Reviews & Testimonials
Project Unity, an organization that has used Parenting Wisely to serve over 1,500 parents, have sent us these success stories:
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Parenting Wisely Can Help the Whole Family
Client R.'s family had been coming to Parenting Wisely classes over the past month and can attest to how effective the classes were for their family. Client R. shared that her family struggled to get along with each other. Their 16 year old son, who is the oldest, had always been quiet and kept to himself, but tended to fight with other siblings and especially with his own father. The second oldest child had bad behavior at home (lying to parents) and at school. He had already been required to spend time in an alternative school due to misbehavior. Dad was not particularly involved in the children's lives except to argue from time to time. Since attending the classes, mom states there has been an enormous change in her family. “After taking Parenting Wisely classes, I understand more that our children are our responsibility and that this is only the beginning of a fresh start. Our family is truly blessed to have known Project Unity.” Her husband now spends more time with the family instead of his friends after work. He is communicating with all family members by holding family meetings to talk about their day. Now he has a special father/son relationship with his oldest son, doing things as little as going to the store together and talking about sports. The oldest son has seen a change in his father, and now he too is changing for the best, such as playing with his siblings and spending time watching a movie eating popcorn and snacks with them, and making sure that mom and dad have time to relax. The second oldest son is back in his normal school, behaving and making sure he helps out at home with chores. He still has daily challenges, but is making a big effort to change his bad habits, like lying to his parents and starting fights. He is attending counseling that was recommended by Project Unity’s Family Support Facilitator. He is also a big help to the Family Support Facilitator in Parenting Wisely classes by passing out paperwork and handouts.
Helping Homeless Clients
Client was homeless with no job when she entered the TFTS Parenting Wisely program. She had one of her children staying with her at a friends but several other family members were staying in many different places. Through working with her Family Support Facilitator (FSF) and attending the classes, the FSF worker helped the client get a place to stay and a job. Now the family is back to all staying together. The client is very active in the parenting classes and helps encourage new parents in the program. She feels it has been a huge help for her family. Her grown son is now attending the classes with her to help out with her younger children. He also has found a job since starting to work with the program.
Client R.'s family had been coming to Parenting Wisely classes over the past month and can attest to how effective the classes were for their family. Client R. shared that her family struggled to get along with each other. Their 16 year old son, who is the oldest, had always been quiet and kept to himself, but tended to fight with other siblings and especially with his own father. The second oldest child had bad behavior at home (lying to parents) and at school. He had already been required to spend time in an alternative school due to misbehavior. Dad was not particularly involved in the children's lives except to argue from time to time. Since attending the classes, mom states there has been an enormous change in her family. “After taking Parenting Wisely classes, I understand more that our children are our responsibility and that this is only the beginning of a fresh start. Our family is truly blessed to have known Project Unity.” Her husband now spends more time with the family instead of his friends after work. He is communicating with all family members by holding family meetings to talk about their day. Now he has a special father/son relationship with his oldest son, doing things as little as going to the store together and talking about sports. The oldest son has seen a change in his father, and now he too is changing for the best, such as playing with his siblings and spending time watching a movie eating popcorn and snacks with them, and making sure that mom and dad have time to relax. The second oldest son is back in his normal school, behaving and making sure he helps out at home with chores. He still has daily challenges, but is making a big effort to change his bad habits, like lying to his parents and starting fights. He is attending counseling that was recommended by Project Unity’s Family Support Facilitator. He is also a big help to the Family Support Facilitator in Parenting Wisely classes by passing out paperwork and handouts.
Helping Homeless Clients
Client was homeless with no job when she entered the TFTS Parenting Wisely program. She had one of her children staying with her at a friends but several other family members were staying in many different places. Through working with her Family Support Facilitator (FSF) and attending the classes, the FSF worker helped the client get a place to stay and a job. Now the family is back to all staying together. The client is very active in the parenting classes and helps encourage new parents in the program. She feels it has been a huge help for her family. Her grown son is now attending the classes with her to help out with her younger children. He also has found a job since starting to work with the program.
Pat McGowan - Cascade County Regional Youth Detention Center, Great Falls, Montana
"I am passionate about the Parenting Wisely program! In all my years of experience working with high risk kids, including those with chemical dependency issues, I am most impressed with Parenting Wisely because it causes positive change so quickly compared to other approaches."
"I am passionate about the Parenting Wisely program! In all my years of experience working with high risk kids, including those with chemical dependency issues, I am most impressed with Parenting Wisely because it causes positive change so quickly compared to other approaches."
