Healthy couple and parenting relationships and resulting family stability benefit the well-being of adults and children. Children who live absent from their biological fathers are two to three times more likely to be poor, to experience educational, health, emotional and behavioral problems than their peers who live with their married, biological (or adoptive) parents.
In an effort to increase parenting skills and provide educational resources, 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 programs to over 120 participants in the HC-SAP.
As a result of the Nurturing Parenting programs, 94% of participants reported improved personal knowledge (such as enhanced knowledge of child’s developmental levels relative to averages, developmentally appropriate activities for different ages, health habits for themselves and their children), and 100% of participants reported improved personal skills that stimulate children’s optimum development (such as communication and literacy skills; healthy eating practices; conflict management techniques).
Three months after completion of the Nurturing Parenting programs, 87% of participants reported using child-rearing skills and parental self-care, and developmentally appropriate activities for their children; practicing parenting skills and conflict management techniques to strengthen and sustain family relationships.
On the post-test evaluation, one participant reported, “I learned what to expect of my child for their age, how to set rules, and appropriate discipline. This class taught me truly how to be a parent.”