Strengthening Families Program: For Parents and Youth 10 – 14 Iowa State University Presented by: Pam Peterson, MS, APSW UW-Extension Family Living Educator Door County

Strengthening Families Program: For Parents and Youth Iowa State University Recognized as exemplary and evidence-based by: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention National Institute on Drug Abuse US Department of Education US Department of Health and Human Services

Strengthening Families Program For Parents and Youth Special Features of the Program – Transition to the teen years – Parents and youth learn together – Videos portray parent-child interaction – User friendly materials – Fun, interactive projects and activities – Culturally-sensitive for African-American and Hispanic families – Rigorously evaluated

Strengthening Families Program For Parents and Youth Program Format – Developed for parents and youth – Designed for 7-10 families – Seven two-hour sessions – Four Booster Sessions – Three program facilitators

SFP Typical Session Family Meal 1 Hour Simultaneously + 1 Hour Youth Session Parent Session Family Session

Family Needs Transportation Managing Children Flexibility for Meals Parenting Skills Reason to Participate

Strengthening Families Program Transportation Childcare Meals Skill Building Incentives & Group Cohesiveness

Strengthening Families Program For Parents and Youth Program Materials – leader guide with masters for handouts – leader guide with masters for Booster Sessions 1-4 – videotapes Present information and illustrate skills Actors are African-American, Hispanic and Caucasian 6 parent, 1 youth, 2 family videos 4 videos for booster sessions – Love and Limits magnets – Additional materials for program games/activities

Strengthening Families Program For Parents and Youth Program Activities – Videos, short lectures & vignettes – Group Discussions – Skills Practice – Active Games/Learning Games – Family projects

Strengthening Families Program For Parents and Youth Core Themes Using Love and Limits Empathy Rules/Responsibilities to Reach Goals Expressing Appreciation Open and Clear Communication

Parents Make a Difference!

Strengthening Families Program For Parents and Youth Universal Prevention/Intervention Economically disadvantaged Racially diverse Court-ordered families Families already in family therapy

Strengthening Families Program For Parents and Youth Lifetime alcohol use without parental permission, 6th grade baseline through 10th grade follow-up of students receiving SFP and control group students At the10th grade, SFP students exhibited a 32% relative reduction in alcohol use compared to control group students (p<.01).

Strengthening Families Program For Parents and Youth Self-reported aggressive behavior in youth receiving SFP and control group, 6th grade baseline through 10th grade *Aggressive-Destructive Conduct Index is based on an in-home questionnaire derived from the National Youth Survey and measures the frequency with which youth engaged in identified behaviors including physically aggressive behavior toward people (p=.01).

SFP Prevention Program : Cost Savings $7.82 return for every dollar invested!

Strengthening Families Program For Parents and Youth The most valuable thing parents learned: – “to listen to my child and their feelings” – “to not criticize my child personally when I’m angry” – “to set rules and consequences and still show love”

Strengthening Families Program For Parents and Youth The most valuable thing youth learned: – “to deal with peer pressure” – “that my parents have stress too” – “how to talk to mom and dad” – “my parents love me”

UW-Extension Family Living Programs Strengthening Families Websites: