Maricopa County Babies Now Come
With an Instruction Manual
Arizona Parents Kit Helps New Moms and Dads Navigate Their Child’s First Years
For the first time in Maricopa County, 99 percent of 65,000-plus newborns will leave the hospital accompanied by their own “baby instruction manual” – the Arizona Parents Kit – which provides expert advice, parenting tips, and national and local resources to help parents navigate the first critical years.
An initiative of The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, the recently launched Arizona Parents Kit combines insights from a 24-member advisory committee of local child advocates with expertise from The University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Community Wellness to provide parents practical, easy-to-use tools that enhance parenting.
New parents receive a kit free-of-charge
either during childbirth classes or upon
discharge after childbirth through 21 of
Maricopa County’s 22 birthing hospitals. The
kits contain an 80-page Arizona Parents
Guide, six videos/DVDs and an infant board
book, all available in both English and
Spanish.
“Becoming a parent is one of life’s greatest – and most rewarding – transitions, but it can be challenging as parents learn about their child’s needs and gain confidence in their abilities to create a healthy, safe and nurturing home,” said Judy Jolley Mohraz, president and CEO of The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust. “In developing the kit, our goal was to provide new mothers and fathers effective parenting strategies, easy-to-use advice and connections to local resources.”
A Community Endeavor
Governor Janet Napolitano’s office and the Arizona State School Readiness Board have recognized the Arizona Parents Kit as a quality parenting education strategy and are investigating the feasibility of distributing the kit to parents throughout Arizona.
“Our state’s future depends on the success of our children,” said Gov. Napolitano. “By providing parents with quality information and resources about early childhood development, the Arizona Parents Kit equips parents to build the foundation necessary for their children to succeed in life.”
“Parents play a critical role as their children’s first teachers,” said Nadine Mathis-Basha, chair of the Arizona State School Readiness Board. “The Arizona Parents Kit provides simple tools that help parents create a healthy environment of learning and exploration in the early years – as well as advice for choosing quality child care and early learning opportunities – that prepare their children to enter school safe, healthy and ready to succeed.”
Beyond the Arizona Parents Kit, the Arizona Institute for Early Childhood Development and its Birth to Five Helpline (1-877-705-KIDS) play an important role in providing expanded resources for parents of young children. Launched in May 2006 with support from the Trust, the helpline is Arizona’s first comprehensive toll-free telephone resource for parents seeking more in-depth advice and guidance from child development experts. In its first six months, the helpline assisted more than 9,700 parents, caregivers and professionals.
According to Ginger Ward, CEO for Southwest
Human Development, which operates The
Arizona Institute for Early Childhood
Development, the helpline goes one step
further than the kit by directly connecting
parents with experts to answer their questions
and provide expanded resources. She notes
that parents often have basic questions about
their child’s development and want
reassurance that what they’re doing is OK, but
they don’t know where to turn.
“The Arizona Parents Kit and the Birth to Five Helpline work hand-in-hand to answer parents’ questions about their children’s development or discuss conflicting information about the best approaches to care,” Ward said. “Whether it’s offering tips offering tips for helping a baby get to sleep or finding local resources for a child at risk of developmental delays, parents have information right at their fingertips.”
While the Piper Trust has committed $4.5 million to distribute the kits through Maricopa County birthing hospitals, other funding sources have supported kit distribution in communities outside Maricopa County. Through grants from the Child Abuse License Plate Prevention program, hospitals in Tucson, Nogales and Coconino County are rolling out distribution of the kits. The Yuma County Department of Public Health also is funding distribution of the kits.
For more information about the Arizona Parents Kit, a list of hospitals distributing the kits to new parents and a list of Valley libraries that are circulating the kits for parents to check out, click on the menu on the right.