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The Parent Project Curriculum
The Parent Project has helped parents across the nation learn effective prevention and intervention strategies for destructive behavior such as truancy, alcohol and other drug use, gangs, occult practices, runaways, violence and suicide.
Part I of the program, “Laying the Foundation for Change,” consists of six activity-based instructional units where parents learn identification, prevention, and intervention techniques for the most destructive adolescent behaviors and criminal activities. Part II, “Changing Behavior and Rebuilding Family Relationships,” consists of 10 topic-focused parent support group sessions. Sessions are specifically designed to provide parents with practical and emotional support as they continue the process of change in their home.
Research has identified family management problems and family conflict as well as peer influences to be risk factors to juvenile delinquency. Through the skills parents learn and exercise in this program, youth will clearly understand their boundaries and what the consequences of crossing those are. As discipline is administered calmly and firmly, stress levels within the home are reduced, family relationships are enhanced, and order within the home is maintained. Parents practicing these skills become more adept at monitoring, identifying potential issues, and enforcing boundaries so that problems can be prevented. Additionally, as youth understand that all consequences result directly from their individual choices, their understanding of personal responsibility matures. As they alone are responsible for each decision, and they alone will bear the consequences, peer pressure is reduced, either by desire to avoid consequences or simply through healthier youth making healthier decisions.
The Parent Project curriculum has been utilized successfully in conjunction with school districts, and law enforcement agencies nationwide with excellent results. In Minidoka County, Idaho, the Parent Project was implemented in August of 1997. From that time until December 1999, the number of petitions filed for juvenile offenses fell 33%, the number of minors on probation for any cause fell by 30%, the number of drug related probation violations dropped 20%, the number of school days spent by youth in detention fell 20%, and school dropouts and expulsions dropped by 95%. Other communities throughout the country have implemented the Parent Project in conjunction with law enforcement, juvenile justice systems, and school district report successes, which testifies to the effectiveness of this program.
Two members of Empowering Parents’ leadership team, Steven Boyd and Brian Jouget, are certified by the Parent Project to facilitate their curriculum. Each session consists of two to three hour weekly meetings that span a 10-week period. Two instructors are required for each session to ensure that parents receive the individual support needed. Since our inception, we’ve conducted five full sessions of the program, working with over 60 parents, and we continue to hold two to three sessions each year. A nominal fee is charged for attendance ($25/person); however, we often provide scholarships to parents who cannot afford the cost.
The skills learned through Empowering Parents will assist in the successful reintegration of these young people into their homes and communities. Parents will be better prepared to monitor activities, identify potential problems, and positively handle conflict without anger. They will also be able to draw on support from the Empowering Parents staff. In changing the dynamics within the home and between parent and child, these youth will be less likely to repeat the same patterns and decisions. Indeed, both youth and families will learn to avoid those patterns, and our community as a whole will reap the benefits of healthier youth and healthier families.