The Family Center: A Case Study

Raising children between two homes can be a very difficult task. When families encounter different transitions, careful attention should be taken because children need, desire and deserve the love, care and support from both of their parents. The Family Center is a private, not for profit 501(c) (3) corporation established in Mobile, Alabama in 1991. According to the Alabama Family Law, Statute 30-3-150, it defines this guideline: "It is the policy of this state to assure that minor children have frequent and continuing contact with parents who have shown the ability to act in the best interest of their children and to encourage parents to share in the rights and responsibilities of rearing their children after the parents have separated or

dissolved their marriage. The Family Center provides parents with positive parenting classes and supervised noncustodial parental visits. They serve approximately six thousand individuals per year. The education and guidance provided to participants of the parenting classes are aimed to help parents keep their children safe and happy throughout the adjustment of not having both parents in the same home and attending supervised visits with the noncustodial parent. Services are offered not only to parents, but step-families, grandparents, caregivers and foster/adoptive parents.
The Family Center has two emphases: the prevention of child abuse and the importance of both parents in the lives of children.

Their mission is to strengthen families and prevent child abuse and neglect by providing free and low cost education, training and support to parents and caregivers in Southwest Alabama (http://www.familycentermobile.org/). Parenting classes are used widely by child welfare agencies to assist with improving parenting practices among families at risk for child maltreatment, with over 800,000 families referred to parenting programs each year (Barth,2005). Classes that are taught by The Family Center consist of the following: Guidance and Discipline Part 1 and 2, Age expectations and family rules, Giving choices and consequences, Praising behaviors and behavior charts, Home and personal safety, Stress management skills, Anger management and communication skills, and Child abuse and

neglect.
The basic concept of The Family Center is empowering family members to look at their situation; whatever it may be, from a more effective point of view, make better decisions and focus on the most important people in their lives; their children. Class participants learn how to make better choices for themselves and their children. The Center wants parents and caregivers to feel positive about their parenting skills and their relationship with their children.
During the late 60’s, there was a shift in addressing children’s behaviors from child therapy, institutionalization or juvenile adjudication focused exclusively on changing the child’s undesirable behaviors to interventions focused on changing the parent’s behavior (Kaminski, Valle, Filene, & Boyle, 2008).

Programs that provide parenting education teach parents new skills that will improve parenting resources, coping skills, and competencies in child rearing (Cowen, 2001; Reppucci, Britner, & Woolard, 1997; Wodarski, 1981). Parental support training programs have proven the most effective way to treat child behavior problems (Abrahamse, Junger, Wouwe, Boer, and Lindauer, 2015). In addition, “parenting education provides a mechanism for parents to learn positive parenting techniques outside their own upbringing” (Cowen, 2001; Reppucci et al,

1981).
Parenting classes are used widely by child welfare agencies to assist with improving parenting practices among families at risk for child maltreatment, with over 800,000 families referred to parenting programs each year (Barth,2005). Classes that are taught by The Family Center consist of the following: Guidance and Discipline Part 1 and 2, Age expectations and family rules, Giving choices and consequences, Praising behaviors and behavior charts, Home and personal safety, Stress management skills, Anger management and communication skills, and Child abuse and neglect.
Supervised visitations occur on a daily basis at The Family Center. Parents needing supervised visitation often have histories of domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, mental illness or substance abuse, therefore providers delivering services must be adequately trained and supervised in order to protect the child from further harm during the visitation process (Pulido, Forrester, & Lacina, 2011). The staff (supervisor) that supervises the visits assists the parents with enhancing their interaction with their children by modeling healthy parenting skills with the noncustodial parents as they visit with their children in a safe, nurturing and monitored environment. Flory, Dunn, Berg-Weger, & Milstead (2001) provided an empirical study of supervised access and custody exchange which demonstrated that program participation dramatically increases the frequency and consistency of noncustodial parent’s access to children and decreases interpersonal conflict.
“Social workers help people in need using a wide range of methods. They counsel individuals, work with families, run various types of groups, help clients in their communities, and strive to improve the organizations in which they practice” (Kirst-Ashman, 2011). The family is a structure of related parts or subsystems. Each action or change affects every other person in the family. Allen (1992) stated “by strengthening families' ability to nurture their children physically, emotionally, and intellectually, family support programs increase the likelihood that children will grow up healthy, safe, and successful”.