I Want to Know More - Tools for Your Child's Success

Taking Care of Yourself as a Parent: Why Your Well-Being Matters Parenting a baby or toddler is one of the most rewarding experiences in life, but it’s also exhausting, overwhelming, and full of big emotions (both yours and your child’s). It’s easy to put all your energy into your little one and forget about yourself. But here’s the truth:  your well-being directly affects your child’s well-b...

Supporting Your Child During Stress and Adversity: Building a Strong Brain Every parent or someone in a parenting role wants to give their child the best possible start in life. However, the reality is that adversity is a part of life. Whether it’s a stressful move, financial struggles, illness, or other challenges, difficult moments happen. The good news? Parents and those in a parenting role pla...

Serve and Return: Simple Activities to Build Your Baby’s Brain Babies are born ready to connect with the world, and one of the best ways to support their development is through serve and return interactions. These back-and-forth moments between you and your baby help build their brain, strengthen your bond, and support their emotional and social growth.^1,2 They help your child grow into a co...

Building Secure Attachment: Simple Ways to Help Your Child Feel Safe and Loved Attachment is the deep emotional bond between you and your child. When babies feel safe, loved, and cared for, they develop secure attachment, which helps them grow into confident, independent, and emotionally healthy children.^1,2 What Is Attachment? Attachment happens when your child learns they can rely on you to mee...

Supporting Your Child’s Mental Health and Building Resilience Parenting can feel overwhelming at times, especially when it comes to supporting your child’s mental health. But here’s the good news: as their parent or someone in a parenting role, you are uniquely qualified to help them navigate these challenges and build resilience. You may not always have all the answers, and that’s okay. Understan...

Is My Child Okay? Mental Health and Suicide Prevention As a parent or someone in a parenting role, it's natural to worry about your child’s well-being. With all the challenges children face today—like school stress, peer pressure, and social media—knowing when something is not okay with their mental health can be tough. This resource will help you recognize signs of trouble, understand when to wor...

Finding the Right Mental Health Support for Your Child Introduction Finding support for your child’s mental health can feel overwhelming, but it’s a crucial step toward ensuring their well-being now and in the future. Providing timely support is key when a child is struggling with emotions, behaviors, or relationships. These challenges can impact your child’s learning, relationships, and even phys...

Deciding to Become a Foster Parent?

What do I do when important people in my life have different ideas about parenting my child?

Cannabis - what does the law say in Montana?

Preparing for a child in foster care.

Underage Drinking - what does the law say in Montana?

The first 24 hours, week, and six weeks of a child in foster care joining your family.

Introduction You might have heard of the nation’s opioid crisis or wondered about whether a medication prescribed to your child/teen is safe. You may be concerned about the potential of your child/teen drinking or using marijuana and feel overwhelmed with worrying about prescription medication. The recent increase in accidental fentanyl poisonings from using illicit drugs that have fentanyl added...

Underage Drinking: What Does the Law Say in Washington? Introduction Underage drinking laws can be confusing. They can change over time and vary by state. Parents or those in a parenting role and teens are often unclear about the laws and have misconceptions about the consequences of breaking those laws.  Let’s explore the underage drinking laws in Washington State and discuss scenarios that...

Cannabis: What Does the Law Say in Washington? Introduction Laws about the use of cannabis are changing rapidly and can be confusing. Laws differ by type of use, such as medical or adult use (sometimes called recreational use), and they also vary by state. While many states allow for the medical use of cannabis, and an increasing number of states have legalized cannabis for adult use, cannabis use...

Teaching Your Child to Identify and Name Their Feelings Introduction Emotions are vital to your child’s life, influencing their behaviors and overall well-being. However, many children struggle to accurately identify and name their feelings, leading to emotional confusion and difficulties communicating their needs and managing their emotions.  Identifying and naming feelings is a skill that p...

Navigating High Conflict With Important People in Your Child’s Life Introduction  Conflict can happen within families, between spouses, extended family, and with other important people in your child’s life. Conflict is normal and expected. However, when conflict escalates, is persistent, and remains unresolved, it can harm not only the adults in conflict but your child.  Learning to addr...

Is My Child Vaping? What Do I Do? Introduction E-cigarettes are electronic devices that heat a liquid and produce an aerosol that can be inhaled.^1 E-cigarettes are also called “e-cigs,” “e-hookahs,” “mods,” “vape pens,” “tank systems,” and “electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS)”.^1  Smoking e-cigarettes is called vaping.  Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine.^1 Nicoti...

Child Trauma Introduction Negative experiences can disrupt a child’s sense of safety and security. These negative experiences in childhood are sometimes referred to as child trauma. Research suggests more than two-thirds of children report experiencing at least one traumatic event by age 16.^1 Examples of these experiences can include events that happen once, like the death of a loved one, pa...

As a parent or those in a parenting role, you might find yourself worrying about all the risky behaviors in which your child/teen might engage and whether you have any influence on the choices that your child/teen makes. Rest assured, healthy risk taking is normal, and there are many ways you can increase the likelihood that your child/teen will engage in healthy risk taking and avoid unhealthy ri...

As a parent, or those in a parenting role, you play an essential role in your child’s/teen’s success.  You are the most important influence in your child’s/teen’s life. Intentional parenting is an approach where you use strategies to build a healthy parent-child relationship. A healthy parent-child relationship provides opportunities for you and your child/teen to learn and practice soci...

From the time your child is born, you create enriching opportunities where your child can explore, learn, develop new skills, create, and thrive.  You see your child develop and change in extraordinary ways. You know their developing brain continues to mature as a teen. In fact, during the teen years, your child’s brain goes through dramatic changes, second only to the first three years of li...

Developing healthy ways to calm down gives parents and those in a parenting role and children/teens tools to manage their feelings. When parents or those in a parenting role take their own break to calm down, they model emotional regulation. When children/teens identify and practice calm down strategies, they are more likely to use them when big feelings&nbs...

Throughout the various stages of development children/teens are working on understanding rules and applying them in various situations. They are seeking independence and will naturally break rules. This is a normal part of their development and is necessary for their learning. As a parent or someone in a parenting role, you can choose to be purposeful and deliberate in the ways you provide guidanc...