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Strengthening Families Initiative, Parenting Education (Cibola County)

Plan Goal

Strengthen New Mexico’s families by providing evidence-based parenting education to increase parent-child connectedness, positive discipline practices, and healthy family functioning.

Situation Statement

Parenthood is one of the most stressful and demanding of life roles, yet it is the role for which most adults receive the least preparation and support. Contemporary parents face many challenges, including poverty, isolation, fewer supports for families, and a declining sense of community. The consequences of not educating parents are tremendous. Poor parenting skills are linked to abuse and neglect as well as youth behavior problems including teen pregnancy, adolescence substance abuse, and youth violence. Parents who participate in parenting classes report greater knowledge of child development, increased confidence in parenting, and decreased rates of abuse and neglect. Positive outcomes for children include fewer behavioral problems, greater academic achievement, and increases in social development. Cibola County alone had approximately child abuse and neglect charges investigated. (Kids Count Data Book, 2010). See Charts below Teen Birth Rate Nr Births (Number)Number of Births (Number)
Number of Births (Number)

2007
458

Low Birth Weight Babies (Percent)

Low Birth Weight Babies (Percent) 2007 -7.9%

Profile for Cibola (County)
Data Provided by: National KIDS COUNT Program or New Mexico
Reported Incidents of Domestic Violence (Incidents per 1,000) (Rate)

2007
9.0
Child Abuse (Rate per 100,000 child population) (Rate)

2007
2,622
Juvenile Justice
Juvenile (ages 10-17) Arrests by Race and Ethnicity (Number)

Race 7/2006-6/2007
Total 255
Hispanic 137
Non-Hispanic Black or African-American 0
Non-Hispanic Native American 66
Non-Hispanic White 45

Cibola
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Number of Births (Number)

2004 2005 2006 2007
433 433 439 458
Low Birth Weight Babies (Percent)

2004 2005 2006 2007
7.6% 7.2% 7.3% 7.9%
Low Birth Weight Babies (Number)

2004 2005 2006 2007
33.0 31.0 32.0 36.0
Births to Single Mothers (Percent)

2004 2005 2006 2007
68.6% 71.8% 64.7% 72.3%
Teen Birth Rate - Ages 10-14 Years Old (Rate)

2004 2005 2006 2007
0.9 0.9 1.0 0.0
Teen Birth Rate - Ages 15-19 Years Old (Rate)

2004 2005 2006 2007
67.0 67.1 75.1 84.3



The need for parenting education is a priority in Cibola County, as reflected in the County Extension Stakeholder Input and Advisory Committee request along with program planning exercises by County Extension Agents. Requests and feedback from a variety of agencies referring participants to the Strengthening Families Initiative parenting education class series provide evidence that parenting education is indeed needed throughout Cibola County and the state of New Mexico. Parenting education is needed so that all parents (i.e., single parents, grandparents, incarcerated, estranged, court mandated, non-custodial, teen parents, etc.) will receive assistance. Parenting education programs are extremely limited in Cibola County. With the help of the Strengthening Families Initiative and the Nurturing Parenting stand-alone lessons, the rates of child abuse and neglect in Cibola County will decrease. Over time, children whose parents participate will show a reduced incidence of youth problem behavior (defined as early sexual involvement and parenthood, school failure, substance abuse, and juvenile delinquency).

Target Audience and Actions

The target audience is at-risk families in Cibola County. Risk factors include low income, limited education, young parental age, and single parenthood. Curricula are available to meet the needs of families ranging from expectant parents to parents of adolescents. The program also targets parents from specific at-risk groups including parents who are incarcerated, divorced, teens, unmarried, and abusive. There is a tremendous need for parenting education for families mandated by the court system and other agencies working within the supervisory and/or regulatory role for families in crisis. Classes meet for 2.0 hours each week for 12 weeks.
Classes for adults are exposed to new ways of thinking and behaving. A two level project design includes: (1) County Extension Agents presenting individual parenting lessons designed by state level staff; (2) County Extension Agents coordinating the parenting program.

Short-Term Objectives

The target audience is at-risk families in Cibola County. Risk factors include low income, limited education, young parental age, and single parenthood. Curricula are available to meet the needs of families ranging from expectant parents to parents of adolescents. The program also targets parents from specific at-risk groups including parents who are incarcerated, divorced, teens, unmarried, and abusive. There is a tremendous need for parenting education for families mandated by the court system and other agencies working within the supervisory and/or regulatory role for families in crisis. Classes meet for 2.0 hours each week for 12 weeks.
Classes for adults are exposed to new ways of thinking and behaving. A two level project design includes: (1) County Extension Agents presenting individual parenting lessons designed by state level staff; (2) County Extension Agents coordinating the parenting program.

Medium-Term Objectives

Upon completion of the 12 week program 60% of parents will report: (1) Increased empathy for the needs of children. (2) Increased parent-child communication. (3) Fewer reversals of parent-child roles. (4) Increased awareness of the developmental needs of children. (5) Greater knowledge of positive discipline practices. (6) Decreased belief in and use of corporal punishment.

Long-Term Objectives

According to other research, in the 5 years following completion of the program, we can expect to see 40% of parents will have reported: (1) Lower rates of child abuse and neglect.

Evaluation Plan

(1) Process measures will be obtained at every class to measure participant satisfaction and program quality. Program Evaluation Forms ask participants to indicate how they feel about today’s session and the program on a five-point scale. (2) Post-tests will be given to measure participant attitudinal and behavioral change. This includes several skills indices. (3) A final questionnaire will be give to evaluate over all changes in parenting skills, interpersonal relationships satisfaction, and behavior management.