Growing Community Manseld UMADAOP puts focus on parents and young children
A friendly face e program will see pregnant women and their children up through three years of age.ey also work with a number of single dads and will provide the same services to fathers in need of assistance.eir goal is to help 25 families per year, but because of a large need for services, Payton says they often help far more. While the parenting tips and information are invaluable, Payton says it’s the social aspect that helps make the program so successful. She says many parents can be uncomfortable around doctors and visiting clinics, so getting them to interact with a community health worker in a safe and familiar environment helps ease concerns and allows parents to open up about the challenges they’re facing. “You suddenly have a friend who’s non-judgemental, who’s giving you the kind of support you need,” Payton says. “It makes people think, ‘I’ve got somebody that I can call for even the smallest questions.’”
e birth of a child can bring as much joy and excitement as it can fear and anxiety, especially for new parents.at’s why the Mans eld UMADAOP is doing everything it can to help new mothers and fathers overcome the challenges of parenthood. As part of Ohio’s Help Me Grow initiative, the Mans eld UMADAOP regularly sends a sta member out into the community to do home visits with new parents and expecting mothers.e sta person provides information on a wide variety of issues, including health and development, educational activities, and even how to play with a child in a safe and constructive way.e sta person will also conduct simple screenings to help ensure the child is happy and healthy while helping the parent lay a foundation for the child’s future. “e whole idea is to try to improve that child’s health and development,” says Carol Payton, Mans eld UMADAOP’s prevention and outreach director. “ese are new moms and a lot of times they’re very young, and we want to make sure they’re focused on getting the right information and doing the right things during those critical years of a child’s life.”
“It’s a very holistic approach that we’re taking, it’s a family approach.” - Carol Payton
Future growth Payton says the overall goal is to help new mothers and fathers become more con dent and competent in their parenting skills. She says that competency can lead to a reduction in abuse, and helping parents with small things like arranging doctors appointments can have bigger bene ts as well. By eliminating the stress of everyday tasks, parents have more freedom and con dence to pursue other positive activities to improve their situation for themselves and their children. “We look at things growing one step at a time. Our goal is to assist them in managing those barriers,” Payton says. “We’ve had women who have gone back to school. We’ve managed to remove enough barriers in their lives that they’ve been able to pursue higher education.” e program has seen many success stories over the years, and Payton says she is looking to expand services in the future to help more families in need. Payton hopes to make a positive impact on the community as a whole by helping new parents improve their skills to give children the best possible start in life. “It’s a very holistic approach that we’re taking, it’s a family approach.”
“You suddenly have a friend who’s non-judgemental, who’s giving you the kind of support you need.” - Carol Payton prevention and outreach director Manseld UMADAOP 14
Pictured: Dennis Baker, CPS, Executive Director of Manseld UMADAOP 15
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