34 programs in 35 counties, including: Adams, Alamosa, Arapahoe, Bent, Boulder, Broomfield, Chaffee, Conejos, Costilla, Crowley, Custer, Delta, Denver, Douglas, El Paso, Fremont, Garfield, Gunnison, Jefferson, La Plata, Larimer, Montezuma, Montrose, Morgan, Otero, Ouray, Park, Pueblo, Rio Grande, Routt, Saguache, San Miguel, Summit, Teller and Weld.
- 47% of Colorado’s PAT children are Hispanic/Latino, 35% White, and 12% other.
- 31% of PAT families speak Spanish as their primary language.
- 87% of PAT families served had major risk factors such as low-income/poverty, low educational attainment levels, limited English proficiency, single parenthood, children with disabilities, teen parents, and multiple children under the age of five.
Colorado Parent & Child Foundation: Colorado PAT State Office
The Colorado Parent & Child Foundation is the nationally designated official Colorado PAT State Office, working to advance PAT programming statewide. We work in close partnership with the national office for Parents as Teachers, which oversees the replication of PAT both nationally and internationally. For information on PAT worldwide, see www.parentsasteachers.org.