January Proclaimed as Positive Parenting Month

 

Positive Parenting Awareness Month highlights the importance for parents and caregivers to develop warm, nurturing relationships with their children and teens and become more confident as parents. Through the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program, families are offered proven strategies for strengthening relationships with their children and for preventing or managing a full range of parenting challenges. The program is available to all families in Contra Costa County who have children ages birth to 17, including children with special needs, through a partnership between First 5 Contra Costa County and Contra Costa County Human Services Department.

In proclaiming January 2024 as Positive Parenting Awareness Month, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors introduced numerous important messages and concepts related to parenting, some of which include:

• Raising children and youth in Contra Costa County to become healthy, confident, capable individuals is the most important job parents and caregivers have.
• Positive parenting is a protective factor that prevents and heals Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), which can have lifelong impacts on health and well-being.
• Many parents and caregivers raising children and youth feel stressed, isolated and overwhelmed, no matter their age, race, ethnicity, tribe, or income level.
• Families in California come in many forms, with children who are raised by parents, grandparents, foster parents, family members, and other caregivers.
• Families can benefit from a “tool kit” of proven strategies and receive support from positive parenting programs such as Triple P, made available through C.O.P.E Family Support Center and numerous organizations and individual practitioners thanks to partnerships between First 5 Contra Costa County, Contra Costa County Human Services, and Mental Health Services Act (MHSA).
• Every individual, community group, business, public agency, non-profit organization, and tribe in Contra Costa County have a role to play in raising awareness of the importance of positive parenting and supporting the health and well-being of children and families.

“Parenting, at times, can feel isolating and overwhelming. The Triple P program is here to help, especially during difficult times,” said Cathy Botello, Executive Director of C.O.P.E. Family Support Center. “Since 2010, diverse parents and children in Contra Costa County have benefitted from Triple P classes, workshops, resources, and support. Year after year, the program has helped reduce parents’ depression, stress, and anxiety, while improving parent-child relationships and reducing behavioral challenges. Local families continue to benefit from our programs, thanks to Triple P practitioners who are adapting and innovating despite constant disruptions and uncertainties happening during these challenges times.”

The 2023 proclamation also acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic, climate crisis and racial injustices have exacerbated economic insecurity, mental health challenges, domestic violence, discrimination, and other trauma experienced by many families—particularly Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian and other families of color that already experience inequities rooted in structural racism.

During Positive Parenting Awareness Month in January 2024, Triple P partners will offer virtual parenting classes on a variety of topics in English and Spanish. To learn more, copefamilysupport.org or call (925) 689-5811.

 

 

About C.O.P.E. Family Support Center, Contra Costa County

The Triple P – Positive Parenting Program is a world-renowned program available to families in Contra Costa County who have children ages birth to 17, including children with special needs. Backed by more than 30 years of international, scientific research, Triple P offers families proven strategies for strengthening relationships with their children and for preventing or managing a full range of parenting challenges. The program is available to all families in Contra Costa County through a partnership between First 5 Contra Costa County, and Contra Costa County Human Services Department. For more, visit copefamilysupport.org