Parenting Inside Out (PIO) Brochure

ABOUT Since 1992 George Junior Republic Preventative Aftercare (GJR PAC) has provided community-based services. GJR PAC offers counseling and therapeutic services to children, youth, families, and adults in their homes, schools, and communities across many counties in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Collaborative Stakeholders Include: children, youth, families, probation departments, schools, managed care organizations, county jails and prisons, and other community providers/partners.

CONTACT US 724.458.9330 pacpioreferrals@gjr.org

ATTN: GJR PAC 233 George Junior Rd. Grove City, PA 16127 GJR.ORG/GJR-PAC/

PARENTING INSIDE OUT (PIO)

OVERVIEW 12-week voluntary parent management training program for incarcerated parents Program is designed to assist participants in improving their interaction with their child(ren) and their child(ren)’s caregiver Aims to provide participants (many of whom have co-occurring substance abuse and mental health problems) with a greater capacity to improve their cognitive and behavioral skills Appropriate for both incarcerated mothers and incarcerated fathers who are parenting from jail

REFERRALS & INTAKE Referrals are made by the Office of Children and Youth Services and the Washington County Jail.

The George Junior Republic Preventative Aftercare (GJR PAC) Parenting Inside Out program accepts clients from birth to 18 years of age whose parent is incarcerated in the Washington County Jail.

TREATMENT Parenting Inside Out (PIO) is a cognitive-behavioral, group parenting skills training program grounded in social learning theory and the parent management training model. PIO addresses the unique situation and issues of criminal-justice and systems-involved parents (substance abuse, child welfare).

Group sessions introduce: A set of core parenting practices (e.g., problemsolving, positive involvement, limit setting, monitoring, and nonviolent discipline) Supporting skills (e.g., active communication, emotion regulation, emotion coaching) Child development Healthy family dynamics Building relationships with children while separated The Parenting Coach uses interactive teaching skills (eg., role play, group discussion, and problem-solving) to introduce and practice skills with the participants while they are incarcerated at the Washington County Jail. Each group session is 2 hours in length, and groups meet twice per week for 12 weeks. Participants have various homework assignments related to the topics covered in the lessons. Homework usually takes no more than 30 minutes to complete.

PROGRAM GOALS Improve prosocial functioning Decrease antisocial behavior Learn skills to communicate positively and effectively with the caregiver(s) of their child(ren) and other involved adults about the well-being of their children and family Learn skills to parent their children while incarcerated effectively and when they are released Learn how to help their child have a healthy adjustment to having them back in their lives Learn skills that prevent their child’s problem behavior Learn skills on how to increase their child’s resiliency

OUTCOMES PIO outcomes include: Less parental stress Lower depression scores by parents Reduction in post-release arrests Reduction in self-reported criminal behavior Use of more positive reinforcement with their children More positive parent-child contact More total family visits