ParentLink: A Model of Integration and Support for Parents*

ParentLink represents a collective of Missouri organizations and agencies striving to simplify parents' access to research-based information, services, and problem-solving support pertaining to parenting. It is based on systems theory (von Bertalanffy, 1981) and, more specifically, the ecology of human development (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). A comprehensive array of technologies augments ParentLink professionals' outreach to parents and other citizenry. For parents, the access can be as simple as a telephone call to ParentLink's WarmLine professionals. Other doorways for information and support include ParentLink's Web site, other Web applications, media campaigns, and forthcoming neighborhood-based Parenting Corners. Information gathered from parents and communities about parenting issues will in turn shape future programs and policies. Key Words: family life education, parenting education, parents, technology. A number of authors have recently suggested that there is a growing need for parenting education and family support programs that are comprehensive, integrated, responsive to community needs, flexible, and creative in using technology as a means to disseminate information (Carter & Kahn, 1996; Simpson, 1997). ParentLink has attempted to address this need. As a statewide Missouri organization, ParentLink brings together a wide array of organizations and agencies for the purpose of helping parents, professionals, and community members to more easily access parenting information, services, and support. Located at the University of Missouri and administered through University Outreach and Extension, ParentLink has moved steadily forward during the last ten years to lay the groundwork for a comprehensive parenting-support system. Today, this system capitalizes on technology and helps Missourians move away from the fragmented, piecemeal support system of the past. ParentLink's use of technology makes sense, considering that information technology has become a profound medium in family life (Hughes, Ebata, & Dollahite, 1999; Smith, 1999). Why not capitalize on technology when 94% of American households have a telephone, 98% have a television, 81% have a VCR, 44% have a cell phone, 37% have a computer, and 19% are connected to the Internet (Hughes et al., 1999)? In this article, we share our vision and hope to stimulate thinking about creating responsive systems of parenting education and support that capitalize on technology. Although we focus only on a single program in one state, because ParentLink has been described as a promising initiative (Carter & Kahn, 1996; Myers-Walls & Myers-Bowman, 1999; Simpson, 1997), we believe that our reflections may be of special interest to states embarking upon new or strengthening existing parenting education endeavors. We begin by laying the theoretical foundation of ParentLink and then show how ParentLink is based on an application of this framework. In doing so, we will describe the internal ParentLink operations, its external interfaces, lessons learned, challenges, and future directions. Theoretical Framework Myers-Walls and Myers-Bowman (1999) suggest that it can be helpful to articulate the theoretical perspective underlying parenting programs, particularly if this description is done in a manner that is sensitive to practitioners who may not be intimately familiar with the theory. Similarly, Hughes (1994) expresses the need for family life education programs to have a strong theoretical foundation. Accordingly, in this section, we describe the theoretical framework underlying ParentLink. In doing so, we emphasize that we are laying out the broad framework that ParentLink operates within, and that specific interventions may be based on a number of more specific theoretical perspectives. ParentLink bases its work on the premises generated from systems theory as set forth by von Bertalanffy (1981), and, more specifically, from the tenets of the ecology of human development perspective (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). …