Posts filed under ‘General’
Parenting Can Be Overwhelming
Along with our partners – the Consortium for Resilient Young Children and Santa Maria Community Services – 4C is engaged in a remarkable project designed to build strong families as a way to prevent child abuse. 4C is involved because the premise of the initiative is that the adults who are in the best position to support parents of young children are the child care providers who see the parents and the children almost every day. If teachers, directors or family child care providers create environments where parents feel supported, where friendships are encouraged, and where children’s social and emotional development are strengthened, then early warning signs of stress or abuse are more readily tackled.
The project coaches are working with eight centers and 15 family child care providers in Westwood and Cheviot. Each program has completed a self- assessment and is implementing a plan to improve their parent-teacher connection and… to strengthen families. We are focusing on one Cincinnati Zip code, 45211, in order to see if a concentrated effort can yield measurable results.
There are two more components to the project. One is community awareness, and you can see our really cool billboard and signs all around the neighborhoods of Westwood and Cheviot. The other component – about to launch – is a concept known as Parent Cafes. I’ll write about these once we observe the dynamic and hear what parents have to say. Reports from other parts of the country are outstanding.
Posted by sallie on Thursday, September 17, 2009 5:15 PM
