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BANGOR -- Penquis Community Action Program recently received a $2,500 grant from the Maine Community Foundation, Maine Charity Foundation Fund, and a $1,000 grant from the Maine State Troopers Foundation to support The Parenting Experience, a project of the Penquis CAP Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Councils. The Parenting Experience teaches middle and high school students about the consequences of parenthood and appropriate infant care. The goals are to prevent teen pregnancies and child abuse and neglect. The project incorporates the national Baby Think It Over program, which uses infant simulators to enable students to experience the emotional, financial, and social consequences of teen parenting. The simulators require real care on the part of the teen, including feeding, burping, rocking, and diapering, and record information on the quality of care received. Classroom instruction helps students to understand the purpose of the program, the realities of pregnancy and parenthood, infant needs and appropriate responses to a baby's cries. "The grant funds will be used to buy additional infant simulators, including a Drug Affected Infant Demonstrator and a Fetal Alcohol Manikin," said Cheri Snow, Deputy Director of Family Enrichment Services at Penquis CAP. "These simulators will increase the capacity of schools in Penobscot and Piscataquis Counties to educate students about the challenges of parenthood." The $3,500 is in addition to $9,000 already received from the Maine Children's Trust, the University of Maine Kappa Sigma fraternity and the Rotary Club of Bangor. For more information on The Parenting Experience, call Cheri Snow at 973-3571 or 594-7116. |