Parenting Basics Group

Parenting Basics Group is an 11-session program for parents who:

• are using or have used drugs and/or alcohol in the past

• have a child 6 years of age or under (in her care or not)

• are involved with the Children’s Aid Society and are recommended or required to attend a parenting group

The group incorporates the basics of parenting education with the added dimension of looking at the impact of substance use on parenting. Parents are interested in joining the group because they recognize the need for support when parenting and they want to meet CAS conditions for having children returned to their care. Getting a letter of completion after attending at least 8 of the 11 sessions is seen to improve parents’ chances of being reunited with their children.

The Parenting Basics Group philosophy and methodology provides a safe and fun learning environment where everyone feels comfortable.

Parenting Basics is an adaptation of the Beyond the Basics Parenting Group, developed in 2011, through a partnership between Halton Region, Halton Children's Aid Society, Reach Out Centre for Kids (ROCK) and Hope Place Centres.

History of BEYOND THE BASICS Parenting Group

BEYOND THE BASICS was first offered in 1998 in response to a need identified by the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto’s Scarborough Branch. Parents involved with child welfare were being ordered by the court to attend parenting education, but there were few programs available. Many of them didn’t have their children with them and so had different challenges than other parents taking parenting courses out in the community.

Marian Crockford of Aisling Discoveries Child and Family Centre in Scarborough developed the curriculum for the group based on many years of experimenting with play-based learning for adults. It was decided that her practice wisdom and experience should be written down so that others could offer the group. The process of writing the BEYOND THE BASICS Parenting Group: A Resource Manual for Facilitators began in 2001 and it was published in September 2003. The manual contains all the information required to successfully organize, promote, staff and deliver a ten-session program. The manual is available from Aisling Discoveries Child and Family Centre, www.aislingdiscoveries.on.ca.

In the spring of 2002, the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto  organized a workgroup of community agencies who were concerned about the lack of parenting education for parents/caregivers involved with child welfare. In June 2003, the workgroup of agencies was awarded funding by the Centre for Excellence in Child Welfare to evaluate the effectiveness of the BEYOND THE BASICS Parenting Group model.  A summary of the research results is available at the Centre for Excellence in Child Welfare website, www.cecw-cepb.ca under Publications, Information Sheets.

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