My Day at the Capitol: How We Advocated for Positive Parenting Programs
Positive Parenting Awareness Month is an important month for us here at Cope. For the entire month of January, we spend extra time educating our community on the power of positive parenting, sharing parenting resources, and reflecting on the important work we do with the families in our community.
On January 23rd, I joined Cope’s Triple P Parent Education team for a day of advocacy at the Capitol after the California Assembly proclaimed January Positive Parenting Awareness month for a fifth year in a row. Triple P teams from across the state, coming from as far as San Diego, met with our California legislators to encourage them to prioritize positive parenting in budget and policy decisions. Our Cope team was joined by other Napa County agencies delivering Triple P, such as UpValley Family Centers, Child Start, and ParentsCAN.
I asked Carina Vásquez, one of Cope’s Triple P Parent Educators, about her experience advocating for positive parenting programs at the Capitol:
“I feel that we are always honored, seen, and heard. Our legislators, representatives, and aides take the time to listen to the voices of the communities they serve. It is important to continue advocating and bringing awareness to the issues that our families are facing. We are the voice of every single family that we work with. Assuring continued funding is fundamentally important so that we can continue to provide parenting services for all families at no cost to them.”
Debra Wigington, Cope’s Parent Education Program Manager, added:
“To many in our community, we are their trusted messengers. Our representatives acknowledge the importance of the work we do to ensure families thrive. One member stated that they wished everyone would take a page out of the Napa Triple P Collaborative’s book when it came to partnership. When we can advocate for positive parenting on our community’s behalf, it’s empowering. I may not be able to change everything, but I am helping break the cycle of defeat for many in our community. Funding plays a major role in positive parenting support, so it is vital that we continue to be seen and heard by our legislators and representatives.”
The statewide Triple P Program is an evidence-based program in 48 out of 58 counties in California, but we only received $30 million out of the $4.7 billion General Fund Dollars from the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI) that the California governor passed in 2021. Our mission for this day was to advocate for additional funding to be made available to positive parenting programs.
Our Triple P team met specifically with Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, Mia Bonta’s Chief of Staff Tomasa Duenas, Wendy Carrillo’s Aide Timothy Knox, Senator Dave Cortese’s Aide Ashonte Smith, Senator Bill Dodd, and Senator Dodd’s Legislative Director Marisol Prietto-Valle.
When talking to our legislators, we reminded them that for every $1 spent on preventative programs like ours, we save $8 in future treatments and services. We used personal stories from our clients who have benefited from the program, told our own stories, and shared the impact Triple P has had on our community as a whole. Given the demonstrated impact of positive parenting programs, we advocated for additional funding for Triple P programs so we can continue to teach parents positive parenting skills and and help parents give their children safe, happy, and healthy childhoods.
When we met with Ashonte Smith, we discussed the negative effects of child abuse and how important it is to continue to receive funding for preventative programs like Triple P. Our team talked about Napa County’s high population of immigrants and the support our program gives the families in our community who are isolated due to migration. We could see the impact our discussion had on him. Mr. Smith said he would relay our important message to Senator Cortese, as it affects priorities he has for the state, and that he would personally look into our funding from CYBHI because he cares greatly about supporting California’s families.
As we left the Capitol on Tuesday, we felt accomplished and proud that we advocated for the children and families in our community.
Citlali Trujillo Rios
Community Engagement Coordinator