Courts- FOCUS for Mothers
In 2016, with funding from the Crime Control Prevention District (CCPD), NewDay began to serve mothers outside of CPS referrals. We work with court-mandated participants from Domestic Violence Courts, Child Support Courts, Prostitution Courts and Probation/Re-entry Services.
Building Protective Factors
In June 2016, Donna Larson, Director of Community Supervision, commented: "The FOCUS class provides parents with insight into improving their relationships and reconnecting with their children. It helps parents overcome obstacles and barriers that often prevent them from being the most effective and nurturing parents possible."
FOCUS for Mothers addresses the prevention of youth and family violence. We work with mothers to strengthen their families