1. Gather interested parents and community stakeholders together (or talk with them individually) to map out:
   1. A clear statement of the current problem/challenge
   2. The desired outcomes (the changes that will occur for children because of the intervention being planned for parents) that the parents and community want to work toward
   3. Who (the target audience) the "program" will be planned for
   4. The specific risk factors that the program will address
   5. The specific changes in parents that the program will be expected to produce
      1. Changes in parental knowledge
      2. Changes in parental attitude
      3. Changes in parental behavior
2. Determine who else needs to be added to your team. What collaborators do you need to seek out to successfully address the needs and meet the goals outlined above?
   1. With the help of key collaborators, learn more about the needs of the participants and insure that those needs will be addressed.
   2. Do in-depth interviews, focus groups or observations (when appropriate) of parents to get input about their strengths, needs, interests, and expectations.
3. With the help of key collaborators and stakeholders (including parents) develop the goals, mileposts, program content and strategies for this program. Develop a program plan that
   1. helps parents
      1. examine the assumptions they make about parenting
      2. have opportunities and encouragement for reflecting on their own perspective and the perspective of others
      3. identify their own parenting strengths and areas in which they would like to improve their parenting skills and/or their relationship with their child.
      4. be exposed to alternative ways of thinking about parenting
      5. experience support, understanding, respect and caring from others
   2. focuses on specific programming issues (when identified in needs assessment phase)
      1. Antisocial behavior — Parents living in dangerous neighborhoods often believe that their children need strong discipline to stay safe and out of trouble. Help parents in dangerous neighborhoods see the advantages of combining closer supervision and control with discipline that is less harsh.
      2. Chronic delinquency — The two factors that most strongly predict delinquencies are a history of antisocial behavior and conduct disorder. Early interventions which focus on developing children’s verbal abilities and parents’ nurturing skills are most effective — especially when accompanied by community-level interventions that address poverty, unsafe neighborhoods and/or or substance abuse.
      3. Substance abuse — Effective programs target (1) youth, (2) their parents/families and (3) community risks. Two major challenges of substance abuse prevention programs are high dropout rates and apparent lack of interest on the part of parents. To increase chances of success: (1) involve parents meaningfully in planning the program, and (2) avoid using a school as the program site.
      4. Adolescent sexual behavior — Collect and analyze data on sexual and other related behaviors among youth in the target community. Involve parents in community-wide program design and curriculum selection to help allay fears, convey values, and reinforce program messages.
   3. focuses on parenting at specific stages of development
      1. Infants and toddlers — Help parents understand the importance of enriching early experiences and affection in helping to lay the foundation for learning and development in later life. Especially when parents cannot provide stability and loving care, it is important for their children to participate regularly in quality childcare and early education programs.
      2. School-age children — Help parents see the benefits of an authoritative parenting style — including warmth, responsiveness and age-appropriate expectations for social and academic behavior. Emphasize parental involvement in schools.
      3. Pre-adolescents — Parent-child relationships must change to accommodate teens’ increasing need to make decisions and take greater responsibility for their lives. Help parents learn how to involve teens in ways that strengthen problem solving skills and increase their sense of mastery in their environment. While peers will become an important part of adolescents’ networks, they typically do not displace or supplant family ties — if teens feel supported and respected by their parents.
   4. focuses on specific groups of parents (when appropriate)
      1. Low-income parents. Parents who are unable to provide basic needs of food, clothing and shelter for their children are not promising candidates for parent education. "Economic hardship, income loss, and unemployment have been found to reduce parental responsiveness, warmth and supervision and to increase inconsistent discipline practices and harsh punishments" (Hanson, McLanahan & Thomson, 1997). Programs must first address parents’ ability to provide physical support and safety before attention can be focused on other aspects of nurturance.
      2. Teen parents. To promote well-being for both parents and children
         1. help teen parents understand how allowing at least 18 months between pregnancies benefits their child.
         2. address the conditions in the teen’s daily life that reduced the personal "cost" of the first birth.
         3. recognize that teen parents often experience high levels of depression, which may be associated with the use of alcohol and other drugs. Early treatment is important to promote the parent’s continued development and to reduce the risk of child maltreatment.
         4. include fathers, grandparents and other caregivers in the programming plan.
         5. continue "two generation" programs (which include components for both parents and children) as long as possible. Programs with a dual focus on parents and children often are limited to the early years. Child functioning tends to worsen with age, and parenting practices may also — or the gap in parenting skills grows more stark as parenting demands increase.
      3. Fathers. Help fathers find positive models for how to be more involved with their children. Help mothers and all family members understand and support (1) the importance of involved fathers. (2) positive conflict resolution skills.
      4. Parents in ethnic groups. Programs developed especially for African-American and Hispanic parents appear to show weaker effects than traditional behavioral programs. Methodological flaws, common in much of parenting education evaluation, may have contributed to this finding.
      5. Parents with child abuse and neglect potential or confirmed behavior. Develop your program for pregnant and new parents. While limiting programs to high-risk parents may be most cost effective, there are many benefits to offering programs universally -- especially to all teen parents.
         1. Premature, low birthweight babies born to young (15-24 years of age) mothers of low intelligence are at high risk for poor parenting, particularly if additional siblings are born within a few years.
         2. Programs targeted to parents who treat their babies punitively and harshly should include:
            1. Appropriate expectations for child development
            2. Stress management
            3. Effective coping strategies
            4. Effective, non-punitive discipline strategies.
      6. Single parents. Single parents vary widely — in their income levels, values, goals, and how they became single parents. Help single parents to work toward:
         1. Identifying a workable social support network
         2. Working with their finances until they feel "in control."
         3. Quality, dependable childcare arrangements.
         4. Realistic guidance and discipline techniques that can be sustained even when a person is exhausted and overwhelmed.
         5. A rewarding social life and friendships
         6. Being able to collaborate effectively in childrearing with other involved adults.
      7. Parents who are divorcing or divorced. Help parents learn and practice effective co-parenting skills, especially communication and conflict management skills. The sooner parents are involved in divorce education, the less likely they are to initiate litigation against each other.
4. Tailor the program to help the participants reach identified mileposts.
   1. Have you planned for experiences that have sufficient intensity and are offered over enough time for participants to actually change?
   2. Give special attention to realistic recruitment and retention issues — including timing and location of sessions.
5. Assure that staff members are well trained, well supervised and culturally competent.
   1. Do your hiring and training policies address cultural competency — including empathy, responsiveness to families, and respect for individual differences?
   2. Is the participant-staff ratio sufficient to accomplish the program goals?
   3. Is the planned program actually implemented?
   4. Is support provided to encourage vitality and reduce burnout among staff members working with high-risk participants?
6. Develop realistic and effective evaluation plans.
   1. Before, or at the beginning of the program, collect information on the knowledge, attitudes and/or behaviors that are the focus of the program.
   2. Assess the degree to which the planned program is implemented.
      1. Are participants’ needs, interests and expectations being met on an ongoing basis?
   3. The degree of success in reaching the goal(s) is measured and documented at the end of the program – and possibly at appropriate intervals after the program has been completed.

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Core Competencies for Home Visitors and Their Supervisors

Summarized by Dr. Patricia Tanner Nelson, Family and Human Development Specialist, Cooperative Extension, University of Delaware from materials prepared by Dr. Margaret B. Brown, Cooperative Extension, University of Delaware..