Strengthening Families
Improving relationships between parents and youth
Parents are challenged every day to keep their children’s small setbacks, like skipping household chores or not doing homework, from leading to serious behavior problems like drug and alcohol abuse, and kids need skills to help them resist the peer pressure that leads to dangerous behaviors. The Strengthening Families program can help. It is designed for parents or caregivers and their children ages 10 to 14. The goal of the program is to prevent substance abuse in youth by helping them to build skills and giving parents more tools to help their children become responsible young adults. The program also helps families improve the relationship between parents and youth and decreases the level of family conflict.
This program gets results
The Strengthening Families program has been evaluated with hundreds of families by research institutes at Iowa State University. Analysis of data has shown positive results for both parents and their children.
- Youth had significantly lower rates of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use compared to youth who were not in the program.
- Youth had significantly fewer conduct problems in school.
- Parents improved skills such as building a positive relationship with their youth, setting appropriate limits, and following through on consequences.
The Strengthening Families program is delivered in seven weekly group sessions that feature parent, youth, and family sessions. Parents and youth meet in separate groups for the first hour and together as families during the second hour to practice skills, play games, and do family projects. Sessions are highly interactive and include role-playing, discussions, learning games, and family projects.
Parent Sessions
The seven parent sessions consist of presentations, role-plays, group discussions, and other skill-building activities.
Parent Topics
- Using Love and Limits
- Making House Rules
- Encouraging Good Behavior
- Using Consequences
- Building Bridges
- Protecting Against Substance Abuse
- Using Community Resources
Youth Sessions
Youth sessions engage each youth in small and large group discussions, group skill practice, and social bonding activities.
Youth Topics
- Having Goals and Dreams
- Appreciating Parents
- Dealing with Stress
- Following Rules
- Handling Peer Pressure I
- Handling Peer Pressure II
- Reaching Out To Others
Family Sessions
Family sessions use specially-designed games and projects to increase family bonding, build positive communication skills, and facilitate learning to solve problems together.
Family Topics
- Supporting Goals and Dreams
- Appreciating Family Members
- Using Family Members
- Understanding Family Values
- Building Family Communication
- Reaching Our Goals
- Putting It All Together & Graduation
For more information about this FREE program contact Kelly McHale at 732-254-3344 or email her at Christina@ncadd-middlesex.org
To download the Strengthening Families program brochure, please click here.
