Each lesson offered in the Nurturing Programs has identified competencies the parents need to learn and the instructors need to teach in order for parenting practices to improve. The lesson competencies keep both the parent and the instructor on track making sure learning is occurring. The individual lessons, assessments, evaluations and home practice assignments are all designed to ensure parents are acquiring the stated competencies.

In competency based learning, if the parents do not display an understanding or proper utilization of the information and skills presented in the lesson, the lesson is repeated until the competencies have been learned and mastered.

The Nurturing Programs incorporate three pre and posttest self-report assessment measures:

Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory (AAPI) is a 40 item, norm-referenced, Likert scale designed to assess the parenting beliefs and practices of adult and adolescent parent and non-parent populations. The AAPI is designed to assess the beliefs for parenting children from infancy to 12 years of age. Responses to the AAPI provide an index of risk for child maltreatment in five parenting practices known to result in child maltreatment. These practices are presented as Constructs:

• A. Developmental Expectations;
• B. Parental Level of Empathy;
• C. Belief in the use of Corporal Punishment;
• D. Reversing Parent-Child Family Roles; and
• E. Oppressing Children’s Power and Independence.

Responses to the AAPI provide a level of risk for child maltreatment on three levels: High, Moderate and Low. These levels of risk on the AAPI coordinate with the levels of prevention and dosage of lessons presented in the Nurturing Parenting Programs.

Form A and Form B: There are two versions of the AAPI: Version A and Version B. Using alternate forms of the AAPI to gather pre and post program responses reduces the likelihood of increased positive parenting responses based on practice in completing the same inventory multiple times.

Parenting Attitudes about Raising Teens Inventory (PARTI) is a norm- reference Likert scale designed to assess the parenting beliefs and practices of raising adolescent’s ages 12 to 20 years of age. There are two versions of the PARTI: one version for the Parents and one version for the Teens. Data generated from the administration of the PARTI can be useful in several settings:

• Assessing both Parents and their Teens. Parent-teen differences are legendary. Responses to the PARTI are presented on individual and combined profiles allowing teens and their parents to observe the similarities and differences in their beliefs.
• Assessing Parents only. A visual view of the beliefs parents have of raising teens can provide them with an understanding how today’s generation of teens are very different from their generation. Responses can also provide parents the opportunity to examine how similar and different they are from their partner in parenting their teen.
• Assessing Teens only. Ideal for use with teens in school settings, detention and residential settings. Responses to the PARTI provide teens an opportunity to examine personal beliefs and behaviors that may have contributed to their social and emotional dysfunctional behavior.
• Expectant Teen Partners: Partners can increase their awareness of their similarities and differences in their beliefs of being a teen. Awareness can prevent conflicts in beliefs from forming unspoken differences that may work to sabotage their young relationship.

Responses to the PARTI are entered in the computer and a parenting profile is created reflecting the similarities and differences between the parents and their teens. Responses are presented in five categories:

• A. Familial and developmental expectations;
• B. Feelings of empathy for one another and for family;
• C. Discipline beliefs and strategies;
• D. Familial roles and expectations of teens and parents; and
• E. Expectations of freedom and independence of teens and their parents.

These responses provide an index and level of conflict and agreement: high, moderate and low levels of conflict or agreement.

The Nurturing Skills Competency Scale (NSCS) is a criterion-referenced scale designed to gather information in six constructs that can have a significant role in family dysfunction including child abuse and neglect and intimate partner violence. The six constructs of the NSCS are:

• A. My current lifestyle and living conditions;
• B. My childhood and relationships with my parents;
• C. My relationship with the father/mother of my children or current partner;
• D. My relationship with my children and family;
• E. My knowledge of nurturing parenting practices;
• F. My Utilization of nurturing parenting strategies and skills.

There are two different versions of the NSCS that are designed for two different populations of parents you might be working with:

• Long Version (LV) The LV version is particularly useful in assessing individuals and family members with a high risk for child maltreatment; who are currently receiving child welfare services for abuse or neglect; who are ordered to attend parenting classes; who have a history of violence towards children and spouses/partners; or who have come to the attention of social services in need of parenting education. The LV has approximately 80 items that address all six constructs presented above. Different NSCS’s are developed for each nurturing program and may have a different number of items. The information generated from the NSCS-LV is presented on a parenting profile. Responses per construct range from Below Average to Average to Above Average.
• Short Version (SV) is ideally suited for average families who are not receiving services for child abuse and neglect, who have not been referred for parenting education, and who have no reportable history of domestic violence. The SV with approximately 50 items is designed primarily for use with low-risk, or average families not receiving or referred for parenting education. The SV provides a parenting profile with scores in three of the six NSCS constructs: Construct A: About My Life; Construct E: My Knowledge of Nurturing Parenting Practices; and Construct F: My utilization of Nurturing Skills.

The Nurturing Parenting Programs have several unique features that make the programs effective:

• Nurturing Parenting Programs are designed for the treatment and prevention of child abuse and neglect. The programs are utilized nationwide to improve the lives of families ravaged by dysfunction.
• The Nurturing Programs are family based interventions where parents and their children learn similar knowledge and skills for improving the quality of their lives.
• Built in assessment strategies allow facilitators and parents to chart the course of their successes.
• Families can attend group-based programs, home-based programs, or a combination of group and home-based sessions.
• The flexibility within the structure of the programs allows facilitators to ensure the specific needs of families are being met.
• The nurturing philosophy of non-violent parenting focuses on the development of empathy, self-worth, self-awareness, empowerment, discipline with dignity, appropriate family roles and age-appropriate expectations of children's development.
• Lesson guides, DVDs, parent handbooks, and assessment inventories provide facilitators with individual lessons designed to promote individual and family growth.
• Parents and children learn how to play games, sing songs and have fun as a family.

Located in our Training Resources Section is a listing of our national training workshops and a listing of trainers in your state. Learn how to have you and your colleagues trained in the Nurturing Parenting Programs!