FAMILY PROJECT TEAM
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Global treatment goals for families are to develop new family patterns that will be more successful. This includes developing new skills for handing old problems, increase problem-solving skills and plan for new actions, and to develop awareness and acceptance that hard work and persistence will yield important changes.
Through the use of structured parenting courses and family interaction, the courts hope to target and improve some of these issues common among the majority of court-involved youth. This is done in an attempt to decrease domestic violence issues and to provide conflict resolution counseling to the parents and the troubled youth. The program also attempts to promote positive
family interaction and create supportive family relationships. Topics other than family interactions, such as drug abuse and school issues, will be addressed are in an attempt to educate and guide youth toward more positive
choices. During the 10 week program the therapists will facilitate group sessions for both the parents/caregivers and youth. Facilitators will teach curriculum from the Parent Project workbook entitled “Changing Destructive Adolescent Behavior”. In the parent group, emphasis will be placed on helping parents to demonstrate and utilize effective discipline methods with
their children, demonstrate and utilize methods of improving their children’s school performance and attendance, recognize, confront and intervene any instances of drug abuse and negative peer association, develop effective action
plans to stop any unwanted behavior, and improve their relationships with their children.
In the youth group, emphasis will be placed on education and problem-solving relative to a variety of topics including anger management, conflict resolution, inter-personal skills, drug abuse, child abuse and neglect, school performance and attendance, and
developing positive relationships with parents, family members, and peers. Significant emphasis will be placed on addressing issues with peer pressure at school and in the community and helping youth to learn ways to combat this and develop more
positive peer relationships. The principles applied here will also put to use to help youth initiate and cultivate positive relationships with adults in their families, at school, and in their communities. There will also be emphasis placed on setting positive goals for their immediate and distant future and making positive choices that will help them reach those goals.
Youth will be able to:
Through the use of structured parenting courses and family interaction, the courts hope to target and improve some of these issues common among the majority of court-involved youth. This is done in an attempt to decrease domestic violence issues and to provide conflict resolution counseling to the parents and the troubled youth. The program also attempts to promote positive
family interaction and create supportive family relationships. Topics other than family interactions, such as drug abuse and school issues, will be addressed are in an attempt to educate and guide youth toward more positive
choices. During the 10 week program the therapists will facilitate group sessions for both the parents/caregivers and youth. Facilitators will teach curriculum from the Parent Project workbook entitled “Changing Destructive Adolescent Behavior”. In the parent group, emphasis will be placed on helping parents to demonstrate and utilize effective discipline methods with
their children, demonstrate and utilize methods of improving their children’s school performance and attendance, recognize, confront and intervene any instances of drug abuse and negative peer association, develop effective action
plans to stop any unwanted behavior, and improve their relationships with their children.
In the youth group, emphasis will be placed on education and problem-solving relative to a variety of topics including anger management, conflict resolution, inter-personal skills, drug abuse, child abuse and neglect, school performance and attendance, and
developing positive relationships with parents, family members, and peers. Significant emphasis will be placed on addressing issues with peer pressure at school and in the community and helping youth to learn ways to combat this and develop more
positive peer relationships. The principles applied here will also put to use to help youth initiate and cultivate positive relationships with adults in their families, at school, and in their communities. There will also be emphasis placed on setting positive goals for their immediate and distant future and making positive choices that will help them reach those goals.
Youth will be able to:
- Learn effective anger management and conflict resolution strategies.
- Show and increase in problem solving ability, inter-personal social skills and intra-personal reflective skills.
- Increase knowledge of substance abuse and addiction; understand the consequences of using/abusing tobacco, alcohol and other drugs.
- Understand the dynamics of child abuse and neglect and where to turn for help.
- Demonstrate and utilize effective discipline methods with their out-of-control or strong willed children.
- Demonstrate and utilize methods of improving their children’s school performance and attendance.
- Recognize, confront and intervene with their children’s gang involvement or negative peer association.
- Explore and practice the UCLA, self-help parent support group model.
Parents will be able to:
Describe the importance of demonstrating love and affection.
Demonstrate effective methods of reducing family conflict.
Recognize, confront and intervene with adolescent drug and alcohol use.
Develop effective action plans to stop any unwanted behavior.
Improve the parent/child relationship.
In addition, because the facilitators are employed by a Mental Health provider they will have immediate access to further drug and mental health counseling as needed for the parent, child and other family members. The family project is
considered to be an early intervention program and is not necessarily a last resort to secure custody. All juveniles who fail to cooperate or comply with the Family Project will be subject to additional programming to include
electronic monitoring, community service, placement with the F.I.T. program, out-patient programming, Juvenile Drug Court,
Juvenile Mental Health Courtor placement with another appropriate agency to include private or state funding treatment programs. All parents ordered to participate with the Family Project will be made a party to their child’s case
in accordance with Alabama law. Failure of compliance on behalf of the parent will result in a case review before the assigned District Court Judge for further handling such as contempt of court, referral to the Department of Human Resources, additional monetary fines, etc. The program is designed to be 10 weeks in length and each session is 3 to 4 hours long.
Sessions are being conducted in a group setting and can accommodate 15 sets of parents and children. Four programs are run annually and participation is determined by the courts. Parallel groups for parents and children allow for specific issues to be addressed with each group. The average length of stay in the program is the full 10 weeks with exception to
sick days. The program allows for two sick days per family and any absences beyond this result in termination from the program. Termination due to absence requires the participant to enroll in the next session. Based on the Parent Project model, the Family Project utilizes the same curriculum with parents while at the same time conducting group sessions with the children.
Services are provided by the Mental Health Center of Madison County. The purpose of this program is to build youth and parenting skills, reduce conflict in the family, teach parents appropriate discipline techniques, and improve family relationships. The ultimate objective is to increase protective factors among at-risk children and youth which will result in fewer referrals to
Juvenile Court and fewer instances of out-of-home placements. The purpose of this project is to help reduce youth/gang violence, drug and alcohol use, child abuse and neglect, high school dropout rates, and juvenile court involvement by
increasing protective factors among at-risk children and youth for little to no cost. This project reduces family conflict by identifying and assisting concerned parents of low to high-risk youth through the use of the Parent Project model. The Parent Project is a highly structured activity-based parenting training program, designed to help parents prevent and
intervene in the most destructive of youth behaviors. Parallel group sessions for parent(s)/caregivers(s), specifically utilizing “The Parent Project” curriculum are conducted at the same time as the sessions with the children. Kumpfer (1997) reports that Stratton’s meta-analysis indicates that programs using training methods were more effective than program using
lecture methods. Each parent and child is provided with the Parent Project workbook entitled “Changing Destructive Adolescent Behavior”.