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SALT LAKE CITY – The Cook Center for Human Connection, a nonprofit dedicated to mental health and suicide prevention, has partnered with Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) to provide ParentGuidance.org to LCPS’ schools and families. Members of the LCPS community now have free access to a range of online mental health resources that empower families to help children thrive, including:
- One-on-one parent coaching individualized for families;
- Online on-demand lessons taught by licensed therapists; and
- Live, interactive family mental health series webinars hosted by trained professionals – available in the fall of 2024;
“Talking about mental health and other concerns is the key to understanding,” says Jennifer Evans, M. Ed., LPC, Director of Student Mental Health Services at LCPS. “Through ParentGuidance.org’s parent coaching and webinars, we are aiming to help parents address important mental health and developmental topics to support their children. Parents will gain tools and strategies that will enable them to talk with their children, engage in, and normalize important conversations about mental health.”
The Cook Center’s model focuses on the protective factors for youth mental health and suicide prevention in which schools and parents play a critical role. Though only two years old, ParentGuidance.org has already been adopted by 229 districts and 3,617 schools, offering more than 2.4 million families access to services across 37 states.
“ParentGuidance.org is a powerful tool to help families be the first line of support for their children,” said Anne Brown, president and CEO of Cook Center for Human Connection. “By providing education, resources, and direct support to families, we are helping the people who love and care for their children most: the parents. We are extremely proud to be partnering with a school district of distinction like Loudoun County Public Schools, who are showing they truly care about the role of parents in their children’s well-being.”
In 2021, the American Academy of Pediatrics and other national medical partners declared a national emergency in child and adolescent mental health, noting that healthcare professionals are “caring for young people with soaring rates of depression, anxiety, trauma, loneliness, and suicidality that will have lasting impacts on them, their families, and their communities.” Mental health factors have become especially formidable barriers to learning following the pandemic, intensifying a national imperative for innovation in student mental health and wellness. Research has established that school-based mental health and suicide programs that engage parents can increase the effectiveness of all interventions.
Loudoun County Public School families can sign up directly through ParentGuidance.org or learn more from the division’s Student Mental Health Services page. For more information about the Cook Center’s work and resources, visit CookCenterforHumanConnection.org.
About the Cook Center for Human Connection
The mission of the Cook Center is to bring together the best organizations, programs, and products to prevent suicide, provide mental health support, and enhance the human connections vital for people to thrive. The foundation’s current focus is on supporting children, families, and schools with youth mental health resources and on the goal of eradicating suicide. This work is accomplished through various grants to schools, programs for parents, and global resources to bring greater awareness to the support needed for those affected by mental health needs and suicide. Its free resources created to support child mental health and suicide prevention include My Life Is Worth Living™, the first animated series about teen mental health and suicide prevention, and ParentGuidance.org, a mental health resource giving parents the tools to have important conversations at home. The content includes free on-demand courses taught by licensed therapists and family mental health nights hosted by trained professionals. Learn more at CookCenterforHumanConnection.org.
