Healthy parenting relationships benefit the well-being of adults and children, as well as promote family stability. Children who live absent from their biological fathers are two to three times more likely than their peers who live with their married, biological (or adoptive) parents to be poor, experience educational, health, emotional, and behavioral problems. 

In an effort to increase parenting skills and provide educational resources to the community, the Hopkins County Family and Consumer Sciences Agent partnered with the Hopkins County Jail and Hopkins County Substance Abuse Program (HC-SAP) to provide the Nurturing Parenting program to over 200 participants in the HC-SAP, and 45 women at the Hopkins County Jail. 

Results of the Nurturing Parenting program indicated 95% of participants enhanced their knowledge of child development, developmentally appropriate activities for different ages, and healthy habits for themselves and their children. In addition, 100% of participants reported improved personal skills that stimulate children’s optimal development such as communication and literacy skills, healthy eating practices, and conflict management techniques. 

Three months after completing the program, participants continued to reap the benefits of the curriculum. For example, 92% of participants reported practicing specific techniques learned in the program such as child-rearing skills, parental self-care, developmentally appropriate activities for their children, and conflict management techniques in their homes. One participant shared on the post-test evaluation, “I’ve learned better ways to bond with, discipline, and teach my child. These skills are helping me become the kind of parent I want to be, and the kind of parent that I wish I had.”  

Similarly in Bullitt County, the Family and Consumer Sciences Agent partnered with the Bullitt County Detention Center Substance Abuse program to provide Nurturing Fathering to over 331 incarcerated male participants. The program has strict behavior guidelines so the membership can vary at any time. As one inmate leaves the program, another one takes his place with a limit of 40 participants. The FCS Agent has been teaching this curriculum for over 3 years, offering 7 classes, and graduating roughly 149 participants. 

Results of the Nurturing Fathering program indicated the graduated participants enhanced their knowledge of developmentally appropriate expectations for children, appropriate disciplinary practices, and increased levels of empathy for their child. One father, who attended the most recent class, reported the following, “I thought I knew pretty much everything, but I’ve learned that I was wrong. I’ve learned many different ways to praise, discipline, and communicate with my children then the way I already knew, or to the way I was raised.” 

All of the above programs are on-going for the foreseeable future, due to the success of the programs, and positive feedback from program administrators and community members.