NCJ Number
114876
Date Published
1984
Length
35 pages
Annotation
Parents Anonymous (PA), in cooperation with the National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Parents United, has undertaken efforts to address the national problem of physical and sexual child abuse.
Abstract
PA focuses on helping parents and children to help themselves in a variety of nonjudgmental, supportive, and caring ways. Focus is on prevention of child abuse through mutual support, guided self-help, and parent education. Through PA, parents meet with others with common needs and concerns, learn to cope with stress, break their isolation, and learn new skills. Volunteers work with parent group leaders to guide the groups' growth and development. While child care is a companion PA service, recent efforts have focused on developing a formalized, national network of children's programs. Such programs have included play therapy, teen support, and special programs for inmates and their families. One such program, Mothers/Men Inside Loving Kids includes child development and parent education classes, ongoing support groups, extended visits with children at the correctional institution, a guardian support program, ways and means projects, and connections to PA chapters and other support systems. Other prevention-oriented programs have included multidisciplinary child abuse and neglect teams, professional training, service coordination, and foster placement services. of exemplary prevention programs are included.