Participating in parenting classes introduces parents to another component of Young Family's Program's comprehensive case management. It’s imperative that we not only help parents meet their children’s physical needs through WIC and nutrition education, but their cognitive, social and emotional needs as well.
In these parenting classes, parents learn to recognize characteristics of the developmental stages their children will experience. As they begin to understand their children’s individual needs, they can design parenting strategies to cope, including discipline appropriate to a child’s age and psychological development.
When both parents and children enjoy an improved quality of family life, the goals within their grasp rise. Ultimately Young Family's Program's clients see the value of education in multiple aspects of their lives. We set a foundation by focusing on:
- Evaluating individual strengths and weaknesses as parents
- Studying child development and individual behavioral characteristics
- Learning effective communication techniques
- Identifying and prioritizing specific risks that can lead to child abuse
- Concrete steps to create nurturing home environments for children to grow
Adding the other pieces of the puzzle — individual counseling, access to WIC services, family advocacy and integration of services from other area agencies — simply strengthens Young Family's Program's tangible commitment to supporting Lincoln’s young families.
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