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Providers of services and supports constantly look for opportunities to strengthen parents in their child-rearing role and to build strong relationships between young children and their parents and other adult caregivers. Providers recognize the value of informal supports and make them widely available; they help supportive adults (spouses or other partners, kin, neighbors, and informal groups) participate actively in child rearing.
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| The Avance Child and Family Development Program is a community-based intervention that operates throughout Texas to provide education and support to Latino parents with children under age three. It strives to strengthen the family unit; to enhance parents’ ability to nurture their children’s optimal development; to promote educational success; and to foster the personal and economic success of parents. Avance offers a 33-week fatherhood curriculum, covering topics such as child growth and development, handling stress, learning to live without violence, and childhood illnesses. The program also offers classes for a General Education Diploma and English as a Second Language. It teaches parenting and personal skills to more than 60 men per year, encourages fathers’ involvement with their children, and strengthens relationships with their children’s mothers. www.avance.org | |
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Providers of services engage parents in their homes or other familiar settings to promote and model effective parenting skills, through:
- Home visitors, Doulas, Promotoras and other well-trained, supervised adults to offer support during pregnancy, childbirth, and a child's early life.
- Special efforts to reach out to, serve, and support the highest risk families (especially those where young children encounter multiple risks, have developmental or behavioral difficulties, or where parent-child relationships are impaired) through culturally sensitive home visits, peer support, and family support.
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| Homeless families receive needed social services as part of their search and placement in permanent housing under California’s Beyond Shelter’s Housing First Program. A case manager continues working with the family for at least 6 months after the family moves into a new home.
In Healthy Families Arizona, participating families receive weekly visits from specialists who help them with coping skills, child health and nutrition, early developmental assessments, accessing school readiness programs, and obtaining information on other services. Home-visitors are specially trained in cultural competency, substance abuse, domestic violence, and drug-exposed infants.
The Vermont Department of Health, Agency of Human Services runs an Intensive Home Visiting program for families with children under 6 who face challenges associated with young age, social isolation, significant physical and emotional problems, family disorganization, personal safety issues, compromised resources, or substance addiction. The home visitor provides direct support and coordinates additional referrals and support services for the family. http://www.healthvermont.gov | |
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- Coaching, mentoring, and exposure to models of good parenting provided by a range of family services to help parents improve their child-rearing skills and their understanding of attachment issues, and to help parents hold realistic expectations for their children's development.
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| The Baby College of the Harlem Children’s Zone is a 9-week program of workshops that teaches expectant and new mothers about child development and parenting. The course is followed by monthly gatherings to further parenting education and promote mother-to-mother bonding opportunities. | |
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Family support services, centers, and "warm" lines, as well as other service providers, strengthen parents by offering information and support, both during crises and before crises occur. They look for opportunities to encourage supportive adults (spouses or other partners, kin, neighbors, and informal groups) to participate actively in child rearing, and they encourage father involvement with young children.
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Parent encouragement and education are key features of the community-based Maryland Family Support Centers Network. Parenting classes, parent-child activities, and peer education encourage positive and healthy parenting practices.
The Prenatal to Three Initiative of the San Mateo County Health Department (CA) provides home visits, parent support groups, and seminars on child development to low-income pregnant women. The Initiative’s practices are based on pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton's Touchpoints concepts, which hold that parents who have a “map” of their child's behavioral and emotional development are better equipped to navigate child-rearing challenges. | |
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Hospitals, employers, and health and childcare professionals strengthen mother-infant relationships by providing adequate time and other supports for breastfeeding.
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