Porter-Leath

Next Memphis - A shared service program model that helps independent child care providers reduce costs and improve outcomes, so that they can direct more of their attention and resources into the classroom and to families.

Porter-Leath continued to thrive in its 174th year of service to Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee, with services reaching over 40,500 families in the last year. - Connections - Utilizes a trauma-informed universal approach addressing trauma, traumatic stress and related issues by promoting resilience to children throughout its foster care and residential programs. - Cornerstone - Gives newborns and preschool children the best start in life by helping pregnant mothers and parenting families in their homes, thereby reducing infant mortality and improving literacy and language skills. The National Parents as Teachers organization named Porter-Leath's Cornerstone early childhood home visitation program an exemplary Blue Ribbon Affiliate, delivering high-quality services to children and families. Cornerstone provides pregnant mothers as well as families of children from birth to age 5 with all of the proper tools necessary for positive child development. - Books From Birth - Promotes kindergarten readiness and strengthens family bonds in Shelby County by providing age-appropriate books for all children from birth to age five. Independent research affirmed Porter-Leath's earliest intervention strategy by concluding that students who receive 25-54 books from ages 0-5 from Porter-Leath's Books from Birth program had higher standardized test results, higher letter grades, and fewer behavior cases in the first through fifth grades than those who received fewer or no books. Books from Birth, the largest affiliate of The Dolly Parton Imagination Library in the United States, distributes 35,000 books per month to children ages 0-5 in Shelby County, Tennessee. - Early Success Coalition - Improving the lives of children by working to strengthen the network of caregivers and providers that serve these children. - Generations - To provide older Americans an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of disadvantaged children and young adults. - Teacher Excellence Program - Uses intentionally designed and data-informed professional development to prepare teachers to engage in high-quality, effective practices, thereby strengthening the knowledge and skill sets of early childhood educators, resulting in improved educational outcomes for children. Additional program and operating achievements include: - Porter-Leath was reaccredited by the Council on Accreditation, an independent, objective, and reliable verification that organizations and programs qualify for the confidence and support of their stakeholders. It involves a detailed review and analysis of an organization's or program's administrative functions and service delivery practices. All are measured against international standards of best practice. - Porter-Leathwas recognized with an MPACT Award from Slingshot Memphisfor being one of the top five most effective poverty-fighting organizations in Memphis. Slingshot partners with nonprofits to evaluate, improve best practices and financially support organizations working with families in Memphis. Over the last six years, Porter-Leath has consistently received high marks across their four evaluation domains: Cost/Benefit, Systems Change, Use of Best Practices and Measurement Infrastructure.