The intent of this paper is to briefly describe the families whose children are likely to be assessed as “not ready for school” and the prevalent parent education/family strengthening programs funded through South Carolina’s First Steps to School Readiness initiative as documented with Program Effectiveness Reports and the Planning, Implementation and Evaluation documents which provide the basis for all the South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness data used in this report. Additionally, this paper will highlight the association between recommended best practice found in research and the current characteristics and activities of the South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness funded programs and relate this information in a way that programs and practices might use to strengthen their efforts to empower and change parents, families and children
