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Parent Connext™, a Beech Acres Parenting Center program that connects parents with individualized parenting support through a visit to or referral from a pediatrician, has received a generous $150,000 grant from the L&L Nippert Charitable Foundation, which is tripling its funding for the program because of the impact the pandemic is having on parents. “This tremendous investment from the L&L Nippert Charitable Foundation will ensure that parents continue to receive the help they need to support their children during this unprecedented, challenging time,” said Jill Huynh, vice president of new business development & Parent ConnextTM, Beech Acres. “Parents are enduring incredible levels of stress, and the one-on-one coaching sessions from Parent Connext™ are helping them to become stronger parents, provide a safe environment for their children and build family resilience.” Parent Connext™ places Beech Acres Parenting Specialists with eight TriHealth Pediatrics locations through a grant from bi3, from Mental Health Recovery Board Serving Warren & Clinton Counties and at Pediatric Associates of Northern Kentucky. Conveniently embedded in pediatric offices before the pandemic, Beech Acres Parenting Specialists have shifted their screening and coaching sessions to a telehealth approach to adjust to current social distancing guidelines. More than 20,000 families have been screened through the program. The specialists help pediatricians by screening for Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), which have the potential to impact long-term mental health, physical health, and behaviors, including smoking, alcoholism, drug use, missed work, depression, suicide attempts, heart disease, diabetes, severe obesity, cancer and stroke. People with a large number of ACEs can even have shorter life expectancy. Published research indicates that Cincinnati has a higher average number of children who experience ACEs than children elsewhere in Ohio or the U.S. Meanwhile, the effects of a difficult year in 2020 led to high levels of stress for parents, which creates additional ACEs for children. “Reducing ACEs translates to better prospects for the healthy development of children as they grow older. So Parent Connext™ is leading to stronger children and families, improved mental and physical health, and increased self-sufficiency,” Huynh said. Telehealth appointments for Parent Connext™ during the pandemic have brought more fulfilling experiences for parents. Appointment no-shows have dropped significantly, and the parent attendance rate has jumped to 90 percent of all scheduled appointments. With telehealth, Beech Acres specialists can see families in their home settings, meet more of the family, and even witness certain family behaviors. Telehealth also removed barriers to coaching sessions such as transportation and childcare.

Imagine what this year could look like if you take the time to genuinely connect with your family and with yourself by focusing on your strengths, taking time for mindfulness and being more intentional with the time you have together? HEAD Focus on your love of learning to improve your family’s overall well being. For Your FamilyA new year brings about new opportunities to improve yourself and the world around you. One way to do this is to involve your entire family in home improvement projects. Have a room that needs to be painted, a bookshelf that needs to be built, perhaps an outdoor landscaping project? These are great opportunities to develop your families’ strengths of love of learning, teamwork, and creativity by researching, planning, and executing these projects together. Watch “how-to” videos together. YouTube provides a vast wealth of knowledge for these types of projects. Research paint colors by understanding the science behind how colors mix to make new colors. Discover how planting certain trees or flowers in your yard can have a positive impact on the local and global ecosystem. These fun projects can bring your family together, increase your happiness, reduce stress, and improve your overall well being. For YourselfTake the start of the new year as a fresh opportunity to finally begin that new thing you’ve been wanting to learn. Maybe you’ve always wanted to learn a second language. Perhaps you want to learn an instrument or learn to draw or paint. This year set an intention to get started. Once you’ve done that, create some milestones for yourself to ensure accountability. Doing something like this for yourself develops your strengths of love of learning, bravery, and perseverance. Heart Focus on your strength of love to build your family’s emotional health. For Your FamilySpending quality time with those we love is critical to our emotional health. This year be intentional about the time you spend with your family. If you have busy schedules, as most families do, set a time each day to spend just 15 minutes together. If it is unrealistic to have dinner or read together every night, be creative. Make the most out of those rides to school, practices, doctor appointments or therapy sessions. Ask powerful questionsand listen expansively to their answers. Take a mindful moment together before you start your day by completing a breathing exercise. Your smartwatch or smartphone can probably help here. And always remember to end each day with a hug! Setting these intentions to spend quality time together each day increases the likelihood of actually spending time together. For Yourself Try this brief exercise to center yourself and focus on love, hope, and sense of meaning. Place your hand on your heart. While your hand is on your heart think about someone who has recently made a positive impact on your life. Can you set an intention to write that person a message of gratitude for what they have done for you? This exercise not only gives you pause to focus on your own heart but affords you the opportunity to connect or reconnect with those you love. Hands Focus on appreciating Beauty and Excellence by getting active and having fun! For Your FamilyLet’s play! Getting your daughter to ballet practice on time and making sure your son understands the right bus route to take to get to school certainly are important, but don’t forget to take some time for fun. Try putting together a puzzle, assembling a Lego set, or simply coloring a picture together. Kids still love slime! There are plenty of recipes, colors, and even easy to use kits you can find online. Host your own “baking” challenge. You’ll get to work with your hands, spend time together and end up with a delicious dessert or after school treat. Working on any of these projects engages your strengths of teamwork, zest, and appreciation of beauty and excellence. These moments together can be fun and special. Make the most of them. For YourselfAny of the activities for your family can also be done solo as well. You’d be surprised how relaxing coloring can be. Doing something active alone can be refreshing and fun. Set an intention to complete that yard work you’ve been putting off or plant a garden. While you’re outdoors take a moment to appreciate the beauty of your yard, the trees, and the nature all around you. Spend time journaling, actually writing down or typing out your thoughts and feelings can relieve stress and calm your mind. You can also use this as an opportunity to connect with others. We communicate so much beyond the words we say to one another. Is that an opportunity for you to be intentional and help someone (family, member, neighbor, co-worker)? Shovel a neighbor’s driveway or simply offer to open a door for a co-worker. These intentional gestures can mean a lot. Click here to download this activity and set intentions with your family today! 

