Over the 3 years of funding, 1983-1986, the Volunteers in Partnership with Parents Project (VIPP), a Handicapped Children's Early Education Program (HCEEP) Model Demonstration Program funded by the U.S. Department of Education, designed and implemented a program model for parents in rural North Carolina who had significantly handicapped preschool aged children. It was anticipated that rural parents would experience social isolation due to their lack of contact with other parents of special needs children and the scarcity of human resources available. It was also anticipated that the parents would need specific information pertaining to their children's development and they would need respite services provided by skilled caregivers. The use of volunteers as partners in working with parents was the cornerstone of the program. Project staff tapped into the parents' existing social support networks by requesting each family to identify a volunteer partner, who could be anyone other than a spouse. Sixteen families and a total of 17 children and 15 volunteer partners participated in the development of the model. Both formal and informal activities were offered to the parents and volunteer partners. These included: monthly group meetings; a monthly newsletter; a respite care service; a toy lending library; and social events. The children's program consisted of a developmental day care program and a home-based interventions program. Staff were also involved with the participants in the development and implementation of an individualized Parent/Partner Plan for working on goals of the parents' choice. Dissemination activities included the writing of two manuals, one on the "how to" of volunteering for a handicapped child and one on the implementation of a volunteer partner model. This report reviews each of the program's components, describes its evaluation study, and summarizes its major findings and recommendations. The following materials are appended: Fund Raising Publicity; Brigance Testing Results; Respite Care Program Evaluation; Parents' Needs Assessment Report; Family Social Support Scale; Parents' Feelings and Attitude Scale; Parent Exit Interview Schedule; Partner Exit Interview Schedule; Field Reviewer's Questionnaire; and Newsletter Evaluation Reports. (SG)