Welcome to Kentucky Family Policy

This blog is dedicated to examining issues facing the Commonwealth of Kentucky and providing a nonpartisan, family perspective on public policy making. We hope to provide a forum for Kentuckians to review and discuss current legislative actions and the issues such actions are attempting to address. The opinions expressed herein belong solely to the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the University of Kentucky, its affiliates, or its representatives.

What the authors of this blog will contribute:
1) Summarize current state, national, and international research related to topics relevant to current legilative actions.
2) Describe Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service programs and activities currently addressing issues related to legilative actions in the various counties.
3) Provide expert commentaries via podcasts and videocasts on issues relevant to current legilative actions.

Please see "Priority Bills" section on the right for a short list of the most current legislative actions relevant to the family focus of this blog

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Knott County Teaches At-Risk Families about Nutrition

Nutrition is an important aspect of family life. At-risk families often have poor eating habits due to financial difficulties and lack of knowledge. Knott County Extension Service has worked with at-risk families to improve their eating choices and behaviors.

In 2006-2007, Knott County offered cooking classes to parenting groups. Local Head Start, Even Start, and Graduate Equivalent Program (GED) volunteers provided transportation for participants, incentives, and hands-on skills at the programs. Here are some of the highlights:
  • The entire Extension staff worked with 212 parents in three cooking schools to provide information on budgeting, food safety, menu selection, grocery shopping techniques, and food preparation demonstrations.
  • The participants planned the menus, prepared the food, decorated the tables, and helped with clean-up.
  • 100% of the parents reported that they learned something new at each program.
  • One father reported that he has started to help prepare family meals.
  • Follow-up evaluations also have found an increase in food safety in the areas of food storage and food preparation.
Knott County has demonstrated there is more than one method available to teach needed family skills. These skills are important for improving the quality of life among at-risk families.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Parent education is effective across diverse families

Often when interventions are designed, little consideration is given to how the intervention might work for people of diverse backgrounds. However, a recent study has shown that the same parenting education program can be effective for parents of different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Researchers compared two separate but related studies of a parent education program based on Re-evaluation Counseling (RC). Specifically, they tried to determine whether the program was easily implemented and effective, whether the effects lasted, and whether the program was useful for populations. The first study involved 25 middle income, married mothers with at least one child younger than five years old. The second study involved 18 black mothers with children enrolled in Head Start. In both studies, mothers were assigned by chance to the parenting education group or to a comparison group. The researchers measured parental attitudes, parenting stress, and parenting practices before and after the parenting education intervention.

For both the middle-income white and low-income black mothers, the parenting education program:
  • Reduced parenting-related stress.
  • Improved parental attitudes.
  • Encouraged authoritative parenting practices.
Debate continues over whether parent education programs need to be tailored for the individual needs of diverse populations. This study shows that even without addressing such factors directly, parent education can be effective with diverse families. However, the authors do not suggest that incorporating diversity issues should be left out or ignored. In fact, attention to issues of diversity may strengthen the effectiveness, decrease drop-out rates, increase accessibility, and help strengthen community bonds.

Friday, November 2, 2007

Parent education effective at reducing anxiety disorders in children

Childhood anxiety is an important issue in child development, and research has shown that parent education can help to reduce symptoms of childhood anxiety.

In one study, researchers tested a parent education program designed to reduce the development of anxiety in preschool children. Parents were selected if their children displayed a high number of behaviors that placed them at risk for later anxiety, including withdrawal from group interactions. The parents then were assigned by chance to one of two groups: the intervention group, which included a 6-session parent education program or no intervention. The parent education program was group-based and especially brief in order to make it accessible and practical for parents.

The researchers found:
  • Children whose parents participated in the parent education program were less likely to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder after 12 months compared to children of parents who received no intervention.
  • The brief intervention did not change children’s overall temperament, but the children were better able to manage symptoms.

Childhood anxiety has immediate and long-term negative consequences for children and their families. This study shows that parent education may be an important early intervention strategy for reducing the likelihood that a child is diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Programs can be designed to specifically address childhood anxiety and its symptoms or they can focus on issues surrounding anxiety, such as effects on school performance and family interactions. Both types of interventions have the potential to improve the quality of life for at-risk children and their families.