Sesame Workshop today launched TALK, LISTEN, CONNECT: DEPLOYMENTS, HOMECOMINGS, CHANGES, the second phase of the Workshop's military outreach program launched initially in 2006.
The initiative provides support and offers significant resources for military families with young children experiencing the effects of deployments, multiple deployments or when a parent returns home changed due to a combat related injury.
The announcement was made today by Gary E. Knell, President and CEO of Sesame Workshop, Loree K. Sutton, Colonel (Promotable), MC, USA, Director, Defense Center of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury and the Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, Stephen J. Cozza, M.D., Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret.) Professor of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and SESAME STREET's Elmo and Rosita at the Women In Military Service For America Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Funding is provided by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Military OneSource, the Wal-Mart Foundation, and American Greetings Corporation and additional support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the New York State Office of Mental Health, the USO (United Service Organizations), the Military Child Education Coalition and Joseph Drown Foundation. Sesame Workshop has developed TALK, LISTEN, CONNECT: DEPLOYMENTS, HOMECOMINGS, CHANGES to help military families with young children between the ages of 2 and 5 build a sense of stability and resiliency during times of separation and change.
According to statistics, as many as 700,000 children under the age of five have a parent in the military. Due to the success of the first phase, TALK, LISTEN, CONNECT: HELPING FAMILIES DURING MILITARY DEPLOYMENT, as well as the overwhelming support the first kit generated from the military community, the need was clear to launch this second phase.
TALK, LISTEN, CONNECT: DEPLOYMENTS, HOMECOMINGS, CHANGES seeks to:--Reduce the level of anxiety children may experience during homecomings after multiple deployments.--Help parents with ways to cope with multiple deployments.--Help young children gain an age-appropriate understanding of a parent's injury by including them and the entire family in the rehabilitation process.--Reassure children that they are loved and secure and that together with their families, they can learn new ways of being there for one another and having hope for the future.
"The incredible response and impact Sesame Workshop saw from our initial work with military families and the impact it made, inspired this next phase of TALK, LISTEN, CONNECT," said Gary E. Knell, President and CEO, Sesame Workshop. "With an increasing number of military parents experiencing multiple deployments and a parent coming home injured, more than ever, these families need help navigating the ups-and-downs of these experiences with their children as well as ways to support one another and find resiliency in the face of change. We hope with the help of their friends from SESAME STREET they will continue to discover ways they can continue to forge family bonds despite the situations they may encounter."
"TALK, LISTEN, CONNECT provides an opportunity for children to cope with these challenges in positive and reassuring ways," said Stephen J. Cozza, M.D., Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret.). "These much needed materials offer wonderful strategies that can help military families with young children and foster meaningful connections between family members, friends, and communities in their everyday lives."
The resources will consist of a bilingual (English/Spanish) multimedia outreach kit with DVDs for children and adults starring the Muppets from SESAME STREET, print materials for children, parents and caregivers and facilitators and American Greeting postcards featuring the beloved SESAME STREET characters for parents and children to stay connected.
Sesame Workshop will produce and distribute 500,000 kits at no cost to individual families, schools, child care programs, family support programs, hospitals and rehabilitation centers and other organizations serving the needs of military families with the help of their partners.
Special emphasis will be made to reach families of the Reserves and National Guard. The kit materials will also be available online at www.sesameworkshop.org/tlc, where streaming video is being provided by the Department of Defense Military Community and Family Policy Program Support Group, so families everywhere can view the videos and download the information.
In continuing efforts to keep families connected, Sesame Workshop will unveil the enhanced TALK, LISTEN, CONNECT Web experience in fall 2008. Supporting the outreach materials, the enhanced Web site will feature fun and interactive activities for families to share together and stay connected.
The project's advisory board, which consists of leading experts in child development, mental health and programs supporting military families, has informed and guided Sesame Workshop on all aspects of the project. They have helped determine the needs and challenges of young children in military families and guide the development of age-appropriate and effective content for the program.
