What problems do parents face raising children today

What problems do parents face raising children today? • Drug and alcohol use Parent Project®, Inc. 1

Which of the problems parents face are also problems for “Law Enforcement”? Parent Project®, Inc. 2

The Parent Project® A training program for parents of difficult or out-of-control children. (Developed to meet the specific needs of law enforcement agencies. ) 3

Drug use significantly contributes to: • • Youth Gangs Community Violence Teen Pregnancy STD’s Poor School Performance Family Conflict and Violence School Drop Outs Parent Project®, Inc. 4

Did you know that nationally: • 1300 teens drop out of school every day • 1/2 million kids drop out every year Parent Project®, Inc. 5

No Surprise • Poor kids are 300% more likely to drop out • 40% to 80% of state prison populations are school drop outs Parent Project®, Inc. 6

National Dropout Prevention Efforts: • Bring children to insight • Improve the learning environment Parent Project®, Inc. 7

But: Insight, does not necessarily lead to behavior change. Insight is not a prerequisite for change. Parent Project®, Inc. 8

If our children: • Go to school everyday • Don’t sleep through their classes • Do their homework daily • Will they most likely graduate from high school? • Who owns 2/3 of that puzzle? Parent Project®, Inc. 9

Parents need 3 things: • Desire • Specific information and skills • Practical and emotional support Parent Project®, Inc. 10

Desire! Do Parents Care? Parent Project®, Inc. 11

LAPD Jeopardy Program • Goal: to inform parents about their child’s high-risk behavior: with known drug users, in a gang area, etc. • Findings: parents either did not know about their child’s behavior, knew, but did not know how to intervene. Parent Project®, Inc. 12

Parent Project Beliefs: • The vast majority of parents love and care about their kids. • Parents are the key to successful kids. • When given skills and support, parents will make the difference. Parent Project®, Inc. 13

All parent training must be need based! • Look back at the problems parents face. Parent Project®, Inc. 14

How do parents with strongwilled or out-of-control children feel? • Frustrated Parent Project®, Inc. 15

Support Groups: • • Internalize information Empower parents Universalize the experience Continued emotional and practical support • Increase “help-giver principle” When you give help, you get help! Parent Project®, Inc. 16

Successful parent programs: • Provide concrete answers for parent’s questions • Built in support group component • Build a strong sense of hope Parent Project®, Inc. 17

Deals with the MOST difficult acting-out behaviors • • Family Conflict Poor School Attendance & Performance Early Teen Sexuality Alcohol & Other Drug Use Gang Involvement Run Away (threats and action) Violent Behavior Suicide (threats and attempts) Parent Project®, Inc. 18

Key Elements of Parent Project’s Success • Solution-focused. It answers parents questions with concrete, no nonsense answers. • Activity-based instruction • Community collaborative approach • Provides parents encouragement by working with other parents facing similar problems. • Offers on-going, emotional and practical support. Parent Project®, Inc. 19

Concrete Answers Example: Runaway Kids • • • Call the Police & File Report Call every parent Call School Aggressively Pursue Child Remove all Clothing/Valuables from Home Print & Post Missing Flyer Parent Project®, Inc. 20

Activity Based Instruction Example: “The Party” • • • Who: What: When: Where: Why should I let my child go? • Spot checks? Parent Project®, Inc. 21

Community Collaborative Approach • • Law Enforcement Schools Juvenile Courts/Probation Mental Health Social Service Providers CBOs (YMCA, Boys & Girls Clubs, etc. ) Faith Based Organizations (Community Policing at its Finest) Parent Project®, Inc. 22

Groups Empower • Strength in Numbers • Misery Loves Company Parent Project®, Inc. 23

Emotional & Practical Support • • Internalize information Continued Emotional Support Universalizes the Experience Increase “help-giver principle” – When you give help, you get help! Parent Project®, Inc. 24

Parent Project Sr. 3 Parts: presented in… 10 -16 weeks • Part I: Skill Building : love and affection, influence vs. control, positive and negative consequences, active supervision • Part II: UCLA Self Help Support Group + Skill Refinement: Finding help, communicating values/ standards, family unity, building positive self concepts • Part III: Parent Led Support Groups: On. Going, Parent Led Support Groups Parent Project®, Inc. 25

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What you can expect? When parents are actively involved, terrific things happen! 27

What we’ve seen when parents are involved! • Reduction in juvenile related calls for service: 15 families; 87 calls 6 months prior to the Parent Project, 4 calls 6 month after the Parent Project • Inexpensive/effective prevention & intervention resource • Provides a solid option for parents • Places responsibility for raising kids back on parents • Parent Project is a perfect match to goals of Community Policing: Ca. A. G. ’s Building Safer Communities Parent Project®, Inc. 28

Juvenile Justice As a judge, if I could have only one prevention program. . . , I’d take the Parent Project any day! Judge Larry Duff, Idaho 29

Juvenile Justice: What we’ve seen when parents are involved! • Reduction in juvenile petitions filed (33%) • Reduction in juvenile probation drug violations (20%) • Reduction in kids on probation (30%) • Reduction in number of days in detention (24%) • School dropouts fell from 17% to 0 • School expulsions plummeted from 72 to 0 • Stats. Taken from OJJDP’s Sept. 2004 “Juvenile Justice” Journal. Parent Project®, Inc. 30

Open Forum Questions………. . Concerns……. . Comments? 31