Printer
TextHow Your Organization Can Support Parenting Education
Organizational Support
The Department of Family Services parenting programs change lives. They bring together families who want to learn better ways to raise their children, who want to learn how to be kinder and more respectful to each other.
You can be a part of this life-changing effort by providing meeting space, food, money and – most importantly – your time. Join with Fairfax County's Department of Family Services as a nurturing parenting partner.
Together, we can make a difference that will last for generations.
Parenting Education Programs
The parenting programs we use teach positive and effective ways parents can interact with their children at every age and stage of development. The focus is on the family – where children learn the values and beliefs that shape their futures. Parents and children learn together over several months. Volunteers provide an evening meal and child care for young children.
What do parents and children learn?
- Self-confidence.
- Alternatives to hitting, spanking and yelling.
- What to expect of children at different developmental stages.
- How to build strong, positive relationships among family members by increasing mutual understanding and respect.
Who may particpate?
Any family living in Fairfax County who wants to build healthy interactions and create positive change within their family is eligible. Participants must agree to complete the program as a family and should be comfortable participating in a group learning environment. Classes, dinner and child care are free to participants.
How You Can Help
The capacity to offer parenting education depends on community support. The program is free to participants and offers child care and an evening meal.Community volunteers make this possible.
Here is how your organization can help:
Provide Food for 40 to 50 people. Approximately five volunteers are needed to prepare, serve and clean up from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Older teens are welcome to volunteer.
Provide Child Care, with assistance from our staff, for approximately six children who range in age from infant to four years old. Two or three volunteers are needed from 5:15 to 8 p.m. Older teens are welcome to volunteer.
Other Ways To Help
- Volunteer to become trained to teach.
- Donate funds to help with the purchase of training materials, pay for child care or food.
- Sponsor or contribute to sponsoring a family throughout their participation in the program. The per family cost for a multi-week program is $3,500.
- Provide site for parenting classes.
Contact Us
For more information or to volunteer, please call
703-324-7745 or 703-324-7871; TTY 703-222-9452.
Thank you for supporting the Nurturing Parenting Program in our community.
Available Programs
Parents with Children 21 sessions (Newborn to 4 years old)
Offered in English and Spanish
Parents learn to recognize and understand feelings; nurturing parenting
routines; alternatives to hitting; infant massage; child development; and
ways to foster positive self-esteem in themselves and their children.
Parents with Children 13 sessions (5 to 11 years old)
Offered in English and Spanish
Parents and children learn to increase their empathy; discover new ways
to encourage appropriate behaviors; build self-concept and selfesteem;
and learn how to have fun as a family.
Parents with Children: African-American Focus 13 sessions
(5 to 11 years old) Offered in English
Parents and children learn to increase their empathy; discover new ways
to encourage appropriate behaviors; build self-concept and selfesteem;
and learn how to have fun as a family. This curriculum also emphasizes
how African-American history affects the current life process for
African- Americans and includes topics such as the slave experience,
transcending oppression and acculturation, spirituality and accessing
resources.
Parents with Adolescents 12 sessions (12 to 18 years old)
Offered in English
Family members learn nurturing communication strategies; how to
recognize each other's needs; how to understand the developmental stages
of adolescence; and ways to build their own personal power, self-concept
and self-esteem.
Good Touch/Bad Touch® (Pre-K to 6th grade)
This is a child abuse prevention curriculum designed to teach children
special skills they need to stay safe. It teaches children to prevent or
interrupt sexual abuse, deal with bullies, effectively handle sad or
angry feelings, and stay safe from strangers who may cause them harm.
For information about how to support parenting education, call: 703-324-7691; TTY 703-222-9452
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