(Editor’s note: This is part three of a series of five stories
regarding National Child Abuse Prevention Month and services
available in McKean County for families and children. For more
information on any of the services, please contact the one of the
agencies listed in the stories.)
“Strong families build strong communities” is the motto of the
McKean County Family Centers, and the centers located in
communities throughout the county offer a variety of free programs
to help strengthen families.
There is a continuum of services in the county to address the
needs of families, ranging from minimally invasive programs to more
intensive services, explained Lee Sizemore, program director of The
Guidance Center.
“The Family Center is at the low end of the continuum,” Sizemore
said. The centers, located in Bradford, Kane, Eldred, Port Allegany
and Smethport, offer a variety of programs to support both children
and families.
The Guidance Center operates The Family Centers through a
contract with the McKean County Commissioners.
Beginning from the birth of a child and available until the
child is age 5 is a program called Parents As Teachers.
“It’s working with parents on understanding child development
and stimulating child development,” Sizemore explained. The program
consists of home visits where parental concerns are addressed, as
are issues including how to play, interact, praise and monitor
children.
“It’s for everybody and it’s free,” she said of the program.
“It’s the best kept secret in the county and it’s free. There’s no
income restriction. It’s for improving parental confidence and
parenting skills.”
For the parents of children ages 2 to 8 is a program called The
Incredible Years. The workshop, lasting one to two hours per night,
once a week for four weeks, addresses “play, praise, rewards, limit
setting and handling misbehavior.”
The workshops are held once per year per Family Center.
For parents and students ages 10 to 14, a workshop is offered
through the school called Strengthening Families. Seven two-hour
sessions are held with parents and students attending separate
sessions for one hour, and then spending the second hour in family
activities.
“It focuses on the challenges of the middle schooler,” Sizemore
said. “Anger seems to be an issue. It’s family conflict
management.”
The workshops focus on how to set clear family rules, how to
resist peer pressure, how to effectively manage family conflict and
stress and how to communicate effectively.
The same issues are addressed for parents and older teens in the
12 to 16 age group in Staying Connected workshops. The workshops
are hour-and-a-half sessions held weekly for three to four months,
and may be held at a Family Center, a community location or
home-based on a limited basis.
“It teaches how to establish clear family rules, how to resist
peer pressure and how to monitor kids without being invasive,”
Sizemore explained.
And there are a few programs designed with just parents in mind.
A 12-week series of workshops held Tuesdays at the Bradford Family
Center is designed to help fathers with their role in a child’s
life.
The program, called Fathers Can, is a self-help group addressing
“the unique needs of men,” Sizemore said. Issues discussed include
the importance of assuming emotional, moral, spiritual,
psychological and financial responsibility for their children, as
well as managing stress and anger and improving communication.
“Now there’s a group going into the jail, too,” she said, “it’s
called Inside Out Dads, for incarcerated fathers.”
The group meets weekly at the McKean County Prison to discuss
the importance of fatherhood and the role of a father in a child’s
life.
The Family Center also offers a workshop for parents undergoing
a divorce called Children in the Middle: Divorce Education for
Parents. The four-hour workshop is held the first Saturday of the
month from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Bradford Regional Medical
Center.
“It’s for any adult going through a divorce or a separation,”
Sizemore explained. The program teaches parents “how not to put
kids in the middle of their conflict,” and that children should not
be used as messengers or spies.
“And don’t involve your children in your financial stresses,”
she said. Speaking of the success of the program, she said, “it
really reduces the stress in the home.”
Along with the specific programs offered by the Family Centers,
there are also after-school activities available for children.
“The 4-H does a club in each of the Family Centers,” she said.
“The club has increased its popularity by coming to Kane and
Bradford family centers.
The programs, for the most part, are free and open to public
participation with the only requirement being that participants
must be a resident of McKean County.
Children who are experiencing problems in school with academics
or attendance may benefit from an entirely different form of
support – a Big Brother or Big Sister.
Kristine Kivari, who leads the McKean County Big Brothers/Big
Sisters organization, explained adult mentors are always needed to
be positive role models for children.
“It’s a one to one match between an adult and a child to give
the child a positive role model,” she said, adding it’s purpose is
to give the children positive experiences.
In the community-based program, adults are asked to volunteer
once or twice a month for two to four hours. One adult is matched
to a child of the same gender, or a married couple can be matched
to a boy or girl.
There is also a school-based match, where an adult or an older
student – in high school or college – spends one hour a week during
the school day mentoring a child.
“There’s a lot of support and case management from the staff,”
Kivari said, explaining that there is guidance involved so people
aren’t lost as to what to do with a child once they are
matched.
“It’s not a treatment program,” she added, explaining that is a
common misconception that keeps some people from participating in
the program.
“We have a waiting list for program children,” she said. More
adult volunteers are needed.
