Report of the Chair

Report Anne S. Robertson, NPEN Chair
May 2010

It has taken longer than I anticipated writing this year’s letter from the Chair. Although the media has indicated that the recession is now over most of us are still coping with increased demands at work and within our communities. Now, more than any other time in NPEN’s history is parenting education and family support crucial for our communities and our families and I am incredibly thankful for dedicated NPEN volunteers who have given so generously of their time and resources to further NPEN’s goals. Our 2010 Council hails from New England, the Southeast, DC, Midwest, Southwest, Northwest, and West Coast and includes people from academia, direct family support services, preK-12 education, national nonprofit organizations, advocacy and community development, consulting, and international experts. The nomination committee carefully considers the diversity represented on the Council when each year, some new members rotate on the Council as senior members rotate off. This provides an important balance of knowledge of parenting education history infused with innovation and fresh ideas essential to a healthy organizational structure. I am so pleased to welcome the new Chair, Dr. Betty Cooke and Chair-Elect, Liz Pearce who both have wonderful strengths and expertise to guide NPEN for the upcoming years.

In 2009-2010 the NPEN-L listserv was very active and continues to connect parenting educators in the U.S. and internationally. Discussions have focused on many topics including parents’ impact on violence prevention, characteristics of sound research in parenting education, access to programmatic resources and critical policy development and advocacy issues. Given the breadth of these important discussions we are developing a project that will review the information provided within the listserv discussions to develop user-friendly resources on salient topics as well as provide possible suggestions for future research or programmatic development. These virtual conversations also engage NPEN members in timely discussions of national importance and our listserv and website continue to be a major aspect of the communication and advocacy committee’s work.

Additionally the NPEN committees have made remarkable progress in other areas. The professional development committee is exploring the feasibility of creating a recognition system based on parenting educator competencies and we look forward hearing more about that in the fall of 2010. The evaluation committee explored ways to gather more information about how evaluation is currently being used in the field and the resources that are found to be most helpful. A grant was written to support this work and if successfully funded, will move forward beginning in July 2010.

NPEN was very pleased to have its annual 2010 meeting on the west coast and in collaboration with the Fathers and Families Conference in Los Angeles, California. It was exciting to be part of this important initiative and council members presented workshops on program evaluation, ethical thinking for family professionals, and core competencies for parenting educators. Of course, the educational component of NPEN is part of our foundational mission and connecting to national and regional conferences provides a cost-effective way for NPEN members to gather, share expertise and resources while learning from others focused on a variety of parenting education issues. Linking to our Conference and Events page will keep you informed of upcoming events in your region.

The special projects committee of NPEN facilitates the development of interesting ideas which may or may not grow into part of the larger committee structure. I’m very pleased with the development of the international focus of NPEN and there is much that NPEN can learn from our colleagues abroad. We are also pleased to begin a discussion about collaboration with the organizers of NEPI and are looking forward to an expanding initiative based on our common goals.

We can never be sure how history will view this decade of challenges but as I reflect on NPEN’s work, I am in awe of how this organization, despite very limited funding, has capitalized on its wealth of volunteer expertise and maximized new technologies to grow and respond to today’s critical issues facing parents and families. We hope you will join us on this exciting journey to improve the lives of parents and children.

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