Ten parents/caregivers just wrapped up a 14-week parenting class here at the Allen County Board of Developmental Disabilities, called Incredible Years. Incredible Years is a program for parents, supported by over 30 years of research. The goal is for parents to develop skills to help children regulate emotions, while promoting their social and academic skills. We have two, trained Incredible Years facilitators, Erin Koenig and Kristen Miller, who did a wonderful job leading the program. The class met weekly, enjoyed a meal together, and then focused on a lesson – like how to strengthen parent-child interactions, proper discipline techniques, and promoting children’s social and emotional development. The group had great camaraderie and enjoyed bouncing ideas off each other and supporting one another. Childcare was provided, so parents could focus and kids could play and make new friends.
We were able to bring the parenting class to Allen County through a grant funded by the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund. The mission of the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund is to support programs that invest in the prevention of child abuse and neglect through building strong communities, healthy families and safe children.
One participant said, “Being a parent is hard. It’s even harder with a child that has behavioral issues. These classes have helped me in many ways. I don’t have to stress about childcare or dinner. Getting a break from my kids to be in a room with other adults having similar issues at home is very comforting. To know that I’m not alone and I’m doing a great job with my kids is a great feeling.” Another participant noted that “The program helped me greatly. I didn’t realize things and ways of doing things differently can help behaviors. For example, my son runs in the house and I learned instead of saying ‘Don’t run,’ you say ‘Use your walking feet,’ and it works. Many techniques I have learned have helped his behavior. It is a great program.”
Thanks to another year of funds from the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund, we will be holding Incredible Years in 2023. Classes will start on January 5, 2023, with a meal and childcare provided at every class. If you are interested in learning more, please contact Bethany Ernest at 419-221-1385, ext. 3702 or at bernest@acbdd.org.