Ohio Grantee Spotlight
Ohio is one of seven states awarded a Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) grant in 2013 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The quality and stability of young children’s relationships with their parents and other primary caregivers lays the foundation for children’s growth across a wide range of domains, including their cognitive, emotional, social, behavioral, and physical development. Project LAUNCH grantees bring evidence-based parenting support and education programs into communities; train professionals to implement evidence-based parenting programs; expand the capacities of programs to serve more families; and promote parent leadership.
Programs are intended to empower parents and family members with the knowledge and skills to promote their child’s growth and social–emotional development as well as attend to their own mental well-being.
Although parenting programs vary in terms of format, length, and target population, they share a common goal: to increase parents’ knowledge of parenting and healthy child development, including the importance of positive parent–child interactions and responsive, nurturing relationships. Programs also seek to promote family well-being and strengthen families’ protective factors (e.g., parental resilience, social connections, concrete support in times of need, knowledge of parenting and child development, and social and emotional competence of children), which studies have demonstrated increase the likelihood of positive outcomes for children and families. Project LAUNCH funds parent-empowerment activities intended to support parents as leaders and advocates for their children in schools, in communities, and at the state level.
Ohio is one of seven states awarded a Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) grant in 2013 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services.
This brief highlights many notable and emerging successes of grantees in expanding and sustaining services for children and families in the five core Project LAUNCH strategies (screening and assessment; enhanced home visiting through increased focus on social and emotional well-being; mental health consultation in early care and education programs; family strengthening and parent skills training; and integration of behavioral health into primary care settings).
Discusses approaches that home visiting programs use to engage fathers, the challenges they face, the strategies they use to overcome these challenges, and benefits of participating from the perspective of fathers and program staff.
Offers free information, in both English and Spanish, on health topics, including maternal and infant care, obesity, fertility/infertility, and pregnancy.
Makes the case for creating opportunities for families by addressing the needs of parents and their children simultaneously. The report describes a new approach to reducing poverty, which calls for connecting low-income families with early childhood education, job training, and other tools to achieve financial stability and break the cycle of poverty. It recommends ways to help equip parents and children with what they need to thrive.
Helps policy makers, practitioners, and citizen groups understand what a “parenting success” strategy looks like and how it can strengthen families and communities.
Discusses resources that service providers, advocates, and practitioners can use to better understand and engage the community in responding to children whose caregivers are negatively impacted by mental illness, substance use, or trauma.
Provides an overview of research regarding some key characteristics and training strategies of successful parent education programs and information about selected evidence-based and evidence-informed parent education programs.
Provides resources, "promising practices", and suggestions for adapting family strengthening programs for use with refugee populations.
Identifies the long-term societal benefits of investing early (from conception to age five) in effective programs for children. This paper focuses on parenting education programs and seeks to answer the question, "If we made sufficient investment in effective parenting education programs, what might be the economic benefits to society?"
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Project LAUNCH
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Safe Schools / Healthy Students