Parent Mentor

Program Description

Solutions for Living's Parent-Mentor Program is a home-based service focusing on parental skills building through the development of a nurturing, non-authoritarian relationship between the Parent-Mentor and client. This program represents a diverse approach to prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect by being flexible and adapting to needs of the parents. It can be a free-standing service or part of a cluster of services designed to meet the range of families' therapeutic, supportive and concrete needs. The Program will empower and strengthen the family unit by cultivating parental coping skills.

The following are some of the characteristics that most frequently describe the Program's target population:

Families with:

• children at risk because of current or possible abuse and neglect
• teen parents, single parents
• parents who did not complete high-school education
• parents with a history of alcoholism, drug abuse, domestic violence, psychiatric conditions or physical illness
• poor child management practices on the part of parents, frequently as a result of their own negative family experiences

The Program provides the following services:

• Intake and match with a Parent Mentor
• Educating parents re: children's physical and emotional development.and realistic expectations of child behavior
• Role-modeling appropriate parenting techniques including positive communication, listening and age-appropriate limit setting and discipline
• Enhancement of home-management skills such as, budgeting, organization and nutrition
• Advocacy and community resource counseling
• Support in times of crisis

Counseling, Advocacy and Dispute Resolution Services
For Children, Adolescents, Families, and the Community