New year, new parenting tips! Start the year off right by building on your family’s strengths of creativity, humor, and prudence with these tips from The Character Effect™! Download this month’s family engagement challenge and get started today!

Our vision of a world where all children are nurtured to discover, cultivate, and apply their natural gifts is impossible to achieve unless we stand together against racial injustice.  We stand strong with our Black employees, parents, children, families, and communities we serve. We’re mindful of the work there is to be done, and we will strive together to create a more just, inclusive, and equitable society.  June 2nd, 2020 During this season of gratitude, we’re given pause to consider this statement from six months ago. A long history of racial inequality and injustice in America seemed to culminate this summer with a feeling of enough is enough. It’s unfair and unfortunate that it took another murder of a Black man and another murder of a Black woman for our country to collectively get to where we are. It’s not lost on us that the six-month anniversary of George Floyd’s death coincides with Thanksgiving. Too many families will celebrate this season of giving with grief rather than gratitude. That is why we are committed to this change. Change can be a challenge, and we believe that transparency in our progress and our setbacks is crucial.  Beech Acres Parenting Center, like many organizations, made a statement at the time, speaking out against racial injustice. But we wanted to do more, to do something. We did not want our statement to simply be a social media post, forgotten as soon as it was posted. We wanted to make a commitment to anti-racism that reflected the values of our organization. As a parenting center, we were saddened that every time this happens, there are children are being left without parents and moms and dads grieving for their children.  To keep ourselves accountable to that commitment we wanted to share with you what we’ve done, what we’ve learned, and what we plan to do.  We began by making a commitment to anti-racism. Our priority goal was to develop and execute an anti-racism strategy for those we serve, the system affecting them, and within Beech Acres itself. We’d already made strides in this area having put together a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) task force. This team was already working to address deficiencies in this area across the organization, but the events of this spring and summer provided clarity and focus around that agenda.  With the full support of the Beech Acres board, we established the following organization-wide objectives and strategies. Listen and Learn: Engage the voices of Black parents to increase understanding and co-create services and resources.  Implement strategies for program enhancements: Strategies are designed to make a difference by building on existing practices, partnering with external resources, and/or co-creating new interventions with parents and stakeholders Advocate to improve education, healthcare & child welfare systems: Analyze systems affecting families Beech Acres serves to identify opportunities for ling-term systems impact.  Use communication vehicles as a catalyst for change: Leverage marketing communications to engage and recruit Black families and use platforms for anti-racism messaging. Change from within: Continuously build DEI, Anti-Racism team and culture.  After establishing this plan, we began the work of implementing this strategy. We’ve begun to listen and learn by engaging an outside research firm to invite parents to participate in a listening session to learn more about what we are doing well and more importantly where we need to improve. We began systematic reviews of our programs from top to bottom, engaging with our partners, and listening to our funders to determine how we could implement strategies for program enhancements. We refocused our efforts in schools (Beyond the Classroom, The Character Effect™), pediatric offices (Parent Connext™), and within the child welfare system (foster care and adoption, Kinship Connections, Parent Enrichment Program) to clearly advocate to improve education, healthcare & child welfare systems. We produced a series of blogs for parents to have critically important discussions about race with their children. We’ve also addressed racial disparity in mental health and other important topics on our website and social media to use or communication tools as a catalyst for change. Finally, we’ve looked internally to change from within by committing to an anti-racism strategy, keeping DEI as a focus in all we do, and encouraging open and honest dialogue among our staff on these important issues.  The deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor were no different than previous atrocities that have occurred time and time again, but these came at a time of particular division in our country, a time when we are not seeing eye to eye, and a time when healing is needed the most.  We understand there is so much work to be done, not only by us, but within the community, our country, and the world. Know this; we hear you, we are committed to this, and it is something we believe in as an organization. 

Today our team takes the opportunity to celebrate the life of Sharon James, a beloved member of our Beech Acres family who unexpectedly passed away in 2019. Rather, than a somber remembrance, we mark the day the way Sharon approached every day, with great joy. Today, as we celebrate a day of awakening joy to remember our friend we invite you to set an intention to awaken joy in your life. What can you do to acknowledge and celebrate joy in your life? We invite you to tag us as you celebrate joy today.

