Parent Services Project, Inc.

Founded in 1980, Parent Services Project (PSP) is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to integrating family support into early childhood programs and schools through training, technical assistance and education. PSP's family support strategies are implemented in a wide range of cultures and settings including child care centers, family child care homes, Head Start, elementary schools, community-based agencies and teen parent programs - and have reached 25,000 families in eight states. PSP has been nationally recognized for its work in the family support field, including receiving the Families Count Honors Award in 2000 from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.Mission Parent Services Project engages and strengthens families, working in partnership with educators and service providers to take leadership in assuring the well-being of all children, families, and communities.

Vision Families will become a vigorous and optimistic voice in advocating for the health and well-being of themselves and their children. Families, educators and service providers will create partnerships based on harmony, equality, and mutual respect, intentionally seeking out parents as decision-makers and designers of services. Educators and service providers will be leaders in creating programs that assure participation and involvement of families. Parents will influence early childhood settings and other community-based organizations to respond to their needs and interests. As a result of their impact, families will assume an even more vital role in the success of their children and in building strong communities.

Core Values PSP's core values are built upon our Principles of Family Support which guide our work with families and communities. Our core values include:

• TRANSFORMING the relationships between families and practitioners so that families actively participate in their children's development and practitioners strengthen such participation,
• RAISING leadership among families, emboldening them to take action on issues that matter most to them,
• INVITING all members of the community to the table, affirming diversity, and ensuring that all voices are heard,
• BUILDING cohorts of practitioners who are passionate about applying family support principles in their work, and
• EXPANDING the impact of PSP by continuous assessment and the dissemination of best practice to influence systems and policies