Helping parents all over U.S.A.

Marisa O’Neil

Every parent gets frustrated and overwhelmed sometimes. The key is

knowing how to handle it, said Sally Kanarek, founder of Parent Help

U.S.A.

The organization, which seeks to prevent child abuse before it

happens, is using National Child Abuse Awareness Month to highlight

the issue nationally and locally. Orange County Superior Court Judge

James Gray, a Libertarian candidate for the U.S. Senate, came to

Parent Help U.S.A. on Tuesday to speak with parents and staff members

about the organization and his experiences presiding over juvenile

court cases.

“This is where we need to focus our resources,” he said of Parent

Help. “They do so much with almost nothing.”

Organizers passed out blue ribbons for child abuse awareness and

cited statistics on abuse. Orange County had more than 30,000 reports

of child abuse last year, they said.

“Here we are, living in one of the most affluent counties in the

country and yet there’s a problem with abuse,” said Tom Birch, past

president of Parent Help U.S.A.

Child Abuse Awareness Month is signified by a blue ribbon.

Parent Help U.S.A., formerly known as Mothers and Others Against

Child Abuse, uses parent education, a resource library and clothing

donations to help parents handle stressors that may cause them to

lash out at their children. Often, parents abuse their children

because they themselves were abused as children, Gray said.

“It’s always wrong to hit a child,” Gray said. “[Parent Help is]

here to break that cycle.”

Free “Peaceful Parenting” classes are offered that teach child

development, anger and stress management and parent responsibilities,

as well as parents’ rights -- like having time to eat dinner or

unwind, Kanarek said. But one of the inherent problems they face is

the fact that abusive parents might not want to face up to the stigma

of seeking help.

“We’re not here to judge, we’re here to help,” Kanarek said.

Some of that help comes from other parents in the program,

President Charlotte Kies said. If a parent is getting frustrated by a

child who talks back, for example, he or she can talk to others who

have gone through the same thing.

“I like the classes a lot,” Zonia Manco, cuddling her 7-month-old

son Mariano, said through an interpreter. “[It helps me] learn

patience and treat [my children] better.”

Free child care and, often, dinner are offered with the classes.

Kanarek said they are pushing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to make

it a felony for social workers to falsify records. Florida already

did so, after 150 children were lost in the foster care system.

In addition to the classes, they distribute food and clothing

donations -- including adult clothes, Kies said. Men’s clothes,

especially jeans, are needed by many of their clients.

They also need volunteers to help staff the office, watch children

and conduct the classes.

Thursday night, the organization is holding its Board of Directors

Installation Dinner Dance and auction at Anthony’s Riverboat

Restaurant. They are hoping to raise money to reopen a full food

pantry.

* MARISA O’NEIL covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.