Does the Sustainability of Comprehensive Intervention Programs Depend on Parent Involvement?

Abstract

In this research, the importance and sustainability of one of the components of Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP), parent involvement, was studied identifying the importance placed on parent involvement determined the programs’ capacity for sustainability. Results show parent involvement activities, which may provide the most beneficial outcome for parents and their children, are activities that include parents in the planning, decision making, and recruitment of other parents, and that parents need to be considered an important part of GEAR UP services from the beginning of program development. The importance placed on parent involvement was found to have a strong positive effect on the capacity for sustainability of partnership type programs, which draws attention to the way partnership programs are created, and programs that best meet the needs of the community are created by those in the community in which services are provided.