Learn about the OPEC initiative
Oregon Parenting Education Collaborative
Parents and families are the first and most important teachers for their children.
Of all the things that influence a child's growth and development, the most critical is reliable, responsive, and sensitive parenting. Parents - biological and adoptive parents, foster parents, grandparents, and other caregivers - lay the foundation for children’s social, emotional, mental, academic, and physical health, and well-being.
It takes a village to raise a child and a community to support parents in their most important (and often challenging!) role. OPEC works to provide this community.
Families thrive when they having a caring, supportive community.
The Oregon Parenting Education Collaborative (OPEC) supports a statewide network of parenting “Hubs” striving to connect families with free parenting resources and programs in communities and online to help parents be the parents they want to be. OPEC programs are for all families and strive to build community while honoring each family for their values, identities, home language, culture, and lived experiences.
OPEC programs are free to families in Oregon and Siskiyou County, California, based in research, and culturally responsive.
OPEC is an initiative founded in 2010 as a partnership between Oregon State University (OSU) and four of Oregon’s largest foundations:
- The Oregon Community Foundation
- The Ford Family Foundation
- Meyer Memorial Trust
- The Collins Foundation
Now, OPEC's state partners also include the Oregon Department of Human Service, Oregon's Department of Early Learning and Care, and the Oregon Health Authority. These partners provide sustaining funding for the OPEC initiative.
The network is supported by the OSU-OPEC team, which supports grantees with evaluation, technical assistance, and professional development.
Mission & Vision
The Mission of the Oregon Parenting Education Collaborative (OPEC) is to support delivery of high-quality parenting education programs that are evidence based and culturally responsive. In addition OPEC supports collaborative efforts to strengthen regional parenting education systems through coordination and planning.
Vision: All Oregon parents (and parents in Siskiyou County, CA) will have access to high-quality, proven parenting education programs that support them in their critical role as their children’s first and most important teachers; all Oregon communities will be served by a network of strong parenting programs and a regional parenting education “Hub;” and Oregon will be a national leader in professionalizing and normalizing parenting education.
Listen to the OSU-OPEC team members describe our core values in action.
