The information in this program outline is provided by the program representative and edited by the CEBC staff. The Circle of Parents program has been reviewed by the CEBC in the area of: Parent Partner Programs for Families Involved in the Child Welfare System, but lacks the necessary research evidence to be given a Scientific Rating.

• Types of Maltreatment: Does not target any specific kind of maltreatment
• Target Population: Any parent or individual in a parenting role for children ages 0-18 years. This may include biological parents, adoptive parents, foster parents, grandparents, kinship caregivers, etc. Many programs target specific groups such as fathers, parents of children with disabilities, parents with disabilities, immigrant and refugee families, incarcerated parents, teen parents, parents in substance abuse recovery, and other parenting challenges.

Circle of Parents is a national network of statewide non-profit organizations and parent leaders that are dedicated to using the mutual self-help support group model as a means of preventing child abuse and neglect and strengthening families. Circle of Parents offers anyone in a parenting role the opportunity to participate in weekly group meetings with other parents to exchange ideas, share information, develop and practice new parenting skills, learn about community resources, and give and receive support. Groups are parent-led with the support of a trained group facilitator, are conducted in a confidential and non-judgmental manner, are free of charge, and provide developmentally-appropriate children’s programs or child care concurrent with the parent group meetings. Developing leadership on the individual, family, community, and societal levels, as desired by parent participants, is a central theme of the Circle of Parents model.

The essential components of Circle of Parents include:

• The groups utilize the mutual self-help support model.
• A trained group facilitator and parent leader facilitate the support groups.
• Open groups meet weekly and are offered at no cost to any participant.
• The group facilitator, parent leader, and other group members are available to one another between group meetings.
• Groups are ongoing, require no intake, and, with few exceptions, are open to all parents.
• Group members are assured of confidentiality in a non-judgmental environment within the limits of the law.
• Community resource information that supports healthy family development is available to all group members.

The program is designed to strengthen each family’s protective factors by:

• Reducing isolation, building self-esteem and reinforcing positive parenting.
• Exposing parents to other families and providing reassurances that the challenges a parent faces are neither unique to his or her family, nor insurmountable.
• Improving communication and problem solving skills.
• Promoting parent leadership skills and competencies.
• Establishing effective parent-practitioner partnerships.
• Linking parents to resources in the community and within the group.
• Helping parents become more competent and confident in their parenting roles.

Evaluations of Circle of Parents typically address the following domains:

• Parenting skills.
• Self-management skills.
• Parent-child interaction.
• Social support systems.
• Awareness of and access to community resources.

Children’s programs are offered to provide a safe, nurturing, and educational environment for children while their parents are participating in Circle of Parents support group sessions. The goal is to provide developmentally appropriate, skill building activities that promote:

• Self-confidence.
• Social skills.
• Healthy peer relationships.
• Self-management.
• Positive problem-solving.

A Children’s Program Manual is available to provide guidance to program structure and operations. If a children’s program is not feasible, it is strongly recommended that quality childcare should be provided or easily available.

Circle of Parents was designed with a child component that addresses the following presenting problems and symptoms:

• Parents who attend the support groups.

Age range: 2 – 12

Developmental Delays:

This program was not developed for children with developmental delays, and has not been tested for children with developmental delays.

Circle of Parents was designed with a parent/caregiver component that addresses the following presenting problems and symptoms:

• Have a child and would like to have or share advice on parenting.

Circle of Parents was designed to be conducted in a group setting; but has not been tested for use in a group setting.

Recommended group size:

10-12 participants.

Recommended Intensity:

Support groups meet once weekly for an average of 1½ hours. Occasionally, due to factors such as access in rural communities, availability of the program site or the choice of the particular group, the group may meet less often but not less than once a month.

Recommended Duration:

The length of time for participation is open-ended except for situations where the program setting or structure limits the availability of the program. For example, programs that occur in schools may only operate 9 months out of the year and programs that occur in correctional institutions may be time limited by direction of the authorities.

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

• Community Agency
• Community Daily Living Settings
• Outpatient Clinic
• Prison
• Religious Organization
• School

Circle of Parents includes a homework component:

Participants share leadership and accountability for the success of the group and each participant. Consequently, parents are expected to apply new ideas and skills at home and report back to the group what worked and what did not. Parents are also responsible for following up with recommended community resources that are shared or discussed.

Circle of Parents has materials available in a language other than English:

Spanish

For information on which materials are available in this language, please check on the program's website or contact the program representative (contact information is listed at the bottom of this page).

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

For the parent support group sessions, a safe, consistent and private meeting location is necessary to maintain participant confidentiality. Each group must have a trained facilitator and parent leader(s). Attendance sheets and enrollment forms are helpful for gathering key summative data for the national office, although names of participants are neither necessary nor required. Participant outcomes survey data are collected using a coding system and must be stored in a locked cabinet to further ensure participant confidentiality.

