Promoting Positive Parenting Practices through Parenting Education. Building State Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Series, Number 13

In 2003, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) released a "Strategic Plan for Early Childhood Health." In recognition of the critical role states play in the development of early childhood initiatives and of the unique contributions that state Title V programs can make to these initiatives, the Bureau operationalized their strategic plan through an all state grant program entitled State Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (SECCS). Based on national reports and recommendations, MCHB has mapped out five critical components that support families and communities in the development of children that are healthy and ready to succeed in school. One of these is parenting education services. The purpose of this report is to (1) provide SECCS Initiative grantees and their partners with information about the current status of parenting education programs in the United States; (2) present some approaches to the provision of parenting education; (3) identify the role of the SECCS Initiative in relation to the development of affordable, high-quality parenting education programs and systems; and (4) present some promising practices and parenting education resources. The following are appended: (1) The Universe of Parent Education; and (2) Matrix of Stand-Alone Parent Education Programs for Parents of Children Birth to Five. (Contains 3 tables, 2 figures, and 71 endnotes.) [This publication was produced by the National Center for Infant and Early Childhood Health Policy, an active collaboration between the UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities, the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP), the Women and Children's Health Policy Center at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). This paper been adapted from "Supporting Parents through Parenting Education" by Marlene Zepeda and Alex Morales.]