CIS SAFE JOURNEY PROGRAM RECEIVES NATIONAL RECOGNITION AS A BLUE RIBBON AFFILIATE Charlotte, NC Endorsed Sites Demonstrate High-Quality Implementation of Evidence Based Home Visiting
Charlotte, NC – [October 29, 2026] CIS Safe Journey Teen Parenting Program has been awarded Blue Ribbon Affiliate status by Parents as Teachers, the largest evidence-based early childhood home visiting program in the United States. The distinction recognizes the organization’s highest standards for quality and model fidelity, making affiliate name one of the top-performing home visiting affiliates within the Parents as Teachers international network.
The in-depth Quality Endorsement Improvement Process, which affiliates complete every five years to ensure alignment to organizational requirements, identifies programs that reach benchmarks of excellence in quality service to the families in their communities. A designation as Blue Ribbon Affiliate affirms that affiliate name implements the evidence-based Parents as Teachers model with fidelity, and that families in the city/county community are positively impacted by the services delivered by this program.
The program includes home visits, group connections, child screening, and connections to community resources. It equips parents with knowledge and resources to prepare their children for a stronger start in life and greater success in school.
“To earn the Blue Ribbon Endorsement, we underwent a rigorous self-study and review process from the National Center. The process confirms that we are meeting Parents as Teachers’ standards of fidelity and quality,” said Steffanie Lewis, Director of Programs and Operations for Safe Journey. “Blue Ribbon Affiliates are exemplary programs, delivering the highest quality services to children and families.”
Implementation with quality and fidelity is vital in home visiting programs as it determines a program’s effectiveness in accomplishing its original goals and intended outcomes. It also verifies that a program is implemented as designed. The rigorous endorsement process of Parents as Teachers demonstrates an affiliate’s accountability and credibility to the community, its funders, elected officials, and the partner organizations with which they work.
The Blue Ribbon Affiliates will be honored with a reception at the 2026 Parents as Teachers International Conference in October 2026.
About CIS Safe Journey
Safe Journey is a case-management program supporting pregnant and parenting teens in completing high school, strengthening parent-child relationships, and promoting family well-being. Through the evidence-based Parents as Teachers® curriculum, individualized support, community referrals, and access to high-quality child care, the program equips teen parents with the resources they need to thrive. During the 2025–2026 school year, Safe Journey’s 27th year of programming, the program served 87 teen parents and 76 children across 26 school sites. The team facilitated personal visits, hosted Group Connection Sessions, provided community referrals, and awarded two post-secondary scholarships. 100% of eligible seniors graduated. Safe Journey serves students across CMS high schools, including Olympic, Palisades, Philip O. Berry, Rocky River, South Mecklenburg, West Charlotte, West Mecklenburg, Butler, Chambers, East Mecklenburg, Garinger, Hopewell, Independence, and CMS Virtual.
About Parents as Teachers
Parents as Teachers creates strong communities, thriving families, and children who are healthy, safe, and learning by matching parents and caregivers with trained professionals for regular personal home visits during a child’s earliest years, from pregnancy through kindergarten. With over 188,000 families served in all 50 U.S. states, 138 tribal organizations, and six other countries, the Parents as Teachers evidence-based home visiting model is backed by over 40 years of research-proven outcomes for children and families. Annually, Parents as Teachers National Center supports over 8,600 professionals and partners with 2,200 organizations, including school systems, social service nonprofits, health departments, tribal organizations, and military installations.