Group facilitators must have access to resources with special expertise in other areas such as domestic violence, substance abuse and mental health, as well as information to address needs for concrete support. In addition to having sufficient financial resources to support basic operations, equipment, and material purchases, groups should budget for expenses as needed by the individual program, such as stipends for parent leaders, transportation vouchers, children's program providers, guest speakers, and refreshments.

For the children's program, a safe location separate from the parent session should be available and include a range of developmentally-appropriate supplies, educational materials and nutritious snacks.

The seating arrangement for the parent support groups should be circular to facilitate the flow of the conversation. Age-appropriate furniture should be available in the children's program room. In both settings, culturally-appropriate décor should be evident, and culturally-appropriate resource materials, in both English and Spanish, should be easily accessible. Programs are encouraged to have access to audio-visual equipment as needed.

Support group facilitators must have previous experience working with parents and families, group facilitation skills, willingness to engage in equal and mutually respective partnerships with parents, and a commitment to ending all forms of family violence. Minimum education requirements consist of a Bachelor's degree plus two years work experience or 5 years human services work experience. Facilitators are required to receive program screening and training and adhere to the mission, principles, key elements and network standards as presented in the Facilitator Manual. Group facilitators must have a commitment to parent leadership and guide participants in developing and establishing group leadership roles as determined by individual preferences, abilities and strengths. Group facilitators may be practitioners or parent leaders. Parents who become facilitators should have demonstrated leadership experience in a program support group. They may be employees, serve as volunteers, or receive stipends from the sponsoring organization.

Program Supervisors must have previous experience managing a family support program, program evaluation and data collection skills, knowledge of group dynamics and facilitation, knowledge of mandated reporter requirements for suspected child abuse and neglect, and the ability to link group participants, as needed, to community resources that address concrete needs, mental health issues, domestic violence, substance abuse, and/or medical problems. Minimum educational requirements consist of a Master's degree in social services plus 2 years work experience or Bachelor's degree with 5 years of social services experience.

There is a manual that describes how to implement this program, and there is training available for this program.

Training Contact:

• Karen Schrader, Training and Technical Assistance Manager
  circleofparents@lexcominc.net
  phone: (336) 224-1616

Training is obtained:

The national office offers a Train the Trainers (T3) training. Participants usually include the program coordinator as well as individuals from the lead state network organization that is responsible for developing support groups within their respective states. Once individuals complete T3 training, they are authorized to provide support group facilitation training and ongoing technical assistance to the local support programs. The national office provides them with an adequate supply of appropriate materials, including the Facilitator Manual, the Children's Program Manual, parent handbooks and parent tip sheets. Regularly scheduled T3 Trainings are held in the Chicago area.  Additional trainings can be arranged for new state organizations that join the national network between regularly scheduled trainings.

Support group facilitation training is conducted by the approved trainer(s) in each state. They are provided either within the state office location, in conjunction with statewide conferences, or on-site in communities offering these programs.

There is also a national Training and Technical Assistance (TA) Committee that oversees its ongoing training and TA activities. Beginning with an annual Best Practices Self-Assessment, which is completed by each state network organization, the Training and TA Committee disseminates relevant educational materials and designs and implements a series of 4 TA group calls per year based upon training needs identified in the self-assessments. Additional TA group calls are designed and provided in association with special projects within the curriculum.

Furthermore, within the context of shared responsibility for ensuring quality services, the national staff and state network organizations also exchange valuable resources through postings on a list serve and entries into an electronic library. The electronic library contains numerous documents that address program governance and leadership, program administration and development, marketing and outreach, training and technical assistance, parent leadership, research and evaluation and child abuse prevention.

Number of days/hours:

The Train the Trainer session provided by the national office takes place over the course of 3 days. Support group facilitation training offered by the state network organizations is typically conducted in 2 days.

Additional Resources:

There currently are additional qualified resources for training:

• Linda Baker
  Director
  FRIENDS National Resource Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention
  phone: 919-493-1584
  email: lbaker3@nc.rr.com

• Linda McDaniels
  Associate Director
  Parent Trust for Washington Children
  phone: 206-233-0156, x224
  email: lmcdaniels@parenttrust.org
• Dr. Mary Kay Falconer
  Senior Evaluator
  Ounce of Prevention Fund of Florida
  phone: 850-921-4494, x134
  email: mfalconer@ounce.org

This program has been reviewed and it was determined that this program lacks the type of published, peer-reviewed research that meets the CEBC criteria for a scientific rating of 1 – 5. Therefore, the program has been given the classification of "NR - Not able to be Rated." It was reviewed because it was identified by the topic expert as a program being used in the field, or it is being marketed and/or used in California with children receiving services from child welfare or related systems and their parents/caregivers. Some programs that are not rated may have published, peer-reviewed research that does not meet the above stated criteria or may have eligible studies that have not yet been published in the peer-reviewed literature. For more information on the "NR - Not able to be Rated" classification, please see the Scientific Rating Scale.

Child Welfare Outcomes: Not Specified