We’re excited to share that two of our long-time donors will receive the AFP Philanthropists of the Year Award. Congratulations to Bill & Jenny McCloy! Bill and Jenny McCloy have long supported the mission and vision of Beech Acres Parenting Center. Being awesome parents to four children naturally engendered them to support the mission and vision of Beech Acres Parenting Center. Bill and Jenny lead with their love of family and with their hearts. Bill serves as President of the board of directors of Ken Anderson Alliance (KAA), an organization that seeks to change the lives of generations of families affected by developmental disabilities. Jenny serves as board chair for Melodic Connections, an organization that uses the power of music to connect people in the community and she has served as chair of the Reel Abilities Film Festival. They also support/serve organizations such as Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati, St Vincent de Paul, Stepping Stones, St. Joseph Home, DePaul Cristo Rey high school, LADD, Boys and Girls Club of West Chester Liberty, Life Town, The Learning Experience, and The OSU Fisher Business school alumni board. Bill and Jenny McCloy work joyfully to improve the lives of others, to connect those who need connection the most. Their philanthropic efforts reflect their values of family, community and collaboration and their impact will be felt by generations. Check out his video from the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

NEW! Enroll in our course, Pre-School and Elementary School-Aged Children. Your 3-year-old has AMAZING character strengths! A Fun Activity to Develop Your Three-Year Old’s Strengths At this age, you are likely seeing bravery, creativity, zest, and lots of curiosity! Take this opportunity to lean into these strengths and help your 3-year-old become the best they can be. Ready to go further? Sign up to speak to a Parent Connext™ Parenting Specialist today or call 5132316630 to get started today.

By Guest Blogger Barbara Strum, Kinship Caregiver When I think of my kinship experience, one word comes to mind and that is “Faith” (Optimism). Kinship care to me means having a support network made up of social workers, case managers, therapists, counselors, and other grandparents or relatives in the same situation where they are raising one of their kinfolks. It is a community, a close-knit group of fellowship, support, and encouragement. We help one another just by knowing that we are not in this situation alone. Many of our Kin that we care for have mental problems or severe trauma issues.  When we have done all we can do, it is nice to have someone just to listen and truly care. Sometimes we get ideas or suggestions to think “outside the box” on something that we may not have tried. Kinship care encourages us to not forget about our own self-care and health needs. We get numerous ideas about this, but most of all it encourages us to remember to laugh through our situations and to know that we all have each other’s back, regardless. And we have made new friends. Kinship Connections gives us resources and helps us when we have nowhere else to go. It’s almost like a one-stop convenience store. I rate it a 10+ for anyone. 👍

We’re grateful for the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other relatives and friends caring for a loved one’s child. One grandmother shares her kinship experience with this beautiful poem. Learn more about Kinship Connections.

Ohio Families In Crisis Nearly 9 percent of all children in the state of Ohio are being raised by a kinship caregiver*. This staggering statistic from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services brings into sharp focus a somber consequenceof the opioid epidemic that has ravaged the state in recent years. This is also likely a conservative estimate considering that many of these caregivers, mostly grandparents who find themselves unexpectedly raising their grandchildren, are underreported because they are simply “doing the right thing” in caring for their loved one’s child. Many of these caregivers do not seek help or are even aware that assistance is available to them. Help Is Available But help is available to these caregivers through Kinship Connections, a support system from Beech Acres Parenting Center dedicated to providing assistance with financial resources, navigating confusing and complex paperwork, and connecting with other families experiencing similar circumstances. Funded in part by the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund (OCTF), Kinship Connections is providing hope for vulnerable families who find themselves in unfortunate and unexpected circumstances. A Mission To Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect Founded in 1984, the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund is Ohio’s sole, dedicated public funding source for child abuse and neglect prevention. The mission of the Trust Fund is to prevent child abuse and neglect by investing in strong communities, healthy families and safe children. “OCTF is dedicated to helping children and families thrive. Through our efforts, we aim to increase the funding spent on universal prevention, promote the healthy development of children, and prevent child abuse before it occurs,” said Nicole Sillaman, Program Manager of the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund. Keeping Families Together The Ohio Children’s Trust Fund is interested in kinship care as a means of preventing [further] trauma to children. “Relatives are the preferred resource for children who must be removed from their birth parents because it maintains the children’s connections with their families and other familiar aspects of a child’s life,” said Jane Dockery, Coordinator of the Southwest Ohio Regional Prevention Council of the OCTF. The top concerns facing kinship families are the need for kinship navigation, the need for peer support, and the need for parenting education/ parenting support. “Beech Acres is working on all three of these fronts,” Jane said. Thank you to the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund for their dedicated support in preventing child abuse and neglect through their investment in strong communities, healthy families, and safe children. To learn more about Ohio Children’s Trust Fund visit OCTF.ohio.gov. Testimonial “I’m a 56-year-old grandmother raising my 8-year-old grandson becauseof his parent’s opioid overdose. The Kinship program has provided me with both financial and emotional support. My youngest child is 29, so it’s been quite a long time since I was a parent. They have been absolutely comforting in guiding me down the new path of parenthood. My grandson is diagnosed with PTSD and ADHD. They have helped with services I didn’t even know existed.”