Community Coalition Projects

The New York State Parenting Education Partnership (NYSPEP) is a statewide cross- systems initiative designed to ensure all children grow up in nurturing families, by enhancing parents’* knowledge, skills and behavior. NYSPEP informs and supports close to 1,500 practitioners, program managers, researchers and policymakers to promote, provide and improve evidence-based parenting education.

Parenting education is a core component of a comprehensive strategy to strengthen family and community approaches to healthy child development and help prevent child abuse and neglect. When the rate of indicated reports of child abuse is as high as 47/1000 for children ages 0-17 years in some counties in NYS 1, the capacity of families to raise healthy children and the cost to the larger community must be considered a public health issue. Effective parenting education programs have been linked with better physical, cognitive and emotional development in children; increased parental knowledge of child development and parenting skills; improved parent-child communication; more effective parental monitoring and discipline; reduced youth substance abuse; and decreased rates of child abuse and neglect.

Additionally, according to a recent study published in Pediatrics Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the hardships that families have experienced related to the COVID-19 pandemic have negatively affected both parents’ and children’s mental health. The need to address the well-being of children and their families has never been greater. NYSPEP provides support through enhancing access to quality parenting education.

(*NYSPEP defines parents as adults who are the primary custodial caregiver of children.)

Community Coalition Project Goals:

1. Develop a concentrated, coordinated effort across New York State to strengthen the knowledge, skills and talents of all parents, to support healthy child development and reduce the likelihood of child abuse and neglect.
2. Raise community commitment to promote safe, nurturing relationships and environments for all children and families.
3. Establish community norms that support universal and quality parenting education.
4. Support Parenting Educators to develop skills and strategies to provide effective, evidence-based programming.
5. Engage families as the foundation for community coalition efforts to identify parenting education that addresses their needs.

NYSPEP Announces 2021-2022 (Cohort 4) NYSPEP Community Coalition Award Recipients

NYSPEP is excited to announce the 2021-2022 NYSPEP Community Coalition Award Recipients! Special thanks to the NYSPEP Review Committee and all those across New York State who applied. This year our review committee has decided to fund the following Community Coalitions:

Allegany, Cattaraugus, and Steuben Counties: Connecting Communities in Action

Nassau County: YES Community Counseling Center's Partnering in Action for Change Tomorrow (PACT) Initiative

Onondaga County: Early Childhood Alliance

NYSPEP Announces 2020-2021 (Cohort 3) NYSPEP Community Coalition Award Recipients

NYSPEP is excited to announce the 2020-2021 NYSPEP Community Coalition Award Recipients! Special thanks to the NYSPEP Review Committee and all those across New York State who applied. This year our review committee has decided to fund the following Community Coalitions:

St. Lawrence County: Massena Community Services Coalition

Wayne County: Wayne County Partnership for Strengthening Families

Schuyler County: Early Childhood Community Coalition

NYSPEP Announces 2019-2020 (Cohort 2) NYSPEP Community Coalition Award Recipients

NYSPEP is excited to announce the 2019-2020 NYSPEP Community Coalition Award Recipients! Special thanks to the NYSPEP Review Committee and all those across New York State who applied. This year our review committee has decided to fund the following Community Coalitions:

Clinton County: Clinton County Parenting Education Coalition

Niagara County: Healthy Moms/Healthy Babies Coalition of Niagara County

Tioga County: Tioga Strong Families

NYSPEP Announces 2018-2019 Community Coalition Award Recipients

NYSPEP is excited is to announce notifications have gone out to the Community Coalition Award Recipients! Special thanks to the NYSPEP Community Coalition Review Committee and all those across New York State who applied. This year our review committee has decided to fund five proposals:

Ulster County Department of Social Services: Children's Services for "Celebrating Families" Program.

Research Foundation for SUNY: Binghamton University for Parent Cafes.

Neighborhood Transformation Center: FLIP IT and Parenting with Heart Programs.

Association to Benefit Children for Positive Solutions: Families program.

S.T.R.O.N.G. Youth, Inc.: Strengthening Multi-Ethnic Families and Communities Program.

We are excited to see the impact these programs will make!

Outcomes from Community Coalition Awardees

NYSPEP was pleased to receive the final reports from our Community Coalition awardees. The awardees described positive results from the programming that NYSPEP funding supported including: The awards offered an opportunity to reach out to new and diverse populations. Parents had a positive response to the parenting education classes. The grants provided opportunities to form unique collaborations with other agencies in their communities. In addition, they report there now is opportunity to build on the work that has been started through the Community Coalition Awards.

The five awardees provided parent education to 97 parents. Parents involved in the Parenting Classes reported they had:

New parenting skills,
An increased sense of confidence in their parenting skills and ability to handle situations with their children,
An increased sense of connection with other parents and that it was helpful and validating to be with parents experiencing the same challenges;
An increase in positive interaction with their children.

“I have gained a better knowledge of how to be a better parent to all of my children and how to handle every common scenario.”

“Now having completed the class, I have learned so much about myself and my children. These classes have given me the proper tools and skills to be a better parent.”

NYSPEP thanks each of the awardees listed below who have been our partners in working to support parents and provide quality parenting education.

The Research Foundation for SUNY on behalf of Prevention Support Partners of Oswego County - Circle of Security Parenting
EAC Network Long Island Parenting Institute - Common Sense Parenting
Capital District Child Care Council - Parent Cafe: Build Your Bounce and Your Journey Together
Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University - Regulation Focused Psychotherapy for Children (RFP-C): Parent Group Intervention
Rochester Childfirst Network - Teaching Pyramid: Positive Solutions for Families