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

Family Focus Project
Mental Health Association of Texas

The Mental Health Association in Texas' Family Focus Project is providing parental assistance through parent centers across the state. It is strengthening and expanding five existing parenting centers -- in Austin, Denver City, El Paso, Houston, and the Rosenberg-Richmond area -- to serve 1,530 families. It is also electronically linking parental assistance groups throughout Texas. The Mental Health Association in Texas has provided educational programs in the human services arena for 60 years, and is a state leader in prevention programs, the Parents as Teachers (PAT) program, and children's mental health.

The Family Focus Project seeks to enhance children's developmental progress by training and supporting parents, providing referrals for health and social services needs, increasing immunization rates among young children, and providing screenings for hearing, vision, and developmental delays. The project intends to strengthen partnerships between parents and professionals in addressing the educational needs of children, as well as improving the working relationships among home, school, and community. Moreover, the project emphasizes the need to reach high-risk populations, including teen parents and areas with high rates of juvenile crime, and underserved populations. Finally, the project plans to lower child abuse and neglect rates by providing information to parents on appropriate discipline practices. Each parent center will include:

1. Parents as Teachers Program
   Three centers are expanding their Parents as Teachers (PAT) programs, and two others are introducing the program. PAT is a primary prevention program designed to maximize children's overall development during the first five years of life. Services include personal visits, group meetings, access to a resource room, health screening and referral, and parent education. Children will also receive books through Reading is Fundamental.

2. Practical Parent Education Program
   Sponsored by the Texas Association of School Boards, the Practical Parent Education Program is based on the idea that the most effective way to strengthen families is to educate parents and form community networks to support them in their efforts to raise children. It provides parents fundamental parenting information in a supportive, interactive group setting, covering family systems, discipline, self-esteem, communication, and other topics.

3. Electronic Connections
   The Family Focus Project will also electronically link, through the HandsNet communication network, as many as 50 organizations and groups across the state that are working in parental assistance programs, including AmeriCorps Parenting Education programs, PAT programs, local mental health associations, and other key parenting and children's associations and groups.

Collaborators:

• Mental Health Association in Texas
• Denver City Independent School District
• Harris County Children's Mental Health Plan
• Lamar Consolidated Independent School District
• Mental Health Association/Austin Area
• University of Texas at Austin, Center for Social Work Research
• YWCA El Paso del Norte Region

Director:
Mary Ellen Nudd
Family Focus Project
Mental Health Association in Texas
8401 Shoal Creek Boulevard
Austin, TX 78757
Telephone: 512-454-3706
Fax: 512-454-3725
Award: $499,941
Affiliation: PAT

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[NashvilleREAD, Inc.]

[Addison County Parent Child Center]