Results & Success Stories

Minidoka's Miracle

Judge Larry Duff started it all for Minidoka County in the Southern region of Idaho. In the fall of 1996, Judge Duff and another Idaho magistrate were talking about programs that might help troubled teens. The other judge said, "If I could have only one program, I’d take the Parent Project® any day!"

Armed with all the information he had heard from his friend, Judge Duff went back to Minidoka County and talked with his Probation Staff and a "get it done now" nurse from the Minidoka School District. They decided to join forces to implement the Parent Project®. In February 1997, a probation officer and the same nurse attended the Parent Project® Facilitator Training in Ontario, California. In June, the first Minidoka Parent Project® class was held, with Judge Duff in attendance.

The first and second classes were so successful, the decision was made to expand the program. The Minidoka School District committed to in-service at least 80% of all of their staff; that meant janitors, cooks, teachers, office staff, and principals (and everyone in between). More facilitators were trained. The Parent Project® Teen class was added. The Probation Department added two "Trackers" who spot check the teens at school, at home and in the community. Judge Duff began to Order all convicted teens and their parents to attend Parent Project® classes. Completion of the course became a prerequisite for release from probation and other terms of the sentence.

It has been that way ever since, and the results are nothing short of phenomenal. The following statistics illustrate what happened in Minidoka County from August 1997 (when full implementation of the Parent Project® began) through December 1999:

• The number of petitions filed for juvenile offenses fell 33%.

• The number of minors on probation for any cause fell by more than 30%.

• The number of drug-related probation violations was down by 20%.

• The number of days spent by youth in detention fell by 24%.

• School dropouts and expulsions dropped by 95%.

Last August, neighboring Cassia County began active implementation of The Parent Project® in their schools. Early figures show the number of petitions filed against minors in Cassia county soon dropped 26.5%.

That’s success in anybody’s book!

Excerpt from Community Policing Exchange
Published by the Community Policing Consortium, Washington, DC, Jan/Feb 1999. Used by permission.

By Senior Deputy Ed Tumbleson

Community policing comes down to problem solving. When officers arrive at your door and listen to the problem, we should be able to offer both short-term relief and long-term solutions. For the average cop, nothing is more frustrating than having to tell the caller, "There is nothing (or little) we can do."

Law enforcement agencies across the country are experiencing an increasing number of family disturbance calls involving out-of-control children. In the past, we have recommended community organizations, parenting classes and counseling to parents.

Unfortunately, traditional parenting classes do not deal with runaways, gangs, drug use, violent kids, and other criminal behaviors. These are truly law enforcement issues. Community resources are neither designed nor equipped to confront these behaviors, and most law enforcement agencies do not have concrete answers for these families. Most agencies are now aware that without structured intervention, the officer soon will be back for similar calls.

Accordingly, the Thousand Oaks Police Department’s Community Police Unit now offers a program called the "Parent Project®." This program is specifically designed to help parents change destructive adolescent behavior.

---

. . . parents receive specific, step by step plans for intervening in [their child's] destructive behaviors.

---

The Parent Project® was created for parents with difficult or out-of-control adolescent children. Parents learn and practice specific prevention and intervention strategies for destructive behaviors such as truancy, alcohol and other drug use, gangs, practice of the occult, running away, violence and suicide. Parents facing these crises constantly say to officers, "Just tell me what I should do." In Parent Project® classes, parents receive specific, step by step plans for intervening in these and other destructive behaviors.

Parents are referred to the classes by officers in the field, juvenile detectives, diversion programs, the juvenile probation department, school officials and the court system.

Depending on the family’s specific need, the Parent Project® can last 10 to 16 weeks. Part I is called, "Laying the Foundation for Change," and consists of six activity-based instructional units. Typically, each unit is delivered at a weekly three hour session. Parents learn identification, prevention and intervention techniques for the most destructive adolescent behaviors and criminal activity (gangs, violence, etc.).

Part II is called "Changing Behavior and Rebuilding Family Relationships," consisting of 10 topic-focused parent support group sessions. Each session is designed to provide parents practical and emotional support as they continue the process of change in their home. These two-hour sessions also include an activity-based parenting skills component.

For many parents, but especially single parents, emotional and practical support is not available to them at home. Using a highly structured, self-help support group model, the Parent Project® offers a vehicle for the establishment of ongoing self-help parent support groups throughout the community.

For agencies that want to work with the entire family, there is a teen component as well. "Choosing Success ... Choosing Life" focuses on the choices children make and helps teens explore positive alternatives to destructive behaviors.

Finally, parents who are actively involved in the program are linked with a community policing officer in their area.

The Thousand Oaks Police Department Community Police Unit began offering the Parent Project® to local parents in April 1998. Initially, the program was designed to run as one 10-week class, four times per year. Because of the demand, a second class was added in Spanish. Now we are running classes four times per year in both English and Spanish. Since its inception, we have trained more than 80 parents. As an officer for more than 17 years, it is extremely rewarding to finally provide effective long-term solutions to the parents in our community."

"We have seen parents of gang members and parents with children who are using hard-core drugs and alcohol. We were told by one parent that her 13-year old son’s aspiration in life was to grow up to be a porn star. After 10 weeks of instruction and application of what these parents have learned, the aspiring porn star has changed his career goals and is now participating in positive family activities."

"In another case, a mother of a gang member reports that while her son is still a gang member, the confrontations at home with him are no longer violent and were much less frequent."

The truth is that parents have the influence and power to help their children and thereby change the communities in which they live. The Parent Project® shows them the way.

 

 

A Personal Success Story

| Home | Program Overview | Minidoka's Miracle | Why It Works | Find a Class in Your Area |
| Parent Project Jr., Loving Solutions | Personal and Social Responsibility | Results | Catalog |
| PDF Brochure | Contact | About Us | Helpful Links | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Notice | Refund Policy |

This site and content © 2001-2011 The Parent Project®, Rancho Cucamonga, California
All rights reserved.
Designed and Hosted by the online team at Creative Edge Communications, Inc.