Stepping Stones

Stepping Stones is a hospital based early intervention program that promotes initial parenting skills needed to prepare children for successful beginnings. The program was developed by two teachers who recognized a need to address the vast differences among students entering the Coweta County School System. Realizing that too many of the entering kindergartners lacked the basic skills needed for success in school, and also realizing that many of these students were born to teenage mothers, Stepping Stones was formed. The program is driven by teams of public school teachers and volunteers who visit new mothers in the hospital setting. These educator volunteers deliver a bag of development readiness materials and information to parents of newborns. The program seeks to reinforce the skills and strengths needed for quality parenting, to reduce child abuse and neglect by offering personal support and reducing feelings of isolation in new parents, and by identifying at-risk families and making referrals to appropriate supportive services.