When it comes to parenting, all families can use encouragement and
support. We offer a variety of helpful parent education classes,
tailored to individual circumstances and needs.
Parents are their children’s first and most influential teachers.
Through home visits and group meetings, our Parents as Teachers
educators will provide parents the information and support they need
to help their children reach their full potential. Parents will
learn age appropriate activities to promote their child’s optimal
development. This is free for parents of children from birth to
three years old.
Visit www.patnc.org to learn more
about this model national program that Child & Family Services is
implementing locally. For more information contact
Katina Barnes,
at 397-2121, ext. 324.
Systematic Training For Effective Parenting, or STEP, is for parents
of children between one and six years old. During this seven-week
program, parents learn how to boost their child’s self-esteem,
implement effective discipline techniques and communicate more
effectively. They will also find out more about their child’s stages
of emotional development and the motivation behind their behavior.
For information on STEP,
contact Donna Wilgus at 757.397.2121, ext. 307.
Child & Family Services also presents “For Children’s Sake,”
seminars for separating and divorcing parents. We focus on issues of
parenting responsibilities, co-parenting and caring for a child’s
emotional health and development so that children are not “caught in
the middle.”
Our Healthy Families program assists first-time parents living in
Portsmouth and Norfolk. This is geared toward parents who are
pregnant or who have a baby under three months old. A Family Support
Worker will show parents how to care for their child and explain
what to expect in terms of the baby’s developmental stages. They
will connect parents to such health-care services as immunization
clinics, pediatricians and health insurance, and locate community
resources such as educational and job training opportunities. Family
Support Workers will even come to the parents’ home, a service they
may use until the child’s fifth birthday. A free service, Healthy
Families is a nation-wide model initiative that Child & Family
Services is offering to families in Portsmouth and Norfolk. Visit
http://www.healthyfamiliesamerica.org to learn more about
this model program.
Contact Leslie Meekins at 757.397.2121, ext. 311 (Portsmouth).
Our Resource Mothers program provides support for pregnant teens in
Virginia Beach and Portsmouth. We will help with prenatal
healthcare, show how to prepare for the baby’s birth and provide
parenting education. Healthy mothers’ having healthy babies is our
goal, and we encourage fathers to participate in the lives of their
children. Visit
www.vahealth.org/resourcemothers/ for additional information
about this model program that Child & Family Services conducts
locally.
The aim of CLFC is to provide drug and alcohol prevention
education while working with children, adolescents, and their
parents together. Interactive and dynamic, the program additionally
focuses on improving family communication, developing children's
resistance skills (how to "just say no"), and teaches ways parents
can be honest and have an influence on their children’s choices
about smoking tobacco, drinking alcohol, and using other substances.
Services are offered to 5th and 6th grade students of Douglass Park
Elementary and 9th grade students of Woodrow Wilson High. These
services are free and are on-going throughout the school year.
Classes are conducted at Douglass Park Elementary on Thursdays at
5:30 P.M. in room 19 and Woodrow Wilson High on Wednesdays at 5:30
P.M. in room 22.
For more information please contact
Katina Barnes
at 397-2121 ext. 324.
When parents and children have good relationships with each other,
their schools and those in their community -- the child’s
performance improves. That’s the basic premise behind Families and
Schools Together, or FAST. Families gather in schools one night a
week for eight weeks to share a meal, play a family game, talk with
other families and have a great night out!
FAST can benefit all children, especially those who face challenges
that put them at-risk for social, academic or substance abuse
programs. Transportation is free, as well as the meal. In addition
to having quality family time, parents get a break during “parent
time” without having to pay for childcare. To learn more about this
research-based national model program, visit
www.fastnational.org
Child & Family Services works with people of all ages to teach
alternatives to violent behavior.
Students enrolled in our Anger Management program learn empathy and
compassion for one another with the goal of inhibiting violent
behavior. The aim is to improve students’ social skills and impulse
control. This program is conducted in collaboration with public
schools,
We work with domestic violence offenders through our Batterer
Intervention Groups. Within these court-ordered groups, we address
the dynamics of violence with those who have been physically abusive
toward their partners.
Child & Family Services also helps families when a Home Study is
needed. Our professional staff assists judges in making decisions in
disputed custody cases. Home studies include a thorough background
check and an assessment of the home environment, finances and family
members’ functioning and interaction.
Separation, divorce and family violence can have profound impacts on
children. Child & Family Services is proud of the families we have
assisted in managing the difficulties surrounding these issues.
After an initial assessment by our professional staff, a decision is
made on visitation with non-custodial parents. We address where,
when and how the visits occur, and we facilitate the times for
parents to visit with their children in a safe, accommodating
setting. Our services are also available to parents, whose
visitation rights have been limited by the courts or social
services.
