Strengthening Families Program for parents and youths will be offered virtually to Tamaqua school district residents
May 17—A program designed to prevent substance abuse and other problem behaviors in youths will be offered online this summer for students and their families living in the Tamaqua Area School District.
The Strengthening Families Program encourages families to spend time together and have fun while they learn critical skills. They'll receive games to play at home, along with gift cards to grocery stores and Amazon.
It will be offered to youths ages 10-14 and their families through the Clinical Outcomes Group Inc. and Raiders PROMISE Project
"This evidence-based program is designed for families to have lots of fun together while learning ways to promote family bonding, to keep the lines of family communication open, and to use family strengths to solve problems together," said PROMISE Project Director Kate Spofford of Clinical Outcomes.
Youths learn about empathy, dealing with stress and peer pressure, while parents focus on how to guide their child in setting goals and making good decisions, Spofford said.
"The goal is to prevent substance use and misuse in youth as well as other problem behaviors that may interfere with healthy youth development. It has also been shown to strengthen youth/parent communication skills, increase academic success in youth, and prevent violent behavior at home and at school," she noted.
The seven-week program will begin the second weekend in June, and plans are to hold both virtual and in-person sessions twice a week during the summer.
Families are provided with kits containing pencils, erasers, scissors, glue, tape and other supplies that they'll use to create projects during several sessions. In addition, they will receive folders with information related to each session.
"It allows them to participate in interactive games and activities with the facilitators and their families while in the comfort of their own homes," Spofford said.
Certified facilitators lead the sessions. The youth portions are highly interactive with thought-provoking learning games, activities and conversations with facilitators and other students.
Parent sessions are more video- and discussion-based, and family sessions feature fun family activities and projects that tie together what was taught in the youth and parent sessions.
One activity, called "Reaching Our Goals," asks family members to tie their ankles together with a strip of cloth and answer questions in order to proceed on a life-sized game board.
"The facilitators then read the scenarios to them in the Zoom meeting and guide them verbally to successfully make it to the end of the playing board as a family," Spofford said. "There are many other interactive activities and games like this that are just as effective over Zoom as they are in-person and the families seem to really enjoy them."
When the program was offered in-person before the COVID-19 pandemic, PROMISE project assistant Daniel Blugis said families received a full dinner purchased from local restaurants. Now that it is being held virtually, families will receive a $50 grocery store gift card so they can prepare their own food at home.
"In addition, for in-person sessions, families received a small family gift each session they attended which typically consisted of a fun family activity they could do together. For virtual programming, we have chosen to provide families instead with a $15 Amazon gift card to allow families to purchase their own family activities," Blugis said.
The Strengthening Families Program was developed in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Drug & Alcohol Programs, Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, and the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
The deadline to register is May 31. To register, visit https://forms.gle/XaetC51f HYGF4pbU6. For more information, visit raiderspromise.org.
Contact the writer:
; 570-501-3592.
