A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Parenting Resource and Support Partnership
Child Care Connection, Inc.

Child Care Connection (the local child care resource and referral agency), in conjunction with the Montgomery County Public Schools, is developing a variety of programs to support parents in their role as primary teachers and nurturers of their children. The Parenting Resource and Support Partnership expands in innovative ways on services currently offered by Child Care Connection (CCX) and the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS).

Today's parents need the support of their communities through training, information, and assistance services. This Parenting Resource and Support Partnership will meet those needs through seven interrelated programs:

1. Parenting WARMLINE Telephone Assistance Service
   The Parenting WARMLINE increases parents' confidence in child-rearing activities. It provides parents with a free, informal, easily-accessed telephone assistance service that responds to individual parents' concerns about child development and behavior and other family issues through support, information, practical advice, and referral to other resources.

2. Information Distribution
   The partnership is increasing the availability of written and multi-media materials regarding child development and effective parenting to all parents and others who work with children in the County. Information on parenting is distributed via community resources to increase parents' knowledge and confidence in child-rearing activities and to enhance the developmental progress of their children.

3. Parent Support
   PARENT TALK helps parents better understand their child's developmental and educational needs. It provides parents with an opportunity to share ideas, problems, and concerns with each other in a supportive group setting with the guidance of a parent educator.

4. Parent-Child Drop-In Programs
   In Parent-Child Drop-In programs at the five Parenting Resource Centers, parents and their young children play and learn together with the guidance and modelling of a parent educator. Located in urban, suburban, and rural areas, the programs serve the needs of educationally and economically disadvantaged families.

5. Personalized Home Visits
   The partnership enables and supports parents of children aged birth through three years in becoming successful first teachers of their children through personalized home visits by qualified parent educators. Participating families acquire needed information and support to give their child solid foundation for school success, receive timely developmental screenings and are referred to other needed community resources.

6. Professional Support
   A combination of workshops and on-site consultations enhances the ability of child care providers and other early childhood educators to support the parents of the children in their care. This strengthens the partnership between parents and early childhood professionals and the working relationship between home and school. Early care and education professionals help parents to better understand pre-kindergarten educational needs and support school readiness.

7. Activities in High School Clusters
   Through training workshops and distribution of seed money, the partnership is initiating at least one new activity which fulfills the MCPS Parent Involvement Policy in each of several elementary schools in high school clusters served by the five Parenting Resource Centers.

• Montgomery County Public Schools
• Montgomery Department of Health and Human Services

Director:
Carol Walsh
Child Care Connection
332 W. Edmonston Dr.
Rockville, MD 20852
Phone: (301) 424-5666
Fax: (301) 294-4962
Award: $470,401
Affiliation: PAT

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[Maine Parent Federation]

[Cambridge Partnership for Public Education]