GREEN BAY – Since 2016, Family & Childcare Resources of N.E.W. has been providing free support to parents and caregivers through their Positive Parenting Program, or Triple P.
The Triple P program is used in over 30 countries across the world, focused around 17 practical strategies that help parents build healthy, strong relationships with their children.
“Our agency is all about early beginnings for children. We want to make sure that they are supported and having a healthy early development,” said Shelby Belanger, family programs manager at Family & Childcare Resources of N.E.W. “We do that by providing high quality education support and programs to families and the child care professionals… The whole goal of Triple P is to start by working on those positive relationships with children. And then through those relationships, you can encourage positive behaviors.”
Unlike many traditional parenting programs, Triple P doesn’t take a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, it offers flexible levels of support, providing participants with practical strategies they can adapt to their own families.
“Parents are going to get a different experience based on what level of the program they attend. We do offer multiple different formats,” said Belanger.
One part of the program offers three-part seminars, and parents can choose to attend one, two or all three in a row, as well as topic-specific workshops and discussion groups.
“[The seminars] are just lighter touch, basic information about strategies to use as a parent,” shared Belanger. “The workshops and discussion groups are a one-time thing. They’re very topic-specific. For example, we have one bedtime routines, one on bullying— different topics that happen in a lot of kids’ lives, but maybe aren’t generalizable across the board.”
For participants who want a more intensive experience, Triple P offers an eight-week group.
“Parents can come into that group with a specific behavior that they want to change in their child, and the staff will work with them on figuring out which of the 17 strategies are going to help them the most. They're given some homework or challenges to kind of work on at home. They're tracking behavior a lot more intensely,” said Belanger.
The Triple P program is available in Brown, Kewaunee, Marinette, Oconto and Shawano counties, as well as in community sites like House of Hope and certain correctional facilities.
“We've seen a really positive response. We have a lot of participants. Each year we see around 860 families, and testimonials come back pretty great. Families are really excited to see changes in their kids,” said Belanger. “Overall, it's been received very positively.”
In the future, Family & Childcare Resources of N.E.W. hopes to reduce the stigma surrounding parenting support and expand the Triple P program into smaller counties which may not have as many resources.
“I would love for the community to know that we're not a scary place; we are a resource. Pretty much any question they have, we have experts here who can answer them,” said Belanger. “So whether it's child development, whether it's behaviors, whether it's finding child care, we are the resource in the community to go to.”
Family & Childcare Resources of N.E.W. offers programs both online and in-person as well as in English or Spanish.
For more information, visit www.fcrnew.org.
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