Parenting Inside Out (PIO)

Criminal-justice and systems-involved parents (e.g., incarcerated, substance abuse, child welfare) of children ages 0-19 who may be at risk for, or presenting with, behavior problems

Parenting Inside Out (PIO) is a cognitive-behavioral, group parenting skills training program based on the Oregon Social Learning Center's parent management training (PMT) program for at-risk families. PIO addresses the unique situation and issues of criminal-justice and systems-involved parents (substance abuse, child welfare). Group sessions introduce a set of core parenting practices (e.g., problem-solving, positive involvement, limit setting, monitoring, and nonviolent discipline), supporting skills (e.g., active communication, emotion regulation, emotion coaching), as well as child development, healthy family dynamics, and building relationships with children while separated. Parenting Coaches use interactive teaching skills (e.g., role play, group discussion, and problem-solving) to introduce and practice skills. There are three versions of the curriculum designed to fit different situations. The versions differ in the number of hours and some activities, and are designed for use in prisons, community settings (parents on parole or probation) and jails.

Leticia Longoria-Navarro

• Title: Executive Director
• Agency/Affiliation: The Pathfinder Network
• Website: http://www.parentinginsideout.org/
• Email: pio@thepathfindernetwork.org
• Phone: (971) 806-0032

The goals of Parenting Inside Out are:

• Improve prosocial functioning
• Decrease antisocial behavior
• Learn skills to communicate positively and effectively with the caregiver(s) of their child(ren) and other involved adults about the well-being of their children and family
• Learn skills to effectively parent their children while incarcerated and when they are released
• Learn how to help their child have a healthy adjustment to having them back in their lives
• Learn skills that prevent their child's problem behavior
• Learn skills on how to increase their child's resiliency

The essential components of Parenting Inside Out (PIO) include:

• Parent group sessions introduce a set of core parenting practices:
• Positive involvement
• Problem-solving
• Limit setting
• Monitoring
• Nonviolent discipline
• Sessions also introduce supporting practices:
• Active communication
• Emotion regulation
• Emotion coaching
• Sessions also cover:
• Child development
• Parenting children as individuals
• Dealing with challenging behaviors
• Building relationships with children while separated
• Healthy coparenting relationships
• Parenting Coaches:
• Use interactive teaching skills:
• Role-play
• Problem-solving
• Group discussion
• Introduce and have parents practice skills that are designed to support:
• Prosocial family functioning
• Generalizable success in rest-of-life roles
• Example videos and parent handouts/worksheets are:
• Provided as part of PIO
• Used by Parenting Coaches during group sessions

Parent/Caregiver Services

Parenting Inside Out (PIO) directly provides services to parents/caregivers and addresses the following:

• Separated from child due to involvement in the justice system (including being in prison, in jail, on parole or on probation) or due to open child welfare case; parent of child at risk for developing disruptive behavior problems; undergoing significant family transition

Recommended Intensity

Each group session is 2.0-2.5 hours in length.

Recommended Duration

Varies by version of program, 3 weeks to 3 months (Prison version: 60-90 hours; Community version: 48 hours, and Jail version: 24 hours)

Delivery Settings

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

• Community-based Agency / Organization / Provider
• Justice Setting (Juvenile Detention, Jail, Prison, Courtroom, etc.)

Homework

This program does include a homework component.

Parents have various homework assignments related to the topics covered in the lessons. Homework usually takes no more than 30 minutes to complete.

Languages

Parenting Inside Out (PIO) has materials available in the following languages 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 in this page).

Resources Needed to Run Program

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

Classroom space, use of a copy machine to duplicate parent materials

Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications

Recommended minimum qualification is a Bachelor's degree in human development, child development, social work, or a related field

Manual Information

There is a manual that describes how to deliver this program.

Program Manual(s)

Parenting Inside Out for Prison Settings

Parenting Inside Out for Community Settings

Parenting Inside Out for Jail Settings

Training Information

There is training available for this program.

Training Contact

Training Type/Location:

All training is webinar-based using AdobeConnect. Training is interactive and facilitated.

Number of days/hours:

12 hours

"What is included in the Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research section?"

• Eddy, J. M., Martinez, C. R., & Burraston, B. (2013). A randomized controlled trial of a parent management training program for incarcerated parents: Proximal impacts. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 78(3), 75–93. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43773256

  Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial

  Participants: 359

  Sample / Population:

  • Age — Not specified
  • Race/Ethnicity — 59% White, 13% African American, 11% Multiracial, 8% Latino, and 8% Native American
  • Gender — 55% Female and 45% Male
  • Status —

    Participants were incarcerated parents.

  Location/Institution: Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) and Pathfinders of Oregon

  Summary:

  The study used the same sample as Kjellstrand et al. (2012). The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of Parenting Inside Out (PIO) on incarcerated parents and their families. Participants were randomized into either PIO or a service-as-usual condition. Measures utilized include administrative data, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Results indicate that PIO appears to have a significant impact on incarcerated parents while in prison in three areas of particular importance: parent adjustment, parent–caregiver relationships, and parenting. Some of these effects were main effects of the intervention, whereas others were interactions between the intervention and baseline levels of a given outcome. In the case of interactions, PIO appeared to impact the parents who most needed the intervention, and had little impact on those in less need. Limitations include that child behavior outcomes were not reported, lack of generalizability of the findings due to geography and population, and lack of follow-up.

  Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: None.

