The main purpose of Avance-San Antonio, Inc. is to strengthen and support families, especially "high risk" Mexican American families, and to help to prevent child abuse and neglect through parenting education services. Avance actively reaches out to the Hispanic population in their own neighborhoods through door-to-door recruiting, flyers, and "word of mouth" communication. The Avance services provide a nine-month comprehensive parenting education program for both parents and their children under four years, consisting of both center-based and home-based activities. Center-based activities for the children include day care services which provide language stimulation activities; a well-balanced, nutritious lunch program; and interaction with other children and caregivers. Center-based activities for the parents (usually mothers) include toy-making classes; parenting education classes; support services or resources; and trips to the library and other field trips. The home-based activities consist of home visits in which the Avance staff observes and videotapes the parent interacting with the child in a playing activity in order to determine how much progress is being made in enhancing parenting skills. The home visits also serve to meet the special parenting needs of the participants. Through learning new parenting skills and modifying their parenting behavior, parents are motivated to change the course of events for themselves and their children. (BB)