Juvenile Court Parenting Program

Realizing that parenting education is vital to the well- being of families and recognizing it's one of Extension's National Initiatives, the Portage County Extension Service was challenged to address the parenting issue.

The juvenile court judge and director of youth rehabilitation were contacted to determine the major parenting concerns of families who were involved with the court and how Extension could help. The Juvenile Court Center is involved with about 800 youth monthly, and because of this tremendous load, the judge was extremely receptive to establishing some parenting education programs. The youth rehabilitation director identified topics needed based on the major parenting concerns and suggested ways to reach this particular audience. Improving parent-child communication skills was identified as a priority because parents don't always have the skills necessary to communicate and make informed decisions. They need skills, knowledge, and techniques to enable them to strengthen and form family bonds.

The program objectives were to increase the knowledge of effective parenting practices for parents whose children had been charged with unruly behavior and to reduce the number of repeat "unruly" offenders seen by Juvenile Court. The parents participating initially were mandated by the juvenile judge to take part if their child had been seen by the court on an unruly complaint.

The juvenile court parenting program is a six-week parenting course for a total of seven hours. Each parent receives his/her own workbook for the course. The topics identified for this course are: communicating with your child, building a positive self-image, clarifying values, making decisions, managing stress, and motivating your child. With each of these topics, emphasis is placed on the current situation, the ideal situation, and progressing from the current to the ideal. During the last class session, the parents and youth meet together and develop a family plan to help solve a problem within the family.

The impact of the juvenile court parenting program has been outstanding. In view of the program objectives, the goals have been met with added benefits. One of the objectives was to reduce the number of repeat offenders seen by the court. There have been 73 participants in the program since its beginning in 1989. Of the 73 participants, only two have been repeat offenders. The lack of communication skills was identified by the court as a major problem for these families. Consequently, the change in communication skills was evaluated using a pre-post communication self-rating scale. The results were:

• 73% of respondents increased knowledge or use of communication skills.
• 10% of respondents decreased knowledge or use of communication skills.
• 17% of respondents experienced no change.

Additional informal evaluation gives an indication of the impact of this program:

1. Originally, the program was strictly mandated participation. During 1991, parents began volunteering to participate in the course.

2. A former course participant is now a volunteer facilitator of a support group for the parents who have participated in the program.

3. The need to offer the course more than four times a year has led to the training of volunteer parent and adolescent educators.

4. After two series of classes, the need for a corresponding course for the youth offenders became evident. The course name was changed to "Strengthening Parent and Adolescent Awareness" to reflect that the parent and youth components are a total program for strengthening families.

The Portage County juvenile court parenting program is a prime example of how Extension addresses priority issues and needs through innovative program approaches and networking with other county constituents.