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Bob Pushak - mental health practitioner, British Columbia
"I would say that my success rate has doubled from where it was two years ago since I started using the program. In the group program for kids age 6 to 12 I have had six kids (14%) showing over three standard deviations of change on the ECBI in terms of the total problem scale. None of these kids were put on medication or had a medication change during treatment. I think that is quite phenomenal. I have never had that kind of change before." "We started using it in March of 2001, now with well over a hundred families. We were originally using the American version but now mostly we are using the British Teen version plus the Young Children version. We just received the Foster Parent version. I have only been using the EYEBERG BEHAVIOR INVENTORY (ECBI) for pre-tests and post-tests. We have had really good results. It depends in part on the age, and whether the program is used in parenting groups or if the program is just being used individually. With kids ages four to twelve, we have had 69% showing significant change in the parenting classes. And with the older kids, ages 12 to 17 we have had 40 to 50% change. This is the percentage of youth showing over one standard deviation of change on the ECBI. With the group program we are getting really strong positive feedback. 93% of the parents polled at the end of the class indicated that they would either strongly recommend or recommend the program to others." |
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Kay Doughty, M.A. - Family Centered Substance Abuse Services (DACCO), Tampa, Florida
"Since last fall we have had no pregnancies, no reported drug use and no impregnations, which we are pretty pleased with." "I wrote a grant to provide prevention services to children and families of women who were in substance abuse treatment or who have completed substance abuse treatments just because of my strong feeling that unless we do intervention with families, we are never going to change anything. Initially we had a lot of resistance from the families. Probably a third of the families that we have been working with go through the material a second time. It is interesting, because they are obviously finding it useful and the kids like it too. These kids are very angry kids and have had problems and many times since they have been in and out of foster care they do not want to talk to their moms or anyone. They like the computer use. We have been using the American teen version, and we have just started using the children's and we will be following up some of our clients with the British version. We ordered the Spanish as well, but we have not used it so far. We probably have had 40 families. I have a heavy minority population and I have not been told by any of the counselors that there has been a problem with the videos. We have been asked by many families if they could have another workbook." |
Helen O'Neil D.P.P. - South Eastern Health Board, Co. Wexford and the University of Ulster, Ireland
"We've used Parenting Wisely for probably a year, we got it March 2001. We are using the American version. We have had 30 or more users in this period. I use the EYBERG and the Parent Behavior and all the questionnaires that come with the program. I interviewed all of them before they used the program and their knowledge improved and the behavior problems were reduced after using Parenting Wisely."
"We've used Parenting Wisely for probably a year, we got it March 2001. We are using the American version. We have had 30 or more users in this period. I use the EYBERG and the Parent Behavior and all the questionnaires that come with the program. I interviewed all of them before they used the program and their knowledge improved and the behavior problems were reduced after using Parenting Wisely."
Amy Curry - Stanley Street Treatment and Resources(SSTAR), Fall River, Massachusetts
"I think it is cost effective. Basically it is a one time cost and we can use it as much as we want. And we use it a lot. The agency has been using the program for three years. We have had about 300 users.We originally started off with the regular American version, and we now have the British version and the Young Children version as well. The technology change from the first version to the British version is really great. The British version is so realistic. The language that kids use---at first people have a hard time listening to the British accent, that goes away-- people get over it because of the very realistic depiction. I enjoy the Young Children version as well. It is very realistic and we would like to start using it in the group format. I love the different choices of the scenarios-the one in the grocery store, and the one with the grandmother."
"People have had very favorable reactions to viewing the program. People have said it is very easy to use. I have had people with no computer experience, and they have not had a problem using it. I have also had people with very low education levels and they have also found that it is easy to use. Some people who have low reading levels have been able to use it because they can have the program read to them. Every one of the scenarios is very similar to their own families and the skills that are taught are very easy to understand and the explanation is very good on how to actually carry out the tasks that are shown.The parents find the content relevant and realistic. People have a good little laugh and you often hear, 'well that is my family'."
"I think it is a great compliment to the programs that are offered in the agency, because we have a great focus on families and we are trying to expand that even more. We are trying to use it as a starting off point when they come in to the agency trying to get anyone who is a parent to see it while they are on the waiting list to get other services.Some times people do not like to admit that they might have done the same things themselves, but they can be one step away from that. They can talk about someone else and still get the same message. So, when they do it individually there is no staff person pointing a finger at them saying you are right or wrong. We give the people who use the program a workbook so that they have the knowledge from viewing the video and they can look back in the workbook. They can read, besides seeing it, so it covers two different learning styles."
"I think it is cost effective. Basically it is a one time cost and we can use it as much as we want. And we use it a lot. The agency has been using the program for three years. We have had about 300 users.We originally started off with the regular American version, and we now have the British version and the Young Children version as well. The technology change from the first version to the British version is really great. The British version is so realistic. The language that kids use---at first people have a hard time listening to the British accent, that goes away-- people get over it because of the very realistic depiction. I enjoy the Young Children version as well. It is very realistic and we would like to start using it in the group format. I love the different choices of the scenarios-the one in the grocery store, and the one with the grandmother."
"People have had very favorable reactions to viewing the program. People have said it is very easy to use. I have had people with no computer experience, and they have not had a problem using it. I have also had people with very low education levels and they have also found that it is easy to use. Some people who have low reading levels have been able to use it because they can have the program read to them. Every one of the scenarios is very similar to their own families and the skills that are taught are very easy to understand and the explanation is very good on how to actually carry out the tasks that are shown.The parents find the content relevant and realistic. People have a good little laugh and you often hear, 'well that is my family'."
"I think it is a great compliment to the programs that are offered in the agency, because we have a great focus on families and we are trying to expand that even more. We are trying to use it as a starting off point when they come in to the agency trying to get anyone who is a parent to see it while they are on the waiting list to get other services.Some times people do not like to admit that they might have done the same things themselves, but they can be one step away from that. They can talk about someone else and still get the same message. So, when they do it individually there is no staff person pointing a finger at them saying you are right or wrong. We give the people who use the program a workbook so that they have the knowledge from viewing the video and they can look back in the workbook. They can read, besides seeing it, so it covers two different learning styles."
Below are all reviews of the Parenting Wisely Program. They are labeled by organization.
Click on each link to take you directly to the review.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices
California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare
Child Welfare League of America
Strengthening Americas Families
Click on each link to take you directly to the review.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices
California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare
Child Welfare League of America
Strengthening Americas Families
