ParenTalk Newsletter

What is ParenTalk?
ParenTalk is a series of 20 parenting newsletters providing educational information for new parents. It contains reliable, up-to-date information written for a culturally diverse audience. As the child grows, newsletters are sent to match their age and stage of development for five years. These easy-to-read newsletters provide new parents with:

practical information on a child's developmental stages;
one article in every issue written by staff at Children's Hospital;
an emphasis on the child's social and emotional growth;
other feature articles including "Watch Your Baby Grow" and "Parents are Talking";
basic concepts of good mental health for both parents and child;
information on how to handle day-to-day problems including temper tantrums and eating habits;
advice on how to deal with issues of child care, balancing work and family, two-career households, and discipline; and,
help for parents preparing their child for kindergarten.

The Ohio Department of Mental Health funded the translation of our ParenTalk series into Spanish in 2004. It has the same wonderful and useful information as ParenTalk. The photos, resources and some text have been updated to be responsive to the Hispanic population. The publication is now being distributed to 7,000 Hispanic families across Ohio with a grant from the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund.

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ParenTalk Is For:

First-Time Parents in Franklin County

At-Risk Families in Franklin County

Corporations As a Gift for Your Employees

MHA's and Other Not-for-profit Organizations

Free to First-Time Parents in Franklin County
As a United Way of Central Ohio agency, we are able to provide ParenTalk free to all first-time parents living in Franklin County for the first year. If you are a first-time parent, live in Franklin County and would like to subscribe to ParenTalk, click here. If you live outside Franklin County, click here. We will start your subscription immediately. You can sign up at anytime, whether your child is newborn or two years old. You will receive the next age-appropriate newsletter in the mail at the correct time.

We also distribute ParenTalk through all Franklin County hospitals. If you received a ParenTalk subscription card at the hospital, you may mail it to our office.
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Free to At-Risk Parents in Franklin County
As a United Way of Central Ohio agency, we are able to provide subscriptions to ParenTalk free for all five years to all at-risk parents in Franklin County. To accomplish this goal, we distribute ParenTalk to not-for-profit agencies and organizations that have parenting programs and would benefit from having ParenTalk as a supplement to their existing programs. Parents who are involved with a parenting program at a participating organization may sign up with them or click here to subscribe. If you are affiliated with, or know of an agency or organization that would benefit from distributing ParenTalk, please contact us at (614) 221-1441.
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ParenTalk: A Caring and Cost-Effective Solution to the Dilemma of Employer Gift-Giving
As a caring employer, you strive to provide a positive work environment for your employees. Employer gift-giving offers a quick and easy way to build morale, cultivating happy and productive employees.

At the same time, you operate under budget constraints. For a cost-effective and innovative gift to employees who become new parents, choose ParenTalk. Unlike flowers that are discarded after a few days or baby clothing that is quickly outgrown, ParenTalk provides benefits that last a lifetime.

What Does ParenTalk Cost?
A five-year subscription to ParenTalk costs only $25 and includes an attractive, sturdy folder to store all 20 newsletters. Our first corporate client was spending $35 on flowers for employees who became new parents. That company now gives ParenTalk, which costs $10 less per gift and serves as a continuous reminder that the employer cares about and is supportive of the family, a benefit that is priceless. ParenTalk fosters healthier employees and their families, which often helps to decrease absenteeism.

A ParenTalk corporate subscription includes a congratulatory letter on your company letterhead to your employee, provided with the first issue. If employees should transfer to a different state, ParenTalk will follow them to their new address.

There is no cost to your company until an employee welcomes a new baby into their family!

How Easy Is It to Give ParenTalk?
Call MHAFC at (614) 221-1441 or click here to fill out a request form. Provide us with copies of your congratulatory letter on your letterhead to be sent with the first issue. (We have a sample letter for your use, if you prefer.) When an employee becomes a new parent, simply give us their name and address, and we'll handle the rest.

Why Does a Newsletter Like ParenTalk Make Good Business Sense?
"From the practical standpoint of the corporate sector, investing in children makes very good business sense ... Besides a more productive workforce, better maternal and child health translates into lower health care costs. The old adage, 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,' certainly rings true..."
Ralph Larsen, Chairman and CEO, Johnson & Johnson

More companies recognize that they have to engage in family support initiatives in order to attract and retain productive employees and remain competitive.
Many companies find that programs promoting family wellness result in decreased health care costs for the employer.
For every $1 spent on early prevention and intervention, $4.75 is saved in costs associated with remedial education, welfare and crime down the road.
Excerpted from An Action Blueprint For Business: Forging New Partnerships to Make a Difference in Maternal and Child Health.

Current Corporate Clients
The following corporations have shown their support of their employees and their families by becoming a ParenTalk corporate client (as of November 4, 2004).

BISYS Management Co.
BRAVO Development, Inc.
Columbus College of Art and Design
CompDrug, Inc.
Dominion Homes
Netcare Corporation
Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (OCLC)
Pathlore Software Corporation
Southeast, Inc.
YMCA

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Current ParenTalk Corporate Clients
If you are a current ParenTalk corporate client that pays quarterly, you may send us a subscription request online or fax it to us. Simply click here for the form.

If you currently pay per subscription, please click here.

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Bulk Sales to Mental Health Associations and Other Not-For-Profit Organizations
Mental Health America of Franklin County offers our ParenTalk program at an economical cost to Mental Health Associations (MHA) and other not-for-profit organizations across the United States. Your clients will receive valuable information to help them be the best parents possible, while you receive increased visibility for your agency. Your agency's name is printed directly on all ParenTalk newsletters.

MHA's in other states have been successful in securing corporate and foundation support in funding this program due to the positive response from parents receiving this publication. In our latest outcome-based evaluation survey, 87% of our readers said ParenTalk provided them with information that helped them as a parent. We can share this survey tool with you at no cost to assist you in receiving grants for your own ParenTalk program.

General Ordering Information
ParenTalk is ordered in bulk, imprinted with your organization's name, address, telephone, and logo/bulk rate notation if desired, on the mailing panel. Purchase of the series entitles the organization to distribute the series within their geographic area. The ParenTalk series will arrive folded in thirds and ready to label and mail. The minimum total order of ParenTalk sets is 200 (4,000 pieces). ParenTalk may be ordered in complete sets, or by individual issue. All items must be ordered in multiples of one hundred. Materials may be ordered at any time. Please allow six to eight weeks for delivery.

Full payment must be included with the order. Tax and shipping fees are not included and are billed later. Agencies who are tax-exempt should include a completed tax-exempt form with the first order only. Industry printing standards allow for a 10% over-run or under-run of the complete order.

ParenTalk, including the newsletters, subscription cards and pocket folders, is copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any form, or re-sold without written permission.

If you are interested in purchasing this series and/or would like more information about other options available, please click here. We look forward to working with you!
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