Child advocates across the State of California are working on the passage of Assembly Concurrent Resolution 140 (ACR 140) authored by Assembly Member Mark Stone (D-Monterey Bay). The initiative seeks to designate January 2020 as Positive Parenting Awareness Month across the state and build upon the county-level proclamations that have spread from Santa Cruz County where it was conceived and launched 8 years ago.

Positive parenting is a known remedy for the public health problem of child maltreatment and neglect and no-cost and low-cost resources are available to families in California provided by a variety of human service providers across sectors and professions. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for example, maintain positive parenting resources for all to download and use: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/chi...parenting/index.html.

When asked about what we all can do to address adverse childhood experiences, Dr. Felitti has said offer “widespread quality parenting education.” Positive Parenting Awareness Month is a first step in creating the understanding that this can happen here in California and that we all can play a role in this. Here’s how you can help:

• Consider monitoring the status of this resolution; we expect that the ACR 140 will culminate in a vote on the floor January 13, 2020.
• Consider contacting your state Assembly Member or Senator prior to Jan 13th regarding passage of ACR 140; we have crafted a template for this.
• Consider incorporating a Positive Parenting Awareness Month message on your website and social media presence. https://www.positiveparentingtools.org/ has been created for you to download these items for free. Spread the word!

Join the following organizations supporting this initiative:

• Child Start Inc. (Napa County)
• C.O.P.E Family Support Center (Contra Costa County)
• First 5 Contra Costa County
• First 5 Inyo County (Inyo County Health and Human Services)
• First 5 Mendocino County
• First 5 Orange County
• First 5 San Benito County
• First 5 Santa Clara County
• First 5 Santa Cruz County
• First 5 Solano County
• First 5 Sonoma County
• Jewish Family Service of San Diego
• Napa County Triple P Collaborative
• National Indian Child Welfare Association
• Optimal Solutions Consulting (Santa Cruz County)
• Parents by Choice (San Joaquin and Solano Counties)
• ParentsCAN (Napa County)
• San Benito Health and Human Service Agency
• Triple P America
• Uplift Family Services (Santa Clara County)