All parents struggle with understanding how best to raise their children and maintain healthy relationships with their partners. For young parents, these difficulties may be compounded by financial stress, the demands of school, coping with stigma, and simple lack of experience. This page links to resources that support parenting and relationship skills. It also includes information and resources on intimate partner violence.
Parenting and Child Development
Find a Parenting Program in Your Community
The New York State Parenting Education Partnership maintains a database of parenting education programs and other human services by county.
DirectoryHealthy Children.Org: The AAP Parenting Website
Sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), this website offers an abundance of resources for parents, tailored to the child's age group. The site includes a "Find a Pediatrician" look-up feature.
New York State Parent Guide
The NYS Parent Guide focuses on how parents and other caregivers can use five key skills to develop positive relationships with their children.
Center for Parent Information and Resources
The Center for Parent Information and Resources supports Parent Centers that serve families of children with disabilities. There are nearly 100 Parent Training and Information Centers and Community Parent Resource Centers across the US. Find a nearby center through the directory here.
Growth and Development
This resource from Advocates for Youth provides an overview of the different stages of human development and sexuality from birth to adulthood.
Zero to Three: Behavior and Development
This website links to a wide array of child development resources for parents, professionals, and policymakers.
Milestone Tracker App
The Milestone Tracker App allows you to track your child's milestones from age 2 months to 5 years with CDC checklists, get tips from CDC for encouraging your child's development, and find out what to do if you are ever concerned about how your child is developing.
The Parenting Project
This Cornell University project provides resources for parent educators through the Professional Pages and Research Briefs. Resources are also provided for parents and caregivers.
Professional Development Webinars
Designed for professionals working with parents, these NYS Parenting Education Partnership videos include topics such as normal child development, social and emotional development, and family engagement.
VideosEvery Person Influences Children (EPIC)
This grassroots organization is dedicated to helping families, schools, and communities raise children to become responsible and capable adults. The website offers overviews of the programs the organization has developed for children, teens, families, and communities. Contact them to bring EPIC to your community.
Co-Parenting: Resources and Best Practices for Service Providers
This resource begins with a description of the importance of co-parenting and its association with child well-being, and is followed by suggestions for how best to support young fathers and other caregivers in co-parenting programming services. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
Relationship Skills
Active Listening Guidelines
Organizational staff, community partners, and expectant and parenting young people can use these tips to develop their active listening skills.
TipsPositive and Corrective Feedback
Learning to provide positive and corrective feedback can be helpful for building relationships. By giving feedback, we help young people assess their own actions, identify their strengths, and consider what how they can improve.
Teaching Resources for Youth Educators - A Source Book
In this online handbook, a multitude of teaching materials such as games, activities, exercises, handouts, and worksheets have been collected to help young people build communication, relationship, conflict resolution, and public speaking skills. These resources were produced by Wisconsin 4-H Youth Development.
Problem-solving with Teenagers
This six-step problem-solving process from the Raising Children Network offers tips on resolving conflicts between parents and their children.
Helping Youth Build Relationship Skills
This page from ACT for Youth lists program activities and curricula that emphasize building healthy relationship skills, and includes resources designed for young people.
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)
Dating Violence
Compiled by ACT for Youth, these resources promote knowledge about teen dating violence, facilitate effective intervention and prevention, and give guidance on seeking or providing help.
Intimate Partner Violence
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provide a host of information on IPV on this website, including definitions, data sources, risk and protective factors, publications, hotline contact information, and prevention strategies.
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV)
The NCADV aims to eliminate domestic violence, empower women and children, promote and unify services, educate the public, and promote partnerships through the collaborative effort of communities and individuals. This website provides information about the NCADV as well as help for victims of domestic violence.
Crisis Text Line
Crisis Text Line serves young people in any type of crisis, providing them access to free, 24/7 emotional support and information they need via the medium they already use and trust: text. When a teen texts "HOME" to 741741, a trained volunteer will respond, helping the teen move from a hot moment to a cool moment.
Domestic Violence Quiz
Designed as a part of the PBS Independent Lens series A Path Appears, this quiz serves as a tool to enhance knowledge of domestic violence.