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Mothers of young children will often say that parenting is one of the most emotionally rewarding and challenging experiences of their lives. For new mothers who are also living with adversity such as their own childhood trauma, financial instability, racism, or social isolation, it can be a particularly vulnerable time. Personal struggles can impact how mothers parent their small children, and over time, can fracture family bonds and lead to problems in school. To raise happy and successful children, mothers need both practical and emotional support on their own journeys.
That’s where Mom Power comes in. Mom Power is a ten-week program for mothers and their young children designed to help mothers grow and develop new parenting and stress management skills, build social networks, and connect with ongoing support services in the community. For one mother, perhaps the most important thing she took from Mom Power was friendship. “We got to talk about our experiences as parents, and we learned a lot from each other, ” reflects Icshia Leatherwood, a graduate of Mom Power. “I had one friend when I started Mom Power, and then added six more friends to my roster where I can call them and not feel, you know, judged. We were all there for the same reason–just trying to create a safe space where we could talk about our parenting experiences and not feel like we were being judged.”
In 2022, the Washtenaw County Public Safety and Mental Health Preservation Millage Advisory Committee awarded a $2.3 million grant to the Intermediate School District to fill gaps in youth mental health programming. Prevention is a core objective of the grant. The ISD proposed the expansion of the Mom Power program as part of the grant to prevent mental health issues in children before they enter school. Mom Power is a program of Zero to Thrive, a multidisciplinary center at the University of Michigan that promotes health and resilience of families from pregnancy through early childhood, particularly in families exposed to adversity.
“Zero to Thrive really aims to promote families, resilience, and well-being through research, training, and service,” explains Co-Director and U-M Professor Dr. Katherine Rosenblum. “Early foundational relationships can create a protective buffer for young children to achieve their optimal development even in the face of adversity. What Zero to Thrive adds to that is an understanding that it’s not only about parenting, but it’s about what parents need,” she says. Mothers of preschool aged children are often stressed and under-resourced. Increasing stability for these parents benefits the whole family. “It’s a process of self discovery and self exploration for the parent,” says Director of Strategy Sandra Bitonti Stewart. Through Mom Power, mothers learn to approach their children’s behavior with curiosity, and “report an increased capacity to reflect on and respond to their own and their children’s emotions,” she says, adding that “If we want healthy babies, we need healthy moms.”
Mom Power is facilitated by clinicians and other providers who work with mothers and their children during 10 group sessions and three one-on-one sessions. The data-driven curriculum applies attachment theory, cognitive behavioral, and dialectical behavioral strategies with proven results. For the past twelve years, researchers at Zero to Thrive and their collaborators have published studies on the impact of the Mom Power program to improve trauma informed care and treatment for mothers exposed to high levels of adversity. Quantitative and qualitative data show that participants experience a reduction in stress, depression, PTSD, and social isolation as a result of the program. Mom Power is the only program that has documented increased activity in the parts of the brain responsible for empathy. “It actually helped change the ways parents were responding to their baby’s cries even at a brain based level, which is pretty amazing,” says Dr. Rosenblum. Mothers who have been through the program report an increased sense of personal wellbeing and connection to their children. “Because of Mom Power I definitely feel like I’m more equipped as a parent than I was before,” says Leatherwood. “It helped me to be able to talk to my whole family in a different way. I was able to manage my anxiety and I learned more coping techniques for stress,” she says.
In 2019, Zero to Thrive teamed up with the Success by Six Great Start Collaborative at the Washtenaw County Intermediate School District (WISD) to create the Washtenaw Community Collaborative Project. One of the goals of this project was to expand delivery of the Mom Power program to improve outcomes for at-risk children before they enter school. “Zero to Thrive developed the curriculum and the evaluation proving that the curriculum is evidence based,” explains Margy Long, Director of the Success by Six/Great Start Collaborative. “Success by Six connected the program with individuals, particularly low income families of color in the community that would benefit from participating in the program.” In 2022 the WISD applied for a $2.3 million grant from the Public Safety and Mental Health Preservation Millage Advisory Committee to offer new and expanded mental health services for schools and parents. They again partnered with Zero to Thrive, and part of the grant sponsors facilitation of Mom Power groups and a new program designed to be led by parents as peers, Strong Roots Parent Cafes.
The Parent Cafes began as a way for mothers to remain connected in a supportive parenting community after graduating from Mom Power. But the concept for the cafes has since expanded, and they are now open to all parents and their children. Strong Roots Parent Cafe hosts–who are parents in the community–have to complete a training course created by Zero to Thrive. A number of Trusted Parent Advisors, who are mothers that work through the Success by Six program to connect at-risk parents to resources, have gone through the training. Icshia Leatherwood is one of those Advisors, and is now facilitating a Strong Roots Parent Cafe, where parents and children enjoy food, friendship, and group discussions guided by the host. “I see Parent Cafes as a way to bridge whatever gap there is between parents and the greater community,” says Leatherwood. Of Mom Power and the Parent Cafes, she says “I am so sold on the model. They call it ‘Drinking the Kool Aid’– I drank the whole pitcher of Kool Aid! It runs through my veins now,” she laughs.
For more information about how to connect with Mom Power and Strong Roots Parent Cafes, and to the Zero to Thrive and Success by Six programs, visit:
https://washtenawsuccessby6.org/
To learn about the youth mental health services grant, visit:
https://www.washtenaw.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=2363
