Helgren first facilitated the series through the North Douglas Relief Nursery, and is now doing so as a staff member of the Children’s Institute. Although it is often a struggle, particularly in rural areas, to recruit parents for an education series, the Yoncalla group has an outstanding attendance record. Furthermore, Yoncalla parents are not only using the series as an opportunity for personal growth, but are also as a vehicle to more deeply engage with their fellow community members. Helgren says such a connectedness “can lead parents to exchange information about local supports and offer to help each other out.”
When parents first hear the term “parenting class” they tend to think the program is intended to address their deficits as caregivers. Instead, the Yoncalla program focuses on positive components, including: stress reduction, self-care, communication skills, anger management, and developing appropriate expectations for children. Helgren emphasizes that “the class is much more about self-discovery than it is about improving parenting skills.” Of course, this self-discovery only serves to strengthen parenting skills, and results in what Helgren calls mindful parenting.
Yoncalla Parent Earl Carlson, who has participated in the classes, says he has benefited from the reflective nature of the classes, saying they present “a way to stop the problems where they are at, identify them, back up and do what we can to correct them, and then also to help our children that are going through the same problems with us. And that is in itself a healing for the entire family, which, in turn, becomes a healing for the entire community.”
Indeed, there is a growing body of evidence that shows that parenting education isn’t just good for the parents, but also produces positive outcomes for children. According to a report from the Oregon Parenting Education Collaborative, “parenting education has been linked to multiple benefits for kids, including drops in child abuse and neglect rates, better physical, cognitive and emotional development in children, and reduced youth substance abuse.” Helgren uses the Make Parenting a Pleasure curriculum, an evidence-backed curriculum to inform the series. Like many comparable parenting education series across the state, Yoncalla’s program is made possible because of a partnership. In this case, the partners include the South Central Early Learning Hub, the OPEC parenting hub at Douglas ESD, Early Works Yoncalla, the North Douglas Family Relief Nursery, Yoncalla School District and the Children’s Institute.
Although the research shows the positive outcomes, Oregon does not currently direct state funding to parenting education. Instead, a group of foundations and universities recognized the importance of strengthening parents’ ability to support themselves and their children, and committed to funding the work themselves. The resulting initiative, called the Oregon Parenting Education Collaborative – or OPEC – is committed to providing these services to as many communities as possible, with the goal of creating a sustainable statewide system for all parents to access opportunities like those in Yoncalla.
Dana Hepper, director of policy and program at the Children’s Institute, says parenting education series could and should be brought to more parents across Oregon. For that to happen, the state should consider how to embed parenting education into a broader system of care, she says.
“The Parenting Education Hubs have created an opportunity to blend other funds from Early Learning Hubs, Coordinated Care Organizations, and local Departments of Human Services to support parents,” she says. Such funding and collaboration would create more points of entry for parents to hear about and enroll in parenting education classes – for example, a pediatrician referring parents to a local parenting education series, home visitors providing parenting education as a complementary service, and incorporating parenting education into the state’s 211 referral line. All of these would increase parents’ ability to, in Carlson’s words, “make the unobtainable obtainable…for (parents) to understand that here is not only help, but that help can be effective.”
Facilitator Scott Sublette shares honey he harvested with a Yoncalla couple during the parent education class.
So how does parenting education help parents and family members make the unobtainable obtainable? First-time parenting education facilitator and long-time Yoncalla-area resident Scott Sublette uses an analogy that sums up a key message of the series. “Imagine you have a pitcher of water,” he says. “When you start your day, the pitcher is full.” But, as you get the kids to school, as you deal with a frustrating client at work, as you blow a tire on the way home from work – the water level slowly lowers, he says. Sometimes, your day is so bad the pitcher is empty; sometimes your day is so good it is filled to the brim. The parenting education series Sublette facilitates is less about learning how to be a “good” parent and more about learning how to keep that pitcher – the receptacle for your mental resources, energy, and patience – full, Sublette says.
In rural Oregon, this can be particularly difficult. Activities that urban dwellers take for granted – quick trips to the grocery store, hopping on the bus to work or a doctor’s appointment – can be major struggles for people living in rural areas. “The yearly parenting education series helps community members support one another,” says Helgren. “They learn to manage their emotions and daily struggles, connect with each other in an environment that can produce a sense of cultural isolation.”
Additionally, in Yoncalla, the social aspect of the group is almost as important as the content of the classes. Typically, parents who enroll in the program meet for the first time at the initial session. Many parents can be hesitant to attend, either because of the intimidation of meeting in a formal setting with people they do not know, or because of logistical obstacles like transportation, childcare, or the class occurring at mealtime. To address these obstacles, the program helps cover transportation costs, make sure developmentally-appropriate childcare is available, and provide dinner to the group.
Sublette’s participation as co-facilitator has helped create more trust between the parents in the series and allowed the group to gel, says Helgren. Also, in part because of his participation, this year’s parent cohort is 40 percent male – a significant change from previous years and from parenting series in general around the state (where the average participant rate is nearly 70 percent female). With Helgren’s and Sublette’s guidance, the series has become a point of connection and identification for the parents. Helgren says when she asks participants, “What is something you do for yourself?” many of them respond “Come to class!” The connectedness parents experience is not only important for their emotional health, but as Helgren says, “gives them an opportunity to ask questions and connect with others in the community who might be experiencing similar obstacles.”
Normally, parents meet once a week for 10 weeks. This year, there is such enthusiasm for the series that the parents in the group asked that the class be expanded to 13 weeks. Then, they asked that it be expanded indefinitely.
In the future, Helgren dreams that more parents and community members like Sublette and Carlson will be trained in facilitation, and that the leadership of the parenting education series – the responsibility of helping parents understand how to fill up all of those pitchers – will fall to them. Given the potential positive impact of parenting education on children, parents, and the community, funding such efforts would be well worth the effort.