Reimbursement for Parenting Education and Support Services

Unfortunately, regardless of training received and degrees earned, parenting educators can't serve families and get reimbursed by public and private insurers for their services. In an effort to bring light to this issue, I wrote the attached paper with two colleagues at NC State. Our (unpublished) paper outlines research supporting parenting education services and their efficacy to improve individual and family health and long term wellbeing and community prosperity. We highlight the fact that parenting educators are unable to be reimbursed for their professional services, and we advocate for systemic changes to enable families to have greater access to parenting education and support services. I hope you will find the paper provocative and insightful.

While we focus on NC, this issue is shared by every state in the nation. Fortunately, there are growing numbers of national and state organizations working to advance reimbursement for parenting educators. The National Council on Family Relations, National Parenting Education Network, and colleagues in NC, NJ, NY, and MN are among them.