News : Young Parents Network assists Young Families with needs

Tisha Ritter, the director of the Young Parents Network out of Cedar Rapids, made a trip to Vinton to address the area Kiwanis. YPN assists both mothers and fathers as they parent their young children. Ritter said, "Do you remember as a parent, they just hand you the kid and you leave. It happened to me twice!" YPN's goal is to help young parents.

YPN first started in Cedar Rapids 35 years ago. A nurse with Mercy Hospital noticed young women coming through that had no support system and needed information and resources to help them. The first group was just some ladies who invited these young women to share with them what their needs were.

The program used to be in Vinton 15-20 years ago, and is trying to make its way back. But like everything, it depends on funding.

Ritter explained is that through this effort, the group built a community. Being able to share like experiences, the group grew. The core program is called, "Building Bright Futures." Using the same idea, they share information and resources available to parents.

For 40 weeks out of the year, the group meets. It is a group driven by parents wanting to become better parents. The organization is based out of the Kirkwood Community College campus. They provide transportation to their families, Ritter said noting that the busses in Cedar Rapids only run until 7:00 p.m. They meet and provide a hot meal to the families, and then the children are sent into a different room where childcare is provided while the parents meet.

First, they will assess your need. If it's housing, they will address that before potty training. Then they will find out what the goals are to help the family. The parents can earn points to buy things in the "We Care Shop" which is stocked with anything you need for children under 5.

There is currently a group for moms, dads, a Spanish-speaking group. The newest group added is the African/immigrant/refugee group which has been their largest growing population. Following the derecho, their attendance grew and they found that they needed groups that spoke the languages to help the parents. There is staff available who speaks these languages to get the information out to the residents.

The English-speaking mom's group goes through the program based on the development of their child. When they are pregnant they get the information for that stage, then it moves on to the infant, toddler, and so on.

The program uses an evidence-based curriculum, one is called, "Parents as Teachers," The program works with the entire family unit to teach. She explained that between the ages of 0 and 6, this is the most important time for development.

The group not only helps moms and dads but works to identify any delays that the children might have before entering school. She explained that children in low-income families are usually already behind. The staff will assess the children beginning at 6 months old and continuing every 6 months, the staff will see if the children are developing as they should. If they find that there is something that the child struggles with, they will refer the parents to any available help to assist them.

Some of the training parents receive includes the basics. Diaper changing, bathing, feeding options, discipline, potty training are all part of it. The group also works to make sure that all parties involved in the family are working together. Their motto is, "Healthy families make healthy communities."

While the group does direct families to emergency services if needed, they focus on giving a hand up to the families empowering them to succeed. Following the derecho, the group became more of an emergency service for the families, which is something they don't normally do.

YPN also helps parents who need help breaking the cycle in their family of either no information or the wrong information in parenting. Local attorney Ray Lough mentioned that he has directed clients to YPN. When dealing with legal cases where parents may have lost their children due to bad decisions, he said that it helps to build the parents' confidence through education. He explained that sometimes all they've heard is that they are bad parents without the help to correct it. YPN helps to educate and to boost their confidence. Sometimes the program provides a judge with more information about the parent.

Ritter said that sometimes the group helps parents who for the first time have someone in their corner helping them, encouraging them, and guiding them.

The program has a staff of 15, and serves between 1-1,500 clients. On Thursday nights, they serve between 80 and 100 with about a core group of around 600 that rotate through. With the home visits, she said it's into the thousands, and they could do more if they have to, and they do, but she said that right now they are at capacity. Right now their service area is Linn and Jones counties, but they want to get into Benton County as well. She said that really, if you can get to them, they can help you.

Because of the pandemic, they were able to implement some programs to go virtual. She doesn't believe that the virtual format will every go away.

Providing a Diaper Bank, as part of the Eastern Iowa Diaper Bank the group has distributed over 600,000 diapers in 2020. Diapers aren't covered under any government program and cost parents between $80 and $100 a month. Before they were the Diaper Bank, they distributed only 25,000.

The Diaper Bank is also an incentivized program but it does open up once a month for anyone in the area that can get there, who needs diapers.

To check out their program, click here.