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.
PA 16127
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.