Quality Parenting

About This Program

Target Population: Parents, grandparents, teachers, babysitters, and other caretakers who need support - information and practical skills - to create an environment of emotional safety for children in their care that is built upon mutual respect

For parents/caregivers of children ages: 2 – 19

Program Overview

Quality Parenting teaches parents to see with new eyes to discover that children and teens yearn to be cooperative and responsible; they depend on their parents to help them. Their difficult behavior is actually a cry for help: – Help me find a more effective way to meet my needs. But parents cannot help their children unless they are well-informed and able to remain calm in the face of stress.

Quality Parenting first introduces foundational material: information about stages of development and children's natural "smarts," supporting parents to help their children succeed at school and at home. Through a three-step process parents learn how to recognize when they "lose it," how to get back to center, and how to model attitudes and skills of mutual respect. As parents learn to prevent and solve problems, they are better prepared to create an emotionally safe environment to support family well-being and growth.


Program Goals

The goals of Quality Parenting are:

  • Parents will understand their children's stages of development and how to support their success at each stage
  • Parents will recognize their children's natural "smarts" and how to work skillfully to help them learn and grow
  • Parents will recognize that they can help their children best by remaining centered themselves
  • Parents will recognize when they "lose it"
  • Parents will know how to get back to center
  • Parents will know how to adopt and model the attitudes and skills of mutual respect, including skills for prevention and problem solving

Logic Model

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

Essential Components

The essential components of the Quality Parenting program include:

  • Practical Knowledge
    • Understanding and supporting your child's stage of development.
    • Discovering and working effectively with the unique "smarts" in your children – and yourself.
    • Discovering the power of attitudes, even more important than valuable communication skills.
    • Learning how to replace Mighty parent and mini parent with a more centered parenting approach.
    • Applying the Three-Step Process to create an environment of mutual respect.
  • Managing Stress
    • Discovering that children and teens actually want to be responsible and cooperative.
    • Recognizing their negative behavior as a cry for help.
    • Understanding why all of us "lose it" at times under stress.
    • Learning how to remain centered, even in difficult situations.
  • Effective Skills
    • Communication: Speaking assertively and respectfully.
    • Reflection: Transforming resistance into cooperation.
    • Facilitation: To help children and teens solve their own problems.
    • Planning: To prevent and solve problems.
    • Setting limits: To create boundaries with respect and success.
    • Visualization: To create a family environment based on mutual respect.
  • Quality Parenting is offered in a group setting. The recommended group size is 10-12, though there is no set minimum or maximum group size since large groups are broken into smaller discussion groups for better learning and interaction.

Program Delivery

Parent/Caregiver Services

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

  • Disrespectful, dysfunctional, and destructive relationships with children
  • Anger management
  • Ineffective and abusive methods of discipline
  • Ineffective communication
  • Lack of planning, organization, and order

Recommended Intensity:

Weekly sessions. Depending on the setting and time constraints, the program can be effective as a 1½, 2, 2½, or 3-hour weekly program.

Recommended Duration:

8 - 16 weeks

Delivery Settings

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

  • Adoptive Home
  • Birth Family Home
  • Foster / Kinship Care
  • Hospital
  • Outpatient Clinic
  • Community-based Agency / Organization / Provider
  • Group or Residential Care
  • School Setting (Including: Day Care, Day Treatment Programs, etc.)

Homework

Quality Parenting includes a homework component:

Between session assignments are an invaluable part of the program. Instructors use parents' successes and difficulties to strengthen group participation and cohesion – and to maximize learning.

Languages

Quality Parenting 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
  • The Quality Parenting leader's guide
  • The Quality Parenting parent's guide
  • Instructional charts and illustrations
  • The supplementary text: Bring Out the Best in Your Child and Your Self.

Manuals and Training

Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications

Training by the developer of the Quality Parenting program, Ilene Val-Essen, PhD, or by someone authorized by her. Knowledgeable in counseling, psychology, social work, the ministry, pediatrics, education, nursing, psychiatry, or related fields. Possesses leadership skills and a caring heart.

Manual Information

There is a manual that describes how to deliver this program.

Training Information

There is training available for this program.

Training Contact:
Training Type/Location:

Onsite, regional

Number of days/hours:

The training is best accomplished as a 24-hour program, which can be achieved in a variety of formats. If there are time or economic restrictions, the training can be successful as a 16-hour program.

Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research

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

Additional References

No reference materials are currently available for Quality Parenting.

Contact Information

Ilene Val-Essen, PhD
Agency/Affiliation: Quality Parenting
Website: www.QualityParenting.com
Email:
Phone: (866) 588-5437
Fax: (310) 839-1614

Date Research Evidence Last Reviewed by CEBC: December 2015

Date Program Content Last Reviewed by Program Staff: October 2016

Date Program Originally Loaded onto CEBC: September 2012