Positive Mental Health

GOAL: Develop and enhance the contribution of Wake County children’s places and spaces to the positive mental health of children. 

The John Rex Endowment believes shaping children’s places and spaces, such as child care centers, parks and recreation facilities, and preschools, is our organization’s best opportunity to support Wake County children’s positive mental health.

Affecting children’s places and spaces involves improving physical as well as social environments in ways that contribute to the healthy social and emotional development of children. Our work regarding this goal will focus on how the people, policies, practices, programs, and physical elements of a place or space can become more intentional and effective in promoting children’s positive mental health.

Our Approach: 

• Improve the effectiveness and reach of programming in children’s places and spaces to promote children’s positive mental health.
• Build community stakeholder interest in recognizing the importance of shaping children’s places and spaces to promote children’s positive mental health.
• Transform physical and social environments for children’s places or spaces to promote children’s positive mental health.
• Change systems to facilitate large numbers of children’s places and spaces transforming their physical and social environments to better support children’s positive mental health.

See Our Plan for Impact, 2013-2018 for detail on this goal and strategies.

Funding Opportunities:

Multiple grant projects are supporting children and families to help children thrive at home and in their communities, therefore we are not releasing a funding opportunity for this goal in 2018.

Resources:

Peruse our Learning section where you will find information including:

• Parenting Matters: Supporting Parents of Children Ages 0-8 - reviews research on parenting practices and identifies effective practices. The July 2016 report recommends ways agencies and others can support interventions that help more parents learn about effective parenting practices

• Planning for Intentional and Effective Places and Spaces for Children’s Positive Mental Health: Integrated Plan  – a plan of how people, policies, practices, programs, and physical elements of a place or space can become more intentional and effective in promoting children’s positive mental health.

• Task Force on Essentials for Childhood: Safe, Stable, and Nurturing Relationships and Environments to Prevent Child Maltreatment - the statewide strategic plan for reducing child maltreatment and secure family well-being.