Offered to Court-Referred Clients through our DCS Community-Based Contract
Regions Served
4 & 10 and parts of 6 & 7
Counties Served
Allen, Adams, DeKalb, Huntington, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Whitley, and Marion
Service Standard
Parenting Education
Target Population
Families who have been reported to the child welfare system for child maltreatment including physical and emotional maltreatment in addition to child neglect; may be used as a court-ordered parenting program.
Service Description
The Nurturing Parenting Program for Parents and their Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers is a family-centered, evidence-based, program designed for the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect.
Service Delivery
The program lessons focus on remediating five parenting patterns known to form the basis of maltreatment:
Having inappropriate developmental expectations of children
Demonstrating a consistent lack of empathy towards meeting children’s needs
Expressing a strong belief in the use of corporal punishment and utilizing spanking as their principle means of discipline
Reversing the role responsibilities of parents and children so that children learn to become the caregivers to their parents
Oppressing the power and independence of children by demanding strict obedience to their commands
Goals
Measurable gains in the individual self-worth of parents and children
Measurable gains in parental empathy and meeting their own adult needs in healthy ways
Measurable gains in parental empathy towards meeting the needs of their children
Utilization of dignified, non-violent disciplinary strategies and practices
Measurable gains in empowerment of the parents and their children
Measurable gains in nurturing parenting beliefs, knowledge and utilization of skills and strategies as measured by program assessment inventories
Reunification of parents and their children who are in foster care
High rate of attendance and completion of their program
Low rates of recidivism of program graduates
Structure
26 group sessions in total
One session per week
Sessions are 2-hours long each
Morning or evening groups
8-10 participants per group
Individual sessions as needed
