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Juvenile Courts and Probation

Choosing the Right Model

There are two basic types of parent training programs: prevention and intervention models. Of the parent training programs in existence today, the overwhelming majority are prevention models. Prevention programs focus on the future. Intervention models focus on current behaviors, with need-based intervention techniques and specific skill development for parents.

When children come into contact with the juvenile justice system, strong interventions are required. Using a prevention model for issues requiring intervention is like honking your car horn after the accident. It is too late for prevention.

The Parent Project® is the only program of it’s kind in the country, developed specifically for use in juvenile courts and probation. The program offers concrete, no-nonsense answers for even the MOST difficult parent questions and high-risk adolescent behaviors.

  • “My son is in a gang. What can I do?”
  • “What do you do when your child hits you?”
  • “My child ran away. What should I do?”
  • “What should I do when my child screams and curses at me?”
  • “My child refuses to go to school. What can I do?”
  • “My daughter is prostituting herself to pay for her drugs. How do I get my daughter back?”

The most effective parenting programs are those that are need-based, addressing the precise issues parents face. Parent Project programs were actually developed by the questions posed by over 500,000 parents of high-risk youth.

Every major component of the Parent Project® is considered BEST PRACTICES. Changing Destructive Adolescent Behavior employs:

Behavioral Interventions: The use of behavior modification techniques

Cooperative Learning Norms: Accepted by most educators and demonstrated by research to be one of the most effective teaching techniques for adults.

Activity-Based Instruction: Accepted by most educators and shown to be one of the most effective learning and retention teaching modalities for adults.

Integrated Support Groups: Providing ongoing emotional and practical support for parents, and identified by experts and proven research as a necessary component for lasting change in the home. This is especially true for the single parent who may lack support at home.

Now, with over 30 years of development, the Parent Project® is the largest court-mandated juvenile diversion program in the country (American Bar Association’s Center on Children and the Law).

  • In Minidoka County, Idaho, the Parent Project® reduced juvenile crime by one-third.
  • In Roseville, California, the police department reduced juvenile related calls for service by 95%, after parents took the Parent Project® classes.
  • Based on the numerous local research projects completed on the Parent Project® in Alabama, the Department of Economic and Community Affairs added the Parent Project to its list of approved, research-based programs.
  • In California, the Parent Project® has been adopted by over 25 county departments of juvenile probation including, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, and Santa Clara, the largest counties in the state.
  • In Ohio, the Attorney General adopted the Parent Project®. The Ohio State Supreme Court now sponsors training for the program. Many Ohio Juvenile Courts have used the Parent Project for more than 15 years.
  • In Shasta County, California, juvenile recidivism was reduced by 76% over a period of 4 years using the Parent Project® model.
  • In Kern County, California, the federally funded gang intervention program, Project 180, reduced youth risk factors by 75% with the Parent Project® classes.
    (http://www.parentproject.com/index.php/about-us/research)

At only $29.00 per family, the Parent Project® is the least expensive of all practical intervention models.

Click for available training dates and locations.

Click to download the contents and first Unit of the parent workbook, “Changing Destructive Adolescent Behavior.”

Click here to lean more about the Parent Project Facilitator Training