Supporting Mental Health
As a parent there are many things you can do to support your child's mental health and well-being.
All Ages
Family Meals
Recent research has shown that family dinners really matter. According to the Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse, regardless of a teen’s gender, family structure, or family socioeconomic level, teens who eat dinner with their families often are more likely to:
Contact Us
Suburban Ramsey Family Collaborative Staff Contact Information
Mary Sue Hansen
Director
Email: MarySue.Hansen@isd623.org
Phone number: 651-604-3514
Peggy Huot-Hansen
Assistant Director
Email: Peggy.Huot-Hansen@isd623.org
Phone number: 651-604-3585
Angie Goserud
Executive Assistant
Email: Angie.Goserud@isd623.org
Phone number: 651-604-3517
Ages & Stages
Every child is different and every stage in a child's life can bring new and interesting challenges. As parents, it is important to learn about and be aware of our children's needs and differences at different stages of their development.
It can be hard to know what are typical behaviors for kids of various ages but experts have been able to identify milestones in how a child typically plays, learns, speaks and acts at various ages.
Worried about a Child or Young Person?
As parents, our job is to look ahead at the risks our children may face, prepare for them, and courageously do everything we can to prevent our children from experiencing bad outcomes. Preparing for the teen years is different from, but just as important as, child proofing our homes. Only in this case, we might think of it more as "environment proofing" our children.
For Parents
You can browse, section by section, or use the search function in the upper right hand corner to go directly to the topic that interests you.
Welcome to For Parents, the section of our website devoted to the important role of families--parents, guardians, grandparents, step-parents, etc. If we want to know "How are the Children?" we also need to ask "How is the family?" because kids do better when their families do better.
Taking Care of the Whole Family
Parents are often torn between wanting to focus all their time and attention on a hurting child while balancing the needs of themselves and the rest of the family.
When one child is going through challenging times, it can impact the whole family. Here are some tips for keeping your whole family strong during challenging times:
Signs of Potential Violence
There is no such thing as a foolproof warning sign that someone might harm others but it is helpful for adults to be aware of some of the common warning signs of someone at risk to be violent. Warning signs are signs adults should be paying more attention to determine what action to take. A child or young person can show several warning signs without being violent and someone can be violent without showing any warning signs in advance.
Signs of Abuse
The federal Administration for Children, Youth, and Families lists the following as physical and behavioral signs of child abuse and neglect.
If you are worried that a child may be experiencing physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, contact Ramsey County Child Protection at 651-266-4500.
Your Child's Health and Development
Good health is an important aspect of well-being. It can sometimes be easier to identify the physical needs of children than to identify their mental and emotional needs. Just as kids need food, sleep, exercise, regular check-ups, and a healthy living environment, they also need love, self-confidence, playtime with other kids, encouragement, security, and guidance and limits.
