The Strengthening Families Program from Iowa Extension is designed for parents and youth aged 10-14. It is a parent, youth and family skills-building curriculum designed to prevent teen substance abuse and other behavior problems, strengthen parenting skills, and build family strengths. The program has been recognized as a model family program by three federal agencies, including the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The Strengthening Families program consists of 7 sessions plus 4 boosters, each session 2 hours in length. Parents and youth meet separately first.
Families practice skills and have fun together during the second hour.
The program has been scientifically evaluated and shown to be effective among diverse rural and urban families. A training for Montana will be held November 8-9 in Bozeman. It consists of an activity book for parents and children to complete together and a 40-minute video with additional information. Let s Talk about Living in a World with Violence is a violence prevention program designed to assist teachers and other professionals in their interactions with school-age children concerning the meaning and effect of violence. Created by Dr. James Garbarino of Cornell University, it is an educational tool to use with children and their parents in helping develop coping strategies and gain control in responding to the challenge of living with violence.