School/Community Partnerships

Kern Parent Project

parentproject

Parents: Do you feel your teenager is out of control, involved in drugs, alcohol or other self-destructive behaviors? The Parent Project may be a solution to your worry and frustration.

What is it?

  • A 10 to16-week parent training program designed specifically for parents of strong-willed or out-of-control adolescent children.
  • The curriculum teaches concrete identification, prevention, and intervention strategies for the most destructive of adolescent behaviors (poor school attendance and performance, alcohol and other drug use, gangs, runaways, and violent teens).

How does it work?

  • Parents attend and learn, in a classroom setting, to manage teen behavior problems at home.
  • An activity-based workbook, “A Parent’s Guide to Changing Destructive Adolescent Behavior,” is available only to program participants.
  • Parents meet one time per week, two to three hours per session, for between 10 –16 weeks.
  • Parent support groups are formed using the UCLA, Self-Help Support Group model.
  • The focus of the program is to help parents learn specific ways to help change negative behavior.

Who sponsors and teaches the program?

  • The Kern High School District and the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office sponsor the Parent Project program.
  • The program is presented by schools, police and probation departments, mental health agencies, churches and other community-based organizations.
  • There are over 3,500 trained facilitators in 36 states across the U.S., who have successfully completed the 40-hour Parent Project® Facilitator Training.
  • There are over 120 trained Parent Project® Facilitators in Kern County.
  • A registration fee may be required. A small fee for materials may also be required, and may be waived, depending upon the sponsoring district or agency.

Why the Parent Project®?

  • Thirteen years in development, the Parent Project® is the only course of its kind. It was developed in direct response to the questions and challenges parents say they are facing with their strong-willed teenager.
  • Over 150,000 families have attended Parent Project® classes, nationwide.