The mayors of Memphis and Shelby County, Baptist executives, community leaders and others recently gathered at Baptist Women’s Hospital to dedicate one of the nation’s first two Universal Parenting Places—judgment-free zones where parents can receive professional counseling, information and emotional support for family-related issues.
The goal of the centers, which are open to all families at no cost, is to help prevent common childrearing challenges from becoming chronic physical, emotional, or behavioral problems with long-term societal consequences.
A coalition of families, educators, faith leaders, business leaders, non-profit managers, elected officials, law enforcement and health care providers united to create the centers. Baptist Women’s Hospital helped spearhead the effort, along with Knowledge Quest (the site of the other UPP), Porter Leath and the Adverse Childhood Experience Center Task Force of Shelby County.
While developing the UPPs, project leaders consulted world-renowned early childhood development experts and studied the latest brain, trauma and behavioral research. The ACE task force also conducted a local study that found that, of the 1,500 Shelby County adults who were interviewed, 20 percent had been sexually abused as children, 22 percent had been exposed to violence between adults, and 37 percent had witnessed a stabbing or shooting. The findings highlighted the need for the UPPs in Memphis because research shows traumatic experiences can affect children’s brains.
Organizers believe the UPPs will serve as a national model and hope to see similar centers across the county, state and beyond.