NC Parenting Education Network

Based on research about healthy families, parenting is known to be pivotal to healthy family functioning and is defined by positive parent behaviors exercised through appropriate parental control, guidance, modeling, and involvement of the children (Fine & Henry, 1989).

Parent education takes on many facets -- focusing on increasing knowledge and awareness of parenting roles (Zoline & Jason, 1985; Powell, 1986); increasing coping skills (Halpern, 1987; Pfannenstiel at al., 1991), and increasing confidence (Powell, 1986). Parent education, as a generic term, encompasses a wide range of program delivery methods and sources of information involving processes and techniques of teaching and learning, in both formal and informal settings (Harman and Brim, 1980).

The goal of parent education, taken from an empowerment model, is to provide assistance and support to parents in order for them to promote optimal growth for the children in the family (Harman & Brim, 1980) and to focus on risk prevention by building on parent strengths (Wandersman, 1987). To deliver parent education programs that meet the needs of parents and to evaluate the effectiveness of these programs, consideration must be given to parent demographic characteristics, educational delivery preferences, informational needs of families with children, and community and familial support systems. The challenge for parenting educators is to incorporate these many aspects into multidimensional educational support and evaluation plans for parents.

Parenting Education in North Carolina

Support for all parents should be available on a continual basis and offered in multiple forms to meet the diverse family and cultural needs of the parenting population of North Carolina. With changes in family demographics and increasing needs to balance work and family parenting education is critical. In addition, parenting education has been identified as prevention method to respond to multiple social problems such as child abuse, juvenile crime, and teen pregnancy. Communities, social agencies, court systems and other service organizations refer parents for parenting education, yet referral is not an easy task. Locating knowledgeable parenting educators, particularly in rural areas is difficult. Often those who are asked to offer parenting education lack expertise in delivering services and education to diverse parent audiences. Additional resources and a professional support mechanisms for accessing information to assure the delivery of parenting education to meet broad and specific parent needs is necessary.

Currently there is not a cohesive parenting education delivery system in North Carolina. Parenting education is known to be sponsored by community agencies, religious organizations, courts, public and private schools, mental health, public health, Smart Start partnerships, Department of Social Services, Cooperative Extension, hospitals, senior centers, Family Resource Centers, Head Starts, businesses and employers, professional affiliate groups (NAEYC, NCFR), Department of Public Instruction, the Family Support Network, Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Coalitions, United Ways, YMCA/YWCAs, private agencies and therapists, PTAs, child care programs, preschools, colleges and universities, and various civic groups. All parenting education programs are not accessible by all parents. Some programs are fee-based and some are free. Some parents enroll in parenting programs because of particular needs. Some parents don't realize such programs exist. Some parents are referred by courts and mandated to attend parenting classes. Parent education programs for parents with children under 5 years of age out number programs for parents with school-age and teen children. There are many gaps and perhaps a few overlaps in parenting education programs and services from county to county. Having multiple organizations delivering parenting education is not an overwhelming concern, however the lack of a professional support structure, common research base, or accessible teaching and resource materials presents a great concern in meeting the growing need for high quality parenting education in North Carolina. NCPEN has a great interest in assuring that there is one strong effort to support parenting education in the state. Creating awareness among key decision makers to inform them about this growing effort is a priority.

Who conducts parenting education?

There is a concern that a professional credential for individuals teaching parents is not available. There are various ways to obtain instructional information about child development, family studies, and parenting practices. Several two and four-year colleges and universities offer undergraduate and graduate degrees that have parenting courses included in the child-related, family-related, or social work curriculum. Although there are a few opportunities to earn a national parenting education certification (ie., Parents as Teachers, Certified Family Life Educators through the National Council on Family Relations), there is not a consistently recognized parenting education certification process for the nation or in North Carolina.

How NCPEN was formed

Under the leadership of Dr. Karen DeBord, The North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service has organized a dialogue between organizations and agencies who provide parenting education programs for parents across the state. As a state child development Extension Specialist, Dr. DeBord recognized the need to collaboratively discuss and plan ways to address parenting education across the state.

The dialogue between parenting educators was initiated by Dr. DeBord through a survey asking representatives of organizations offering parenting education if they were interested in exploring collaborative projects to bring cohesion to parenting education in North Carolina. The response to continuing dialogue has been overwhelmingly positive. Very active monthly working meetings have been convened since October, 1996. The group of 25 plus professionals is developing a collaborative relationship to focus on parenting education. The growing network is calling itself the North Carolina Parenting Education Network (NCPEN).

The North Carolina Parenting Education (NCPEN) includes representatives of various agencies and organizations.

These professionals are working together to develop a networking system to strengthen the delivery of high quality parenting education in North Carolina. All the representatives agree that parenting education is a supportive response to various parenting roles-- grandparenting and other kinship parenting, single parenting, co-parenting, foster parenting, teen parenting. Since this collaboration is new, discussion is in its infancy, but strides are being made to develop definitions and design a total plan to address the many facets of parenting education in North Carolina. A few ad hoc groups across the nation are attempting to bring professional cohesion to this growing profession. Although parenting educators have not been defined by any of these groups at this point, NCPEN is in favor of carefully watching national trends for available national definitions and standards to guide certification processes.

Why was a network formed?

The people who came together to discuss parenting recognize that parenting educators desire to affiliate and network with others in their profession. Such professionalism and cohesion leads to greater access to high quality materials that will allow for more strategic growth in the state in parenting education in North Carolina and potentially unfold a continuum of educational programs for parents. Although some counties have human service coalitions or partnerships with parenting education components, NCPEN believes that one centralized planning group could encourage high quality educational programs and disseminate high quality research-based information, develop and deliver more training programs that devote time to training diverse audiences, and design systems to evaluate parental learning. To meet diverse needs, attention must be paid to the stage of parenting, age of child, family type, and cultural origins among other parent and child attributes. It is critical to match what parents need with what and how educational programs and services are offered.

NCPEN Vision

The North Carolina Parenting Education Network (NCPEN) facilitates statewide linkages among parents and other partners to encourage positive parenting practices.

The term partners is meant to be broadly inclusive of all those who play an important role in a child's life. This may include grandparents and other kin, single parents, step parents, foster parents, co-parents, teen parents, guardians, and other caregivers.

Current Work

In 2001, the network moved from a voluntary loose network to a membership organization with elected officers and bylaws.
Local networks began to form across the state. This was a success in the eyes of the early planners as the field began to grow. In 2002, a parenting educator credential was piloted Now there are over 100 credentialed parent educators. Two parent educators forums are held each year.

Points of contact

Chair: Karen Schrader
Co-chair: Ed Brown
Past Chair: Karen DeBord
Secretary: Jill Walls
Treasurer: Phyllis D'Agostino