Parenting & Childcare

Baby Clothing

Programs that pay for or provide new or secondhand clothing and layettes for infants and young children.

Child Passenger Safety Seats

Programs that pay for, provide and/or install car seats that can be used to restrain infants or young children who are riding as passengers in motor vehicles. Also included are programs that provide booster seats for older children or provide referrals to organizations that provide the seats or the safety checks.

Diapers

Programs that pay for or provide cloth or disposable diapers.

Formula/Baby Food

Programs that supply infant formula and/or baby food, usually in addition to other groceries.

Child Care Provider Referrals

Programs that provide statewide and community-based services that are designed to improve the availability and quality of child care. These programs maintain lists of child care resources and link families who are in need of child care services with child care centers, licensed family child care homes and other organization-based providers; provide information that helps families become good consumers of child care services; recruit new child care providers to expand the availability of the service locally; provide training and technical assistance for providers; and collect and disseminate data which document the demand for child care services and the current availability of child care resources. Some programs may also make referrals to preschools and many provide referrals to children's play groups.

Child Care Providers

Programs that provide substitute parental care in a group setting for children during some portion of a 24-hour day. Services may include recreational and developmental activities and snacks and/or meals as appropriate.

Child Care Expense Assistance

Programs that cover all or part of the cost of child care in public and licensed private child care centers or private family child care homes, usually for low-income families or families which include children with disabilities in situations where parents are working, in school or in a training program. Also included are programs that pay the costs of in-home or out-of-home child care when the parent is receiving diagnostic tests, undergoing medical treatment, is hospitalized or needs to be out of the house for other reasons; and those that provide financial assistance to families with young children to help cover some of the costs of a parent staying home to care for their child.

Baby Clothing

Programs that pay for or provide new or secondhand clothing and layettes for infants and young children.

Children's Clothing

Programs that pay for or provide new or secondhand clothing for children and/or adolescents.

Clothing Vouchers

Programs that supply coupons that can be exchanged in designated thrift shops or nonprofit organizations for clothing.

School Clothing

Programs that pay for or provide new or secondhand clothing or school uniforms for children who need something appropriate to wear to school.

Co-Parenting Workshops

Programs that are specially designed for parents who are separated, in the process of divorcing or have divorced or who never married but have children and who need to develop the knowledge and skills to understand and respond to the special needs their children may have as a result of the divorce/separation and to succeed in their ongoing roles as mother and father despite the fact that they are no longer husband and wife or partners. Topics may include the impact of separation and divorce on families, developmental stages of children and expected reactions to divorce, skills parents can use to minimize stress and help children to cope, guidelines for reducing conflicts and solving custody issues out of court and recognizing when a child needs special help and where to find resources. Co-parenting workshops may also be structured for parents in other situations.

Parental Visitation Facilitation

Programs that facilitate parental visits with minor children in situations where the court has established conditions for the visit.

Wage Assignment Assistance

Programs that provide legal assistance for people who want to petition the court to transfer wages earned by another person to themselves in order to settle a debt or judgment.

Holiday Gifts/Toys

Programs, generally supported by donations from the community, that provide gifts such as clothing, toys and other items to help low income individuals and families, older adults, hospital patients and others celebrate any of the annual holidays.

Maternity Clothing

Programs that pay for or provide clothing that women can wear during pregnancy.

Parent Support Groups

Mutual support groups for parents who share a common characteristic or circumstance such as being single parents, dual career parents, multiple birth parents, parents with children who are out of control, or parents of children with disabilities, who come together for educational and social purposes as well as for mutual support. Meeting formats may include in-person, telephone or Internet options.

Parenting Helplines

Programs that operate a telephone counseling and information line that parents can call when they have childhood development questions, need advice regarding a specific parenting problem or need a referral for parenting resources.

Court Ordered Parenting Programs

Programs approved by the court that provide classes which utilize a specialized curriculum that assists families with family preservation and unification. The programs target families in which children are deemed at risk for abuse and neglect and enable parents to fulfill the requirements of court-ordered family preservation contracts.

