Talk, Listen, Connect - Sesame Workshop Helps Children Cope with Deployment

Despite differences of opinion about our on-going war efforts, we should all agree that military families deserve all of the help and support we can possibly give them. I am impressed by the efforts of Sesame Workshop and their partners in helping military families with small children cope with deployment.

In July 2006, Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, launched Talk, Listen, Connect: Helping Families During Military Deployment. The program is a bilingual, multi-media outreach kit developed to provide tools and ideas to parents and caregivers on how to help children cope with the process of deployment. The kits were produced in partnership with and funded by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., with additional support provided by the New York State Office of Mental Health (NYSOMH) and the Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC).

Research findings presented on April 3, 2007, by Russell Research, Inc. and in consultation with the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University, show that participating military families are benefiting from the program in several ways, and that parents appreciate resources which help them support their children during deployment.

The Talk, Listen, Connect kits were distributed to many military families and are also available online at www.sesameworkshop.org/tlc, where streaming video is being provided by The Department of Defense Quality of Life Information Technology Center.