Crittenton Centers’ Family Services Program provides a range of vital education and support programs for parents to help them improve the quality of their lives, strengthen families, and prevent child abuse and neglect. Our Family Services includes home visiting programs, Milestones, Parent Education classes, and our Family Advocacy Center. All families served at Crittenton Centers are strongly encouraged to participate in Family Services Programs.
Crittenton Centers’ Milestones Program offers a strengths-based model built on the acknowledgment of family strengths and recognizes that parents are a vital component of their child’s life. Interactions with parents enrolled in this program focus on identifying their strengths and using them to develop collaborative relationships to support parents in their important job of raising children.
Services offered include:
- Frequent Home Visits with a Certified “Parents As Teachers” Family Educator
- Parent/Child Activities including the development of early literacy skills
- Ongoing Developmental Screenings; Hearing and Vision Screenings
- Group Outings to provide Family Education Opportunities
Monthly Parent Nights and Parent Workshops focusing on positive behavior management and healthy parent/child relationships Crittenton Centers‘ Parent Education Program cultivates relationships between program staff and families with the ultimate goal of enhancing parent resilience, building knowledge of parenting and child development, and fostering social connections; all proven strategies in order to prevent and reduce child abuse and neglect.
Core services include:
- Monthly Parent Nights- Parents develop social connections with other parents and early childhood professionals in order to build a support system for meeting both practical and emotional needs.
- Parent-Child Activities – Parent Educators visit parents in their homes to share age-appropriate child development information including the introduction and development of early learning skills, positive behavior management techniques and engage the family in activities that provide meaningful parent-child interaction and relationship building.
- Parent Education Classes – Classes incorporate sessions based on the “Nurturing Parenting” curriculum which has a proven record of preventing and treating the recurrence of child abuse and neglect. Classes are easily accessible to at-risk families through Crittenton Centers, and local social service agencies serving the homeless and transient population.
- Advocacy: Assisting and supporting parents navigate the court system and case management requirements.
- Mentoring: Assisting with the development of short and long term goals.
- Communication resource referrals: Assisting in linkage with other community services needed by the family.
- Education: Parent education classes, support groups, and home visiting programs.
Facts:
- Children who experience abuse and neglect are 59% more likely to be arrested as a juvenile
- 500+ home visits provided annually
- 2,650+ hours of counseling provided annually
You can make a difference!
- $10.00 will provide nutritional lunch for a teen parent receiving intensive home visiting services through the Stepping Stones program.
- $50.00 will provide staff, mileage, and materials needed to complete one home visit
- All groups offered are free to the families
All Crittenton Centers’ Family Services Programs are free. If more information or for eligibility requirements, please contact our Family Services Coordinator, at 309-839-8908 or email us: FS@Crittentoncenters.org