Parent support program expanding in Hanover

Mona Berry wants parents to know their 3-year-olds should be testing out safety scissors.

The practice, which helps kids hone their motor skills, is just one of the parenting techniques Berry promotes in Hanover County as a parent educator for a program called Parents as Teachers Hanover.

The goal of the program is to support pregnant women and parents about goal setting and things they can do to help their children develop before they enroll in kindergarten. Parents as Teachers Hanover is voluntary and free for families and also does mental health and child development screening. Berry currently works with 18 families and has the capacity to work with 22 families.

"It's a support system for them," Berry said of the families. "Anyone can have a baby, but to truly parent the child takes skill."

Parents as Teachers Hanover is run by the nonprofit Family Lifeline, and the model for the program is used throughout the region, said Shannon Reaves, a program coordinator with Family Lifeline. Family Lifeline has its roots in a group started by three women in 1877 to provide gas for heating to families, Reaves said.

Reaves was inspired to become involved with helping families after working as an elementary school teacher in Richmond Public Schools, where she saw kids who did not have the social or emotional skills to interact with their peers.

"By the time the kids were getting to me, there were so many missed opportunities," Reaves said. "If the child is not in good health by the time they get to kindergarten, they're not going to be ready to learn."

Parents as Teachers Hanover, launched in 2015, is the only program of its kind in the county, according to Jim Taylor, a Hanover deputy county administrator.

"We're excited to offer this Parents as Teachers program in Hanover County, as parents are the child's first teachers," said Taylor at the time of the program's rollout. "A goal of the county's Human Services Strategic Plan, this program offers support to families and is an investment in our future. We look forward to building the program through referrals from county departments, the local hospital, doctor's offices, churches, and others in the community."

One of the reasons for bringing Parents as Teachers Hanover to the county is that a similar entity called Resource Mothers, which focused on helping teen parents, went away a few years ago after the state pulled the plug on its funding, Taylor said.

"We went from serving 35 to 40 women a year to nothing," Taylor said.

The county set about searching how to fill the void and eventually signed a contract with Family Lifeline to bring the Parents as Teachers program to Hanover. For the county's 2017 budget, Hanover has allocated $62,052 to Family Lifeline.

After getting a referral for Parents as Teachers Hanover, Berry calls families to see if they would be interested in doing the program.

If a family wants to get involved with Parents as Teachers Hanover, Berry visits the home every other week for roughly hourlong sessions. The topics covered are health, child development, goals the parent might have, and activities parents can do with children.

Berry said she drives all over Hanover to help support families. The sounds of Coldplay, Michael Bublé and Celtic songs help with the driving.

A parent working with Berry might want to get his or her GED, for which Berry can help find resources. Or a parent might want to read with his or her child more, which Berry can help encourage.

Berry said a goal for Parents as Teachers Hanover is to grow the caseload to the point that a second parent educator would be needed. Berry thinks there is a need to expand Hanover's services to its Hispanic population.

"The goal is always to have a full caseload," Berry said. "I would really like to see Hanover County open its services to the Latino population."

mthompson@timesdispatch.com(804) 649-6254