Center offers in-home parenting help

Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Submitted photo In-home interventionist Emily Stevens stands in front of some of the personal organization supplies and early learning materials she uses in the Novo Behavior Management Program. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

Novo is the Latin word for ‘‘new.” The program’s primary goal is to provide in-home parenting support and mentoring to low-income families with young children (birth to 6) who are at risk for having their children removed due to an open case with protective services.

Another goal is to support these families in order to keep the children with the parents, or to return children from foster care once the family is stabilized.

In-home interventionist Emily Stevens explains, ‘‘Many of the parents we deal with are very young themselves. They are overwhelmed by economic hardship, their inability to find work or affordable housing and the stress of dealing with the needs of one or more small children.” She went on to say that parents in this situation are often single parents who lacked appropriate role models themselves while growing up and who have never been taught the stages of child development or the organizational skills necessary to maintain a stable household.

Referrals for the program generally come from the Charles County Health Department or the Department of Social Services.

The health department identifies children who appear at risk from malnutrition, missed medical appointments, or lack of dental care. Social services also identifies families who may benefit from this type of intensive parenting skills training.

Once Stevens receives a referral, she makes contact with the parent or parents and sets up an appointment to identify needs and set goals. She works closely with the family’s social worker to make sure that all concerns are being addressed.

In some cases, parents need to learn organizational and household management skills so that tasks are accomplished on time and important appointments such as job interviews and well-baby visits are kept. To do lists, organizers and pocket calendars can mean the difference between a chaotic household and one that runs smoothly.

In other cases, parents are taught how to shop for and prepare nutritious and affordable meals and snacks. Again, stresses Stevens, it’s almost never a matter of a parent being unconcerned about the family’s nutrition. Rather it’s simply a matter of not knowing the nutritional building blocks of healthy eating.

One critical area for the program is that of behavior management. According to Stevens, many parents struggle with using effective positive discipline techniques to manage their children’s behavior. She works with these parents in everyday situations to teach them positive reinforcement techniques and effective ways of correcting inappropriate behaviors. She helps them to identify simple reasons, such as hunger or thirst, for crankiness in not-yet-verbal children. She also teaches the parents how to play learning games with their children that will prepare them to enter school on an academic and developmental par with their peers. The program, already working well in St. Mary’s County, is just getting started in Charles. Stevens hopes to eventually have a caseload of 18-20 families, working with them somewhere between six and 12 weeks.

Asked if most parents are receptive to the changes she recommends, Stevens replies with a resounding ‘‘Yes!”

Even though they are required to participate in the program as a condition of their treatment plan, they sincerely do want better lives for themselves and for their kids.

And once they begin to see the results, they are even more enthusiastic and confident in their ability to sustain the changes without intervention.

They may never study Latin, but they are grateful for their changed skills and the hope for a better future that comes along with them.

Southern Maryland Child Care Resource Center has been a United Way of Charles County Partner Agency since 1999.

In addition to the Novo Program, the center offers assistance in locating quality child care, training for child care providers and parents, and behavior management services for providers and parents dealing with children who have challenging behaviors. For more information on the Novo Program or or other programs, call 301-290-0040.