Program Description
Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) is an evidence-based parent involvement, school readiness program that helps parents prepare their three, four, and five year old children for success in school and beyond. The program empowers parents as the primary educators of their children in the home and fosters parent involvement in school and community life to maximize the chances of successful early school experiences. HIPPY is a peer-delivered model wherein trained home visitors provide weekly home visits, working one-on-one with parents of preschool aged children (age 3, 4, and 5). The Age 5 curriculum follows the child through the kindergarten year, thus reinforcing learning through a very intentional home-school connection. In addition to weekly home visits, the program provides monthly group meetings.

Program Reach
Last year, HIPPY reached 796 children and their families through 6 programs in 8 counties, including: Adams, Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Denver, Jefferson, Rio Grande, and Saguache.

-78% of Colorado’s HIPPY children are Hispanic/Latino, 12% White, and 10% other. -54% of HIPPY families speak Spanish as their primary language. -90% of HIPPY families fall below the federal poverty level. The remaining 10% are low-income. More than half of HIPPY parents have not completed high school.

Dosage and Services
HIPPY families receive weekly home visits over the course of the school.

-Last year, 22,328 home visits were conducted, with home visitors spending 27,204 hours mentoring parents. -Last year, the programs offered 118 group meetings for families. -Over 10,900 books were distributed to HIPPY families. -Last year, 100% of HIPPY children had up-to-date immunizations.

Research and Outcomes
HIPPY is an evidence-based program model with forty years of research showing positive outcomes for participating families. Studies on the program have been conducted in eight countries as well as across the United States, and has shown HIPPY to be effective in improving child school readiness, parent involvement, academic performance throughout K-12 schooling, school attendance, behavior, and standardized test scores. Colorado’s HIPPY programs have been thoroughly studied in recent years, thanks to generous support from the Temple Hoyne Buell Foundation. After three years of intensive standardized testing, which showed statistically significant gains in all areas measured for both children and parents, CPCF engaged external evaluators to study program impacts through five separate rigorous research studies that examined the progression of child learning, parent knowledge, kindergarten readiness, and reading engagement. Data from the child outcome studies (one of which was an experimental, multiple baseline study) showed significant gains in child learning that were the direct result of HIPPY programming and not due to other factors. Data on the parent knowledge study showed that as a direct result of HIPPY, not only were HIPPY parents more knowledgeable of school readiness strategies than non-HIPPY parents, but they also were able to articulate specific activities they employ with their children. Data from the kindergarten teacher study showed that HIPPY children are better prepared for learning and better behaved than non-HIPPY children, and that their parents are more engaged in their child's learning. Data on the reading engagement study showed that HIPPY children were more engaged in reading interaction than non-HIPPY children, and they were read to more on a daily basis than non-HIPPY children.
HIPPY Logic Model
HIPPY Theory of Change
Bibliography of HIPPY Research
Colorado HIPPY Research Summary

HIPPY & AmeriCorps
Colorado HIPPYCorps is Colorado's oldest AmeriCorps Program and the first HIPPY Program in the nation to blend with AmeriCorps. It engages 43 Members who serve as HIPPY Home Visitors each year. As part of AmeriCorps, these Home Visitors attend additional trainings, participate in national service days and other community service opportunities, and receive an education award to use for future educational goals!

©2010, Colorado Parent and Child Foundation
1775 Sherman Street, Suite 2075 Denver, CO 80203 303-860-6000