Program Goals

The goals of Positive Parenting Resource are:

• Increase positive parent-child interaction
• Decrease negative child behaviors
• Improve parent-child relationship and family unit functioning
• Enhance parental understanding of child development and age-appropriate child expectations
• Increase parental knowledge and access of formal and community resources
• Strengthen parental networks through connections to other parents and supportive mentors
• Ensure that parents successfully complete tasks in their Child Protection Service plans
• Enhance family stability
• Decrease or eliminate allegations of child abuse or neglect with program connected parents
• Maintain parent and child wellness

Logic Model

The program representative did not provide information about a Logic Model for Positive Parenting Resource.

Essential Components

The essential components of Positive Parenting Resource include:

• Home Visiting and Parenting Skills Training: Individualized parent education and support is provided within the home along with case management and service coordination to access other community resources. Home visits allow time to address pressing issues or priorities of the parent as well as focusing on parenting and family life skills training. Areas of learning include but not limited to infant/toddler care, child discipline, home safety, basic first aid, nutrition, meal planning, budgeting, financial management, household organization, household cleanliness, personal hygiene, social boundaries, and stages of child development. Home visits happen weekly and, if connected to parent education group funding source, maybe limited to a pregroup visit, monthly visits, and a post group visit. If the funding source is through Child Protection, visits are conducted weekly with some families receiving multiple visits per week.
• Supervised Visitation Services: Monitoring Supervised Visitation will enable a noncustodial parent and child(ren) in out-of-home placement to have contact with one another during a prearranged, specified period of time under the observation and monitoring of a trained visitation monitor. Supportive Supervised/Instructional Visitation will enable a noncustodial parent and child(ren) to have contact with one another under the supervision and guidance of a trained monitor/parent educator. The parent educator will actively provide guidance or facilitation of positive parent-child visits, with in-the-moment instruction about child behavior, interactions, play suggestions, and other tips to promote positive interaction and parent skill development. Support may include guidance and preparation assistance before the visit and reflection after the visit.
• Parent Education & Support Groups: Groups are offered on both general topic and specific subject groups (e.g., understanding abuse and neglect, parent-child communication, promoting literacy in young children, healthy relationships, understanding adolescents, and limit setting as well as material drawn from evidence-based curricula). Size of group limited to 14 parents. Group is staffed by a lead and co-facilitator. Childcare and transportation is provided. Groups are conducted in series with each series lasting 8 to 10 weeks.
• Mentoring Support: The Family Friends Program provides individualized family support by fostering and supporting long-term voluntary relationships between community mentors and families headed by parents with cognitive disabilities. Relationships are geared toward the child, but are inclusive of the entire family. Mentors usually connect with families on a weekly basis.
• Transitional Supported Living Program: This program model offers more intensive support to five families through a structured living arrangement in which a family lives in their own residence in an apartment building. The goal is for parents to develop and strengthen their skills, gain family stability, and increase their capacity to participate in their community. The program is a "community within a community." A "host" family also lives within the apartment complex and provides monitoring, onsite mentoring, teaching, and role modeling for parents with cognitive disabilities and their children. Families are involved in various levels of support and connect with staff several times weekly.

Program Delivery

Parent/Caregiver Services

Positive Parenting Resource directly provides services to parents/caregivers and addresses the following:

• Parents with intellectual disabilities who may be poor and isolated, have limited literacy skills and resources, and lack understanding of basic parenting skills

Services Involve Family/Support Structures:

This program involves the family or other support systems in the individual's treatment: Children living within The Transitional Supported Housing program receive homework help, opportunities to participate in social and community activities, 1:1 time with program staff, parent and child events and community activities, and weekly "Kids Dinner."

Recommended Intensity:

For Department of Children and Families funded (DCF-funded) in-home parent education/home visiting, there are 1 to 2 visits per week for 1 to 2 hours each. For DCF-funded transitional housing, there are 2 to 3 visits per week in home or office for 2 to 4 hours total weekly. For Department of Children and Families funded (DCF-funded) supervised visitation, visits are 1 time per week, 2 times per month or one time per month. For grant-funded parenting groups/home visits, there are 2.5 hour-weekly parenting groups with 4 home visits (a pre-group visit, two monthly visits, then a post-group visit). For mentoring, the contact is 1 to 2 hours weekly.

Recommended Duration:

For DCF-funded in-home parent education/home visiting, the duration is 3 to 18 months. For DCF funded transitional Housing, the duration is 1 to 3 years. For Department of Children and Families funded (DCF-funded) supervised visitation, the duration is determined by the DCF social worker and can be from 1 to 18 months. For grant-funded parenting groups, the duration is 8 to 10 weeks. For mentoring, the contact is ongoing, there is no time limit.

Delivery Settings

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

• Birth Family Home
• Community-based Agency / Organization / Provider

Homework

Positive Parenting Resource includes a homework component:

Children within the Transitional Supported Living Program receive homework help as needed through the school year.

Languages

Positive Parenting Resource has materials available in a language other than English:

Spanish

For information on which materials are available in this language, please check on the program's website or contact the program representative (contact information is listed at the bottom of this page).

Resources Needed to Run Program

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

Space, transportation, child care

Manuals and Training

Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications

Parent Educator: Minimum educational requirement is an Associate Degree. Coordinator or Director: Minimum educational requirement is a Bachelor's Degree.

Manual Information

There is not a manual that describes how to deliver this program.

Training Information

There is training available for this program.

Training Contact:

• Betsy Misch
  The United Arc
  betsymisch@theunitedarc.org
  phone: (413) 774-5558

Training Type/Location:

Depends on needs of agency

Number of days/hours:

Training available for 2, 4, or 6 hours

Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research

Currently, there are no published, peer-reviewed research studies for Positive Parenting Resource.

Additional References