The association between poverty and compromised development, particularly in the early years, has been well documented. Many early childhood programs have been designed to promote positive parenting and more enriched home environments in order to nhance children's development. We describe findings from a multisite, randomized evaluation of the Parents as Teachers (PAT) program with 665 families, which was designed specifically to investigate the program's effectiveness with low-income families. The observed effects of the PAT program on parenting and child development outcomes were generally small, with few statistically significant effects. More consistent positive effects were noted for very low-income parents and their children relative to more moderate income parents. The discussion focuses on the policy implications of the findings for the design and implementation of early childhood parenting programs for low-income families and future research.
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