Parenting Program
Parent Education and Home Visitor’s Program was designed to support the stability of the District of Columbia’s most at-risk families living in Wards 5, 6, 7 and 8. The Home Visitor’s Program addresses and seeks to prevent child abuse and neglect by strengthening and empowering parents and families through group parent education sessions and individual sessions with families. Through close relationships between CFLS case managers and participating families, we are able to provide knowledge on parenting and child development, a safe social connection, social skills and counseling interventions.
Parent Education and Home Visitor’s Program uses Nurturing Skills for Families curriculum, which is part of an evidence based program called The Nurturing Parenting Programs for Parents and Infants. This program has proven to effectively treat and prevent the recurrence of child abuse and neglect. We pair parent education sessions with home visits to build strong relationships with parents and to support them in establishing healthy and nurturing parenting skills. It is also an opportunity for parents to share questions and concerns that they are hesitant to address during a group setting.
We also believe that providing opportunities to be part of social events for families has been an additional avenue for social connection, social support and role modeling.
We pair parent education sessions with home visits to build strong relationships with parents and to establish nurturing parenting skills.
In addition to homeless mothers and domestic violence, we target incarcerated mothers and support them as they reunite with their children given the unique, all-encompassing and gender-specific needs that they require. In the last 40 years, the number of incarcerated women increased by more than 700 percent, a growth-rate outpacing men by more than 50 percent. Twenty-five years ago, the presence of women was an aberration in the criminal justice system, but today there are 1.2 million women under its supervision – and 75 percent are mothers. The number of mothers with children under the age of 18 more than doubled since 1991, an increase of 131% and 80.9% of mothers reported living with at least one child prior to their incarceration. The impact of female incarceration on child well-being is of particular concern, as incarcerated women are much more likely than their male counterparts to be primary caregivers of minor children at the time of their imprisonment.
For more information, contact Tamara Brooks at tbrooks@cflsdc.org.
Virtual Offering
The Parenting Program is providing support to clients via Zoom video conference. Presently we are facilitating virtual Parenting Group and Individual Sessions with the following community partners:
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Griffin House
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CSOSA
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Fairview Halfway House
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Trinity Arms
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Olaiya’s Cradle
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Jubilee Housing
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North West Pregnacy Center
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Goodwill Excel Center
Upcoming dates TBD