STEP-BY-STEP PARENTING PROGRAM© FULL TRAINING
This 3-day training is intended for anyone who works with parents who have learning difficulties and their children, including: child protection workers, parent educators, family support workers, infant development workers, early interventionists, home visitors, public health nurses, behavior therapists, psychologists, and social workers.
Training typically is offered onsite at a location upon invitation from an agency or agencies in a region over 3 consecutive days. While the in-person training is preferred, an interactive online training is available that can be spread out over several weeks.
Over the 3 days Dr. Feldman presents the Step-By-Step Parenting Program© for Parents with Learning Difficulties. The Step-By-Step Parenting Program© (SBSPP) has been used extensively to help parents with learning difficulties improve the quality of the home environment, specific parenting skills related to basic child-care, child health, safety, development, parent-child interactions, and child behavior management.
The interactive training includes background information and research on the topic of parenting by persons with learning difficulties and the conceptual interactional model underpinning the SBSPP. The training then teaching how to conduct strengths-needs and skills assessment (including practice on making observations of parenting skills using the SBSPP checklists); how to teach skills; write parenting skill checklists, family support plans, and parent education plans; and identify additional needed supports, specifically designed for parents with learning difficulties raising newborns, infants, toddlers, and young children. The 3-day workshop also covers The Family Game designed for parents with learning difficulties who have older children. There will be opportunity for general discussion of issues and for workshop participants to ask questions about specific cases. The complete Step-by-Step Parenting Program and The Family Game manuals and materials, as well as a certificate of completion are provided to each participant who completes the 3-day training.
The Step-By-Step Parenting Program© model has been developed by Dr. Feldman and his associates at Surrey Place in Toronto and has been shown to be effective in numerous evaluations published in professional journals and books. The Step-By-Step Parenting Program© model is emulated across Canada, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and Europe.
STEP-BY-STEP PARENTING PROGRAM©: THE FAMILY GAME – ENHANCING CHILD COOPERATION AND PARENT-CHILD RAPPORT IN PARENTS WITH LEARNING PROBLEMS
Dr. Feldman presents one-day in person or virtual training on The Family Game, meant for parents with learning difficulties who have children between around 2-12 years old. The Family Game focusing on improving child cooperation and other prosocial behaviors using positive behavior support strategies and building positive parent-child rapport. The Family Game manual and training materials, and a certificate of completion are provided to each participant.
STEP-BY-STEP PARENTING PROGRAM© TRAINING – TRAIN-THE-TRAINER
To promote ongoing implementation of the Step-By-Step Parenting Program© in an agency, Dr. Feldman will offer a 1-day online training, plus review of videos of mock or real training sessions, to train someone who can then train other staff at their agency. To receive this training, the participant would first have completed the 3-day Step-By-Step Parenting Program© training and worked directly implementing the program with at least two parents with learning difficulties.
STEP-BY-STEP PARENTING PROGRAM© COMPREHENSIVE, COMPETENCE-BASED PARENTING CAPACITY ASSESSMENT WORKSHOP
This one day online workshop presents an innovative, empirically-supported assessment approach to assessing parenting capacity and skills of parents with learning difficulties. It offers a clear alternative to the current inadequate system of assessing parenting capacity in these parents. This approach can be used for developing family support plans and to inform custody decisions. This workshop is intended for professionals involved in parenting capacity assessments of these parents (e.g., child protection workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, lawyers, judges).
Dr. Feldman has used the Comprehensive, Competence-based Parenting Capacity Assessment model with hundreds of parents with learning difficulties. One judge referred to this assessment approach as a “breath of fresh air” and the U.S. Depts. of Justice and Health & Human Services recommended this approach as consistent with the Americans with Disabilities and Rehabilitation Acts. This approach has the potential to change the way parenting capacity assessments are conducted and interpreted to allow for more humane, just and accurate child custody decisions in families headed by parents with learning difficulties.
The workshop will cover an overview of research and practice with families headed by parents with learning difficulties. Dr. Feldman will discuss foundation principles and present the theoretical model of the Comprehensive, Competence-based Parenting Capacity Assessment. He will discuss definitions of learning difficulties, at-risk status of their children, intervention research and involvement with the child welfare system. He will show how parenting problems by parents with learning difficulties are not just due to their cognitive limitations, but are determined by a host of factors, interacting in complex ways over time.
Dr. Feldman will then provide instructions on how to conduct this comprehensive assessment. The Comprehensive, Competence-based Parenting Capacity Assessment approach focuses on identifying personal and family strengths and needs, as well as environmental factors that impede or support competent parenting. Case studies are used to illustrate the process; assessment materials, results and sample assessment reports are shown. A template for writing the assessment reports will be provided. Dr. Feldman will discuss how to use the assessment findings and recommendations to design a family support plan, how to evaluate the plan and in court testimony.
A free copy of his book describing the Feldman and Aunos Comprehensive, Competence-based Parenting Capacity Assessment approach with an updated literature review will be provided.
To obtain more information about any of the Step-by-Step Parenting Programs, click here.