Parenting Skills Classes

Programs that teach skills that enable parents to deal constructively and consistently with a broad spectrum of child rearing problems which may include sibling rivalry; school behavior and performance; poor self-esteem; shyness; drug use; sexual promiscuity; and the whole range of negative, acting-out behaviors including whining, temper tantrums, disobedience, insolence and destructiveness. Some parenting skills development programs utilize a step-by-step approach for managing specific problems and may incorporate application at home of techniques that were discussed and practiced in the classroom setting. Other programs may offer participatory family workshops which provide opportunities for parents and children to learn and practice methods for dealing with one another under the guidance of a trained facilitator. Most training programs teach the parent a particular way of talking and relating to their children that reinforces positive behaviors and communication and decreases negative behaviors while supporting the development of a relationship that is built on fairness, mutual caring and respect.

Child Abuse Prevention

Programs, often offered in the schools or in other community settings, that attempt to protect children from physical, sexual and/or emotional abuse or exploitation through a variety of educational interventions which may focus on children of various ages, parents, people who work with children and/or the community at large. The sessions may offer suggestions for children and/or parents regarding ways of avoiding or handling an abusive or potentially abusive situation and/or information about the indicators and incidence of abuse, requirements for reporting abuse and community resources that are available to children who have been abused and to their families.

Family Support Centers/Outreach

Programs that provide a wide variety of social services that are designed to support the healthy development of families, improve family interaction skills and help fragile families to resolve their problems at a pre-crisis stage before they become unmanageable. Services may be center-based or provided on an outreach basis to families who are initially reluctant to seek support and generally target the specific needs of a particular community. Included may be self-sufficiency programs which help families break the cycle of poverty by addressing the barriers to self-sufficiency; early child development and school success programs; programs which address the needs of teen parents; programs which target parents at risk for becoming abusive; programs for families with children who have special developmental needs and programs that focus on the maternal and child health care needs of first-time, expectant women whose babies are at high risk for low birth weight and infant mortality.

TANF

A state program with matching federal block grant funds administered by the county or the state under state guidelines that provides time-limited cash assistance for needy families with (or expecting) children as well as job preparation, work opportunities and access to supportive services such as child care which enable parents receiving assistance to leave the program and become self-sufficient. TANF, which ends the federal entitlement known as AFDC, creates a five-year lifetime limit on cash assistance for most adult recipients; requires that recipients be working or participating in a work-related activity within two years and cooperate with comprehensive child support enforcement efforts including paternity establishment; and contains special live at home and stay in school provisions for teenage parents. States have wide latitude in structuring their TANF programs and may obtain waivers which exempt them from specific federal requirements. Recipients may receive monthly checks or be given electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards which allow them to access their cash benefits at automated teller machines (ATMs) or point of sale (POS) equipment that is located in grocery stores, banks and other commercial locations.

School Based Teen Parent/Pregnant Teen Programs

Programs, usually available within the regular high school curriculum, that provide opportunities for pregnant teens and teenage students who are parents to complete their high school education and receive diplomas. Classes which focus on child development, infant care, mother/infant nutrition and childbirth preparation are available in addition to the basic graduation requirements and academic electives. Students who are enrolled in the program may also receive nutritionally balanced meals (breakfast and lunch), prenatal care, family planning and counseling services.

WIC

A public health nutrition program administered by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service that provides nutrition education, nutritious foods, breastfeeding support and health care referrals for income-eligible pregnant or postpartum women, infants and children up to age five. Foster parents, grandparents, guardians and single fathers who have custody of their children may also be eligible to receive food assistance for children up to age five if they meet income guidelines. WIC provides specific foods to supplement the dietary needs of participants to ensure good health and development. Food packages typically include iron-fortified infant cereal, milk, cheese, eggs, whole grains, peanut butter, beans, fruits, vegetables and juice. Families can shop for WIC foods at most grocery stores using a WIC electronic transfer benefit (EBT) card or vouchers.