It’s not easy being a parent. There’s so much to do, and it seems there’s never enough time or resources to get it done. New parents sometimes may feel there is nowhere to turn for help.

Frustration, helplessness and anger can lead to problems for both parent and child.

Fortunately for Sarah Martinez, she received help through Aurora Family Service New Parent Initiative and found renewed faith in her parenting skills.

"Sometimes I just get stressed out," said Martinez, who is the mother of four children. "I get angry because I am so tired and feel that I have no one who really understands what I am going through. I have a lot of personal issues that I am dealing with, and the last thing I want to do is take things out on my children"

Aurora Family Service started the New Parents Initiative (NPI) to help people like Martinez. NPI provides intensive in-home support services for Medicaid-eligible parents in Milwaukee County.

These include:

o Prenatal care coordination. Families receive in-home prenatal counseling, information and referral to ensure a healthy pregnancy and birth.

o Child care coordination. Parents get supportive home visits to make the most of the important first months and years of their child’s life.

o Parenting education/group sessions with other parents. Parents can learn, share and grow together.

"My experience with Aurora’s New Parent Initiative has been positive from day one," Martinez said. "The program teaches me ways to deal with stress, better ways to discipline my children, and helps me recognize when I need a ‘mommy break’ without feeling guilty when I need time out from my kids.

"The parenting education sessions have shown me that I am not alone, that there are other parents who feel the way I do and have had some of the same experiences. The sessions give me the opportunity to meet and talk with other parents.

"We discuss our experiences, and come together in a spirit of caring and sharing that enables me to cope, find solutions and know that I’m not alone."

Priscilla Neal, Aurora NPI case manager, meets daily with parents in their homes and knows firsthand how the program has helped them work through problems.

"New parents, in particular mothers, have so many challenges on a day-to-day basis," Neal said. "Work-life balance issues, postpartum depression, stress from the baby not sleeping or having an irregular sleeping schedule--the list goes on and on.

"For teenage and economically disadvantaged parents, you have the added challenges of financial and educational barriers.

"I go with parents to W-2 and doctor appointments, court appearances and help them prepare for job interviews. It’s important to ensure the right information is being asked for and shared," Neal said.

According to the nonprofit Prevent Child Abuse Wisconsin:

In 2003 in Wisconsin there were:

o 40,473 reports of child abuse;

o 1,336 substantiated cases of physical abuse;

o 4,076 substantiated cases of sexual abuse;

o 36 substantiated cases of emotional abuse;

o 2,546 substantiated cases of child neglect; and

o 12 substantiated cases of a child having died because of abuse or neglect.

While these numbers are alarming, the effects of abuse and neglect do not end with reporting and investigating. Children may experience the impact for the rest of their lives. According to Prevent Child Abuse Wisconsin abused and neglected children are less likely to be school-ready, more likely to be truant and more likely to become teen parents. As they grow up, they also are more likely to develop chronic illnesses and suffer from depression, alcoholism and drug abuse, and to abuse other children. It also may be more difficult for them to develop relationships due to lack of trust.

"When a parent calls me, I sometimes hear the stress and anxiety in their voices. I believe just listening has helped keep children out of harm’s way," Neal said.

"Parents have told me, ‘My baby won’t stop crying. I can’t take it anymore,’ or ‘I have just been in a domestic abuse situation with my child’s father, and I don’t know what to do.’ Calls like these are common and it’s important for me to first diffuse the situation, calm the parent and talk them through proper next steps," she said.

"Being there, offering advice and encouragement, is a big part of what I do as a case manager," she said.

Dawn Shelton-Williams, manager of the New Parents Initiative, said: "Being a parent is the most important job in the world, and one of the most rewarding. Many parents, especially young ones, are faced with stresses around family, school, work and finances. Often such stress can impact their parenting. Aurora Family Service’s New Parents Initiative gives them the support and tools to develop the skills needed to help their children grow into healthy, happy and loving children."

Because of their success, New Parents Initiative staff also are partnering with the City of Milwaukee Health Department and six other community-based organizations on a program called Empowering Families of Milwaukee. The program delivers in-home services to prenatal mothers in the 53204, 53205, 53206, 53208, 53212, and 53233 ZIP Codes.

To find out more about Aurora Family Service, New Parents Initiative or to make a referral, call (414) 219-4563.