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Need for HIPPY program stressed to school board "My children grew up with two parents, and it was hard….I can only imagine the problems of a single-parent family trying to put food on the table (and) manage a household," Judy Graham told Clarke County Board of Education members June 20. Graham, who is also a local Alabama Power manager, spokes concerning the HIPPY (Home Instruction for Parents of Pre- School Youngsters) program. The 30-week program is intended to "teach parents how to be the primary educators of their pre-school children." "The need for a program like HIPPY is driven by poverty," she said, and the education system needs to help pre-schoolers get a better start. Concentrating on the needs of parents and pre-schoolers may reduce the future juvenile drug use and arrest rates, and birth to unmarried teens, which increased from 1995-2005, Graham said. Approximately 30 people from around the county had been working on the program, she said. State Representative Mark Keahey (District 65) attended the June 20 meeting in support of the HIPPY program. "Almost 40 percent (39.7) of the adults in our county do not have a high school diploma….Almost one-third of our population is children. Twenty-three percent of that onethird are under five-years-of age. Single-parent families account for 33.7 percent of the (county) population….Nineteen percent of our population is below the poverty level compared to 15 percent with the State of Alabama. Seventy to 72 percent of the children in Clarke County school systems meet severe needs funding guidelines (and) receive free or reduced lunches," Graham said. The program has received support from area municipalities, businesses and industries, and a $15,000 grant from a private foundation. The State Legislature recently voted $1.7 million for the program, but Graham was not sure how that funding will be distributed. The county school board committed June 20 to support the program. Graham would like to the see the HIPPY program housed at Grove Hill Elementary School. The program will be advertising for a coordinator, and five parent-educators will also be hired. The parent-educators will go into homes and "work oneon one to teach the parent how to teach their child," she said. The Clarke County program expects to reach 70 children in its first year, beginning this fall. Twenty children each will be chosen from the Grove Hill, Jackson and Thomasville areas, and 10 children will be chosen from the Coffeeville area. When the child graduates from the HIPPY program, the whole family is recognized.
"It's not just about education," Graham said, "it's about social issues….it's about our community - not just surviving, but thriving."
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