Then it may be time for you to explore the Positive Parenting Program – better known as Triple P – and receive practical strategies that can help you raise happy, confident kids and make family life more enjoyable.

Triple P can provide parents, grandparents and caregivers with the skills to manage parenting challenges while building healthy family relationships and promoting positive child development.

Through a grant from Children’s Trust of South Carolina and The Duke Endowment, Triple P is being offered in Georgetown County by Tidelands Health, the local coordinating agency of the program, and being put into practice by this group of community-based service delivery organizations: Tidelands Health Pediatrics; Riverside Pediatrics; Inlet Pediatrics; Black River United Way; Miss Ruby's Kids; Waccamaw EOC Headstart; Children's Recovery Center; Family Bridges; Riverside Behavior and Learning Collaborative; Waccamaw Center for Mental Health, Georgetown County; and Access Family Services.

The acclaimed evidence-based program, which has been used nationally and internationally for more than 35 years, is being led in Georgetown by the Tidelands Health implementation team of Amanda Cohen, community wellness supervisor; Tyler Owens, community wellness coordinator; and Takia Daniels, community health worker.

“We are extremely excited to provide this wonderful parenting support program that is now available to all families of Georgetown County,” Cohen said.

Since being launched in early 2020 in Georgetown, 47 practitioners have been trained in Triple P, and they have served 611 families to date and impacted nearly 4,400 children. During that time, parent surveys have shown the program being embraced by the families. Some of the sample comments have highlighted the lessons and skills being learned to manage behavior.

• Teaching my child how to cope.
• Taking time for my children.
• Helping children deal with emotions.
• Understanding my actions toward my child can have a negative or positive lasting effect.
• Teaching my children to be self-confident and independent.

“It’s really starting to make a connection in the community,” Cohen said.

Abby Wilson, Children’s Trust director of community initiatives, and Mariah Kowalkowski, Children’s Trust community capacity coach, have worked with Tidelands Health to get Triple P up and running in Georgetown. A new “Level Up” billboard campaign highlights this effort.

“Our partners in Georgetown are continuously excited for what Triple P can and is bringing to their community. From the beginning, they saw the potential for their entire community to have access to parenting support, and they have been working nonstop to make that happen,” Wilson said. “From pediatricians to educators to child care providers, partners in Georgetown are coming together to support parents in places they already go to offer opportunities to ‘level up’ their parenting skills.”

Triple P, which has proven effective across cultures, socioeconomic groups and in many kinds of family structures, offers a wide array of parenting supports that range from broad to specialized so that all parents and caregivers can access tools that bolster satisfaction with parenting and improve behaviors for children. 

For more information on Triple P, call 843-520-8242.