News

Child and Youth Service (CYS) Kissing Hand Initiative
Date Posted: 3/28/2005

Army CYS purchased copies of the book Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn from the Child Welfare League of America. This book is one of several Army CYS initiatives in place to reduce the stress on children impacted by the Global War on Terror.

Although the Kissing Hand specifically focuses on the feelings parent and child have when leaving for the first day of school, it can be easily adapted to help children stay connected with deployed parents and work through the separation to make the transition easier for both of them.

This book is distributed through CYS, Army Community Services (ACS), MWR Libraries, Army hospitals, Family Support Groups for National Guard and Reserve, National Association for Child Care Resource and Referral Agency (NACCRRA) and Army One Source.

Copies have already been included in MWR Deployment Support Kits, distributed through MWR Community Recreation, and shipped to Bosnia and Iraq. These books accompany the Video Conferencing equipment in each Deployment Kit in order for soldiers to read the Kissing Hand to their child and then send it home so the family can watch and listen during the entire duration of the Soldiers’ deployment.

A CYS Kissing Hand Deployment Assistance kit will accompany the distribution of the books. Kits will vary according to the program and audience they are reaching and could include a tote bag, raccoon puppet, heart stickers, book marks, curriculum guide for all ages (infant to 18 years) as well as parents, parent guide, a magnet communicating CYS deployment resources and services, letter from author Audrey Penn, and Kissing Hand Information Paper and “Questions and Answers.”

The Kissing Hand will be officially introduced March 2005 at the NACCRRA launch of Operation: Child Care (OCC) and the April 2005 launch of Operation: Military Kids (OMK). Both events take place on Capitol Hill.

Distribution of the Kissing Hand and the Deployment Assistance Kits will begin May 2005.

Contact Person: Barb Delaney/ (703) 681-5381