SLS 11RS-2125 ORIGINAL
Page 1 of 4
Regular Session, 2011
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 100
BY SENATOR MOUNT
CHILDREN. Requests BrightStart, Louisiana's Early Childhood Advisory Council, to study
the merits of, and possible plans for, expansion of the evidence-based Positive Parenting
Program (Triple P) and to report to the legislature.
A RESOLUTION1
To urge and request BrightStart, Louisiana's Early Childhood Advisory Council, to study the2
merits of, and possible plans for, expansion of the evidence-based Positive Parenting3
Program (Triple P) and to report to the Senate and House committees on health and4
welfare prior to January 31, 2012.5
WHEREAS, parenting education can promote parents' ability to enhance their6
children's development, thereby helping parents to prepare their children for success in7
school and in life; and8
WHEREAS, in the 2010 Kids Count Data Book, Louisiana ranked 49th for overall9
child health and well-being, continuing a pattern of twenty years with a ranking of 49th or10
50th; and11
WHEREAS, since state Fiscal Year 2002, the number of children in Louisiana under12
the age of six entering foster care has increased by seventy percent, and it is estimated that13
Louisiana spends in excess of six hundred million dollars annually on these young children14
through law enforcement, child welfare, physical and mental health care, property damage,15
and work loss, not to mention the pain and suffering to the victim and the family; and16
WHEREAS, preventing child abuse and neglect before it happens is the best and17
most cost-effective course of action; and18 SR NO. 100
SLS 11RS-2125 ORIGINAL
Page 2 of 4
WHEREAS, to be a "parent educator" in Louisiana there is no licensing,1
accreditation, or minimal training requirements of any kind and, in a survey done by the2
Louisiana Parenting Education Network, forty-one percent of parenting programs reported3
no specific training requirements for their parent educators prior to teaching, and forty-five4
percent reported no specific annual training for their educators; and5
WHEREAS, the Positive Parenting Program is a system of parenting education with6
accredited educators, offering five intervention levels of increasing intensity designed to7
enhance parenting skills; and8
WHEREAS, this parenting education program is currently used in twenty countries9
across North America, Europe, Australia and Asia; and10
WHEREAS, the United States Triple P System Trial, a recently published study11
funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found between a twenty-five to12
thirty-five percent reduction in county-wide rates of substantiated child abuse cases, child13
out-of-home (foster care) placements, and reductions in hospitalizations and emergency14
room visits for child injuries in nine study counties in South Carolina where the Triple P15
parenting interventions were implemented; and16
WHEREAS, the evidence base for Triple P also includes forty-three studies17
addressing efficacy, effectiveness, and dissemination, as well as twenty-two service-based18
field evaluations; and19
WHEREAS, in Louisiana there is a cross-agency, early childhood system building20
effort, known as BrightStart, that has been designated by Governor Jindal as Louisiana's21
Early Childhood Advisory Council and includes members from each of the state departments22
that serve children, a member of the Louisiana Senate and a member of the Louisiana House23
of Representatives, as well as a number of statewide child-serving nongovernmental24
organizations; and25
WHEREAS, R.S. 46:2403 creates the Louisiana Children's Trust Fund and mandates26
that it shall be used solely for programs designed to prevent the abuse and neglect of27
children; and28
WHEREAS, BrightStart convened a meeting of the Louisiana Children's Trust Fund,29
various state agencies and private funders to meet with representatives from Triple P to seek30 SR NO. 100
SLS 11RS-2125 ORIGINAL
Page 3 of 4
collaboration and support to launch a pilot program in Louisiana; and1
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Children's Trust Fund, these state agencies and private2
funders have recognized the great need for more evidence-based, effective parenting3
programs in Louisiana and have collaborated to initiate a pilot program for Triple P; and4
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Children's Trust Fund has made a significant investment5
in the Triple P pilot program and is committed to expanding evidenced based programs in6
Louisiana; and7
WHEREAS, sixty practitioners from twelve parishes have been trained in Triple P8
and fifty-eight have been accredited, representing many different child-serving entities,9
including Head Start, Early Head Start, the office of behavioral health in the Department of10
Health and Hospitals, nonprofit and faith-based counseling agencies, and pediatric, nursing11
and education professionals.12
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby13
urge and request that BrightStart study the merits of, and possible plans for, expansion of the14
evidence-based Triple P system and report to the Senate and House committees on health15
and welfare prior to January 31, 2012.16
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the report include, but not be limited to:17
(1) An examination of how other states are implementing the Triple P system.18
(2) Recommendations of which levels of the Triple P system are most appropriate19
to implement in Louisiana.20
(3) Recommendations of the best recruitment and selection process for providers of21
Triple P to ensure its effectiveness in Louisiana.22
(4) Recommendations for the infrastructure needed, including the training,23
consultation and technical assistance, to support a Triple P system in Louisiana.24
(5) Recommendations for outcomes that can be achieved and the data collection25
needed to measure the outcomes of Triple P in Louisiana.26
(6) An examination of the financial resources needed for expansion.27
(7) Recommendations of potential funding sources available for expansion.28
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the29
executive director of the Children's Cabinet within the office of the governor, and the30 SR NO. 100
SLS 11RS-2125 ORIGINAL
Page 4 of 4
secretaries of the departments that provide parenting education services, including the1
secretaries of the Department of Education, the Department of Children and Family Services,2
the Department of Health and Hospitals, the Department of Public Safety and Corrections,3
and the chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court.4
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Greg Waddell.
DIGEST
Mount SR No.
Requests BrightStart, Louisiana's Early Childhood Advisory Council, to study the merits of,
and possible plans for, expansion of the evidence-based Positive Parenting Program (Triple
P) and to report to the Senate and House committees on health and welfare prior to January
31, 2012.