History

The Parent Leadership Initiative (PLI) program began over 20 years ago when Janet Walerstein, former Executive Director of the Child Care Council of Suffolk, Inc. (CCCS), saw a need for parent engagement in the township of Huntington. The CCCS worked collaboratively with the Connecticut Commission on Children to institute the PLI program on Long Island. After two years of planning and development, PLI was introduced to the township of Huntington in 1994. As a result, the program has been successfully replicated in the townships of Southampton, Islip, Babylon, and Brookhaven.

In 2014, the CCCS and the Child Care Council of Nassau partnered to bring PLI to Nassau County.