ParenTalk NewsletterCommonsense Advice for
First-Time Parents
Click the links below to read about a topic:
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 9,500 Hispanic families across Ohio
with a grant from the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund.
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.
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.
If you live outside Franklin County, click here.
We also distribute ParenTalk through Franklin County
hospitals. If you received a ParenTalk subscription
card at the hospital, you may mail it to our office.
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.
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.
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!
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.
If you are a current ParenTalk corporate client
that pays quarterly, you may send us a subscription
request online or fax it to us. If you currently pay
per subscription you can print out the form and mail
it to MHAFC with your check.
Simply click here
for the form.
"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.
The following corporations have shown their
support of their employees and their families by
becoming a ParenTalk corporate client.
- BISYS Management Co.
- BRAVO Development, Inc.
- Columbus College of Art and Design
- Netcare Corporation
- Southeast, Inc.
- YMCA
Mental Health America of Franklin County offers
our ParenTalk program at an economical cost to Mental Health America affiliates (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.
If you are
interested in purchasing this series and/or would
like more information about other options available,
please click here to e-mail Wendy Cohen. We look forward to
working with you!
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