¡1,2,3,4 Padres! Program Helps Texas Coalition Reach Out to Hispanic Parents

Parenting education and prevention of child abuse is my passion, says Dora Rios, MA, LPC, LSW, RPT-I, as she explains her volunteer efforts on behalf of the Take Time for Kids/Por Amor a Nuestros Niños Coalition. The Coalition was developed in 1998 and received a $2,500 seed grant from the Texas Department of Health to offer parenting education and outreach services to Spanish-speaking parents of children ages 0-4 living in the southwest Houston and Fort Bend County area.

I am working with a dedicated board comprised of representatives from businesses and agencies such as Care-Net; the Women, Infant and Children Program (WIC); Family Outreach Fort Bend; Comunidad de Amor Church; Houston Center for Christian Counseling and other professionals in the field of parenting education and child abuse prevention. We are participating in community fairs and festivals and presenting parenting education classes in as many places as possible.

For example, Dora says, at WIC Health Fairs the Coalition is using the ¡1,2,3,4 Padres! program. We set up a room with the video. A parent facilitator invites small groups of parents to come in and watch a session of the program and then discuss such things as the stages of development, giving choices and using time out. At a recent fair we were able to reach 120 parents in one day by using this approach.

When we present the program at churches and schools, we can use the three-session discussion format. We find that ¡1,2,3,4 Padres! is a flexible program that we can adapt to many situations.

Increasing awareness and fund-raising are constant challenges for the Coalition. Wal-Mart Corporation matching grants have helped sponsor such events as the Festival for the Love of Our Children 1999/2000. The Coalition reaches Spanish-speaking parents through Wal-Mart/Radio Unica Community Fairs. The Foleys Department Store Charity Day and a ballet fund-raiser also helped raise money to compensate the three parenting/health facilitators and provide training materials and other supplies.

(Note: Interested in scheduling a parenting presentation or class in the greater Houston area? Call 832-282-5348.)

by Diana King

Reprinted from Leader magazine.
Copyright 2003 by Active Parenting Publishers, Inc.