Jumpstart is a national early education organization with a commitment to enriching the learning experiences of children from underserved communities. Since 1993, teams of volunteers have delivered Jumpstart’s research-based curriculum, which is designed to improve children’s language and literacy skills and social-emotional development. The program is characterized by the individualized attention and learning supports children receive from volunteers in the classroom. In most Jumpstart sites, the volunteers are college students, but in some markets, including Los Angeles, the volunteers are older adults from the community. These older adults are called Community Corps members or “Foster Grandparents,” under some funding streams. As of 2017-18, older adults represented about 4 percent of the 4,054 Jumpstart volunteers who served in 80 school year and summer sites across the country.

Foster Grandparents are on site in preschools for at least three days a week. They provide two types of services and supports to children:

• Jumpstart sessions: Two mornings a week, the Foster Grandparents lead a structured two-hour session with the children focused on language and literacy and social-emotional development. The sessions include a combination of small-group and whole-group activities anchored in a series of engaging and developmentally appropriate books.

• Child-Centered Time (CCT): The Foster Grandparents also provide child-centered time (CCT) for four to five hours a week to their assigned children, who can be enrolled in any classroom at the preschool. CCT offers volunteers additional opportunities to contribute to their partner children’s language skills and social-emotional development. 

The Corporation for National and Community Service has awarded Jumpstart and MDRC a contract to evaluate the impact of the Jumpstart Foster Grandparent program on children’s language and literacy and social-emotional development. Though past research has found promising effects on child outcomes, MDRC’s study will expand the body of research on volunteer programs and explore the relative effects of Jumpstart’s Foster Grandparent Program components (curriculum sessions and CCT).