Empowering Parents - Help from Juvenile Probation

By Leanna Lehman —  Very few parenting stages are as challenging as the teen years. When children leave behind their Barbies and Legos for cell phones, SnapChat, and “hanging out,” parents are often blindsided by the radical changes that occur. What then, could prove even more difficult? Going through this transition with a strong-willed child that is heading for trouble. Many families manage to navigate these years and somehow survive bearing only minor scrapes and bruises. Others are pushed to the very limits of their endurance. Sometimes the transformation is slow and subtle. Other times, the transition is lightning fast. Parents go to sleep making a mental note that their Girl Scout has to sell more Thin Mints by Friday, only to wake up to find their little girl gone. She suddenly is covered piercings and tattoos with vape pens in her back-pack and a Monster can that looks suspiciously like a bong tucked under her bed. In either scenario, parents can soon find themselves dumbfounded looking at their child in black and white stripes on the other side of the glass in a JPO holding room. Regardless of how they arrived there, the next question for parents is usually, “What do we do now?” Churchill County Juvenile Probation some has answers. They are now providing a class for the parents of adolescents currently on probation or in the court system. This program, The Parent Project, directly addresses raising strong-willed children. One philosophy of the program is teaching parents how to execute daily expressions of love and affection while implementing measures to remediate destructive behaviors. Parent Project data confirms that adolescents who received intervention before getting into trouble, have a much lower chance of ending up on probation and committing further offenses. The Parent Project is proving to be an extremely effective way of delivering this intervention. The new class, led by JPO officers Darrin Hammer and Rebecca Hollar, has a solid 44 years of research behind it. Parent Project was developed in collaboration with over 500,000 parents of at-risk youth. The National Bar Association has deemed the program “the strongest parent involvement program for adjudicated youth.” “Some of the kids are at risk of running away or committing suicide and are experimenting with drugs and alcohol,” explained Hammer. “Others have started interacting with gangs or worse.” In a perfect world, the Parent Project could be utilized as a diversion program that would help adolescents and their families before they find themselves in court. Fortunately, the program is proving to be a highly effective intervention even after adjudication. The program is currently “The only parent training program that addresses the MOST destructive of adolescent behavior,” with a key focus on empowering parents and transforming teens. Another valuable aspect of the Parent Project is the supportive environment it generates for parents. Even when friends or family are trying to be helpful, they rarely understand the struggles that accompany dealing with a child displaying destructive behaviors. “Parents can feel so alone,” stated Hollar, “this is an opportunity for them to meet people they can rely on.” The community has been tremendously supportive of the Parent Projects. County partners Churchill Coalition, Social Services, and Family Services have been instrumental in the program. Additionally, area restaurants like Ana’s Cafe, Domino’s, Pizza Barn, and Running Iron Cafe have provided meals for classes along with Epworth Methodist Church. To make attending the Parent Project as easy as possible, the course fees for parents are covered by JPO. They provide dinner as well as childcare. “Our goal is to remove as many obstacles as possible to help families attend, connect with other parents, and fully utilize the skills and techniques offered them,” stated Hammer. With other areas experiencing phenomenal results, they are confident the Parent Project is the help that area families need. Hammer and Hollar are hoping to soon make the Parent Project more widely available. At present, only parents that have been court ordered or referred are able to participate. For more information, visit www.parentproject.com         Never miss the local news — read more on The Fallon Post home page. If you enjoy The Fallon Post, please support our effort to provide local, independent news and make a contribution today.  Your contribution makes possible this online news source for all things Fallon.