• Borja, S., Nurius, P., & Eddy, J. M. (2015). Adversity across the life course of incarcerated parents: Gender differences. Journal of Forensic Social Work, 5(1–3), 167–185. https://doi.org/10.1080/1936928X.2015.1093992

  Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial

  Participants: 357

  Sample / Population:

  • Age — Not specified
  • Race/Ethnicity — 59% White, 13% African American, 11% Multiracial, 8% Latino, and 8% Native American
  • Gender — 50% Female
  • Status —

    Participants were incarcerated parents.

  Location/Institution: Four minimum- or medium-security-level Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) facilities

  Summary:

  The study used the same sample as Kjellstrand et al. (2012). The purpose of the study was to examine differences between incarcerated mothers and fathers in their exposures to adversities across the life course. Participants were randomized into either Parenting Inside Out (PIO) or a service-as-usual condition. Measures utilized include administrative data, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Results indicate that there is an accumulation of adversities across the life course of incarcerated parents, with similar patterns of exposure between mothers and fathers in their families of origin. Findings reveal gender differences around early systems involvement as well as adult adversities that warrant further consideration. Limitations include that child behavior outcomes were not reported, the variety of adversities at each point in the life course were not assessed, and the lack of generalizability of the findings due to geography.

  Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 6 and 12 months.

• Burraston, B. O., & Eddy, J. M. (2017). The moderating effect of living with a child before incarceration on postrelease outcomes related to a prison-based parent management training program. Smith College Studies in Social Work, 87(1), 94–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/00377317.2017.1248634

  Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial

  Participants: 359

  Sample / Population:

  • Age — Not specified
  • Race/Ethnicity — 59% White, 13% African American, 11% Multiracial, 8% Latino, and 8% Native American
  • Gender — 55% Female and 45% Male
  • Status —

    Participants were foster parents.

  Location/Institution: Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) and Pathfinders of Oregon

  Summary:

  The study used the same sample as Kjellstrand et al. (2012). The purpose of the study was to examine the moderating effect of living with a child before incarceration on program outcomes related to the Parenting Inside Out (PIO) program. Participants were randomized into either PIO or a service-as-usual condition. Measures utilized include administrative data, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Results indicate that the PIO program shows promise as one component in a preventive intervention strategy designed to ease a person’s reentry into society and prevent recidivism. Overall, participants in the PIO intervention condition had fewer arrests after release than participants in the services as usual control group. Participants in the control condition who lived with their child before incarceration had fewer arrests than participants in the control condition who did not live with their child before incarceration. Limitations include that child behavior outcomes were not reported, the variety of adversities at each point in the life course were not assessed, and the lack of generalizability of the findings due to geography.

  Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 6 and 12 months.

• Eddy, J. M., Martinez Jr, C. R., Burraston, B. O., Herrera, D., & Newton, R. M. (2022). A randomized controlled trial of a parent management training program for incarcerated parents: Post-release outcomes. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(8), 4605. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19084605

  Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial

  Participants: 359

  Sample / Population:

  • Age — Not specified
  • Race/Ethnicity — 59% White, 13% African American, 11% Multiracial, 8% Latino, and 8% Native American
  • Gender — 55% Female and 45% Male
  • Status —

    Participants were incarcerated parents of children who were eligible for release.

  Location/Institution: Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) and Pathfinders of Oregon

  Summary:

  The study used the same sample as Kjellstrand et al. (2012). The purpose of the study was to examine the moderating effect of living with a child before incarceration on program outcomes related to the Parenting Inside Out (PIO) program. Participants were randomized into either PIO or a service-as-usual condition. Measures utilized include administrative data, the Elliott Social Behavior Questionnaire and seven questions related to substance use abuse. Results indicate that parents assigned to the PIO intervention condition were significantly less likely to report problems related to substance use and engaging in criminal behavior during the first six months following their release from prison. Limitations include larger samples with greater diversity are needed to examine the plethora of moderation questions and participating parents only attended about 70% of intervention sessions.

  Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 3 and 9 months.

• Note: The following study was not included in rating Parenting Inside Out on the Scientific Rating Scale.

  Kjellstrand, J. M., Cearley, J., Eddy, J. M., Foney, D., & Martinez Jr, C. R. (2012). Characteristics of incarcerated fathers and mothers: Implications for preventive interventions targeting children and families. Children and Youth Services Review, 34(12), 2409–2415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2012.08.008

  Summary:

  The purpose of the study was to examine differences between incarcerated mothers, incarcerated fathers, and their families on factors that might be important to consider when creating the content and process of preventive intervention programs. Participants were randomized into either the Parenting Inside Out (PIO) or service-as-usual condition. Measures utilized include administrative data, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Results indicate that mothers and fathers were similar on a number of dimensions including age, education-level, number and age of children, and family criminal history, but differences were observed on key variables relevant to outcomes for children and families, including employment history and income, substance use, mental health, trauma experiences, and criminal history. Limitations include that child behavior outcomes were not reported, the lack of generalizability of the findings due to geography and population, the study focuses on a subgroup of inmate parents, and the lack of follow-up. Note: This article was not used in the rating process due to the lack of examination of intervention effects being reported in this study.

• Eddy, J. M., Kjellstrand, J., Martinez, C. R., Jr., & Newton, R. (2010). Theory-based multimodal parenting intervention for incarcerated parents and their children. In J. M Eddy, & Poehlmann, J. (Eds.), Children of incarcerated parents: A handbook for researchers and practitioners (pp.237–264). Urban Institute Press.