The Pathfinder Network Announces Parenting Program Implementation and Training Partnership with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and California Correctional Health Care Services (CCHCS)

PORTLAND, Ore., March 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pathfinder Network (TPN) announced a multi-year partnership with the CDCR/CCHCS to implement Parenting Inside Out (PIO) within California prisons as part of their Integrated Substance Use Disorder Treatment (ISUDT) Program. PIO is TPN's evidence-based parenting curriculum designed specifically to address the unique challenges that justice involved-individuals face. The PIO curriculum will be available at all of CDCR's 35 adult institutions, and will support incarcerated parents preparing for release. This includes teaching cooperation and problem-solving in the context of learning parenting skills.

"The impact will be exponential," said Richard Hines-Norwood, PIO Program Manager at TPN, who has orchestrated the implementation of this partnership. "For every parent who takes PIO, I think about the life of every child, every caregiver, every family, every community that will be impacted for the better. When our children are healthier our future is healthier."

PIO is an evidence-based, cognitive-behavioral parenting skills training program based on the Oregon Social Learning Center's Parent Management Training (PMT) Program for parents and families and was developed in collaboration with practitioners, families, incarcerated parents, policy makers and curriculum designers. PIO is the only parenting program developed specifically for this incarcerated populations. PIO has been reviewed by SAMHSA and appears on numerous national-level best practice lists. Results show that PIO leads to better outcomes for both parents and children throughout a parent's incarceration and after, such as increasing parent-child contact and parental involvement, improving parental resiliency and coping skills, and reducing recidivism.

With its learner-centered, skill-based design, the PIO Program provides parents with tools and practice towards a new way of navigating life, utilizing healthy, prosocial skills to interact with their children, partners, co-parents, officials, friends and family. This program includes lessons and information on communication and problem solving, child development, structure and guidance, family relationships and connecting from prison, co-parenting, and reentry. PIO has been successfully implemented in both men's and women's prisons, county jails, treatment centers and community programs in 38 states and internationally in Australia, Canada and Grand Cayman. It is utilized by the Department of Corrections statewide in Alabama, Alaska, Kansas, Michigan, Oregon, Nevada, Washington, Wisconsin and now California. As CDCR represents the largest correctional system in the country, this implementation will be the most expansive DOC implementation of Parenting Inside Out.

"The ISUDT initiative not only impacts the correctional system, but also state and local communities," said Brantley Choate, Director, CDCR Division of Rehabilitative Programs. "Cognitive Behavioral Interventions is a critical component of this treatment program by helping our participants be successful in learning to live with substance use disorder."

From August 2020 to January 2021, TPN conducted the first phase of a comprehensive facilitator training certification program for 175 CDCR staff. The interactive training program, designed to be conducted virtually, included two days of TPN's standard interactive content delivery, while a third day "teach back" invited participants to recall and practice by presenting content to TPN training staff and their peers. An additional booster training included content on implementation, fidelity and coaching, including an interactive role play skills practice. In February 2021, the second phase commenced and the initial facilitators will be trained to become certified PIO trainers, who can then conduct training for around 800 additional staff that will be facilitating PIO classes statewide in California prisons. Additionally, TPN will train CDCR administrators on PIO best practices and how to support successful and sustained implementation of the program in each institution. In order to ensure fidelity to the evidence-base of the program, TPN will conduct ongoing continuous quality improvement (CQI) visits to CDCR locations. The agency will provide continuous support and technical assistance as implementation takes place.

"It is exciting to see our team of skilled experts and trainers rise to the occasion of this momentous implementation," said Leticia Longoria Navarro, TPN's Interim Executive Director. "We are also proud to partner with the CDCR/CCHCS on such an important project that will have a lasting impact for years and generations to come. We admire the commitment, intentionality and vision the organization has to support incarcerated individuals and we are excited for all that is to come."

For more information, please visit https://www.parentinginsideout.org.

The Pathfinder Network is a 501 (c) (3) social service agency founded in 1993 with a mission to provide justice system-impacted individuals and families the tools and support they need to be safe and thrive in their communities. The Pathfinder Network provides cognitive-behavioral programs, parenting programs and support services for adults in the Oregon Department of Corrections system and to children and families in the community.

Media contact:
Rachel Namson
[email protected] 
818-903-0432

SOURCE The Pathfinder Network