Parenting Wisely

This is a one-on-one program that teaches parents and their 9- to 18-year-old children.

This program is implemented by caseworkers with Mifflin County Children & Youth. The goal is to teach parents and their 9- to 18-year old children important skills for combating risk factors for substance use and abuse.

This program:

  • Promotes emotional competence, including the self-expression, understanding, and regulating emotions of the parents and youth;
  • Engages and motivates youths and families to reduce and/or eliminate negative attitudes and behaviors;
  • Promotes drug use/abuse resistance skills among at-risk adolescents and their families; and
  • Promotes social learning in treatment-oriented foster care for adolescents by emphasizing behavior management.

Unlike our other parenting classes, this is a one-on-one program that may begin at any time, is self-paced, and would allow a mentoring relationship to develop between caseworker and parent. Parenting Wisely will be administrated in the home unlike our other parenting programs; this program is being implemented by caseworkers employed by Mifflin County Children & Youth.

The overall anticipated result is to reduce family conflict and child behavior problems) (this includes stealing, vandalism, defiance of authority, bullying, and poor hygiene.

Specific results include:

  • Reduction in arrests
  • Increased rate of high school graduation
  • Reduction in teenage parenthood among targeted youths
  • Reduction in alcohol, cigarette and marijuana use among targeted adolescents
  • Decreased antisocial and high-risk behavior among targeted youths and their siblings
  • Prevention of youths from being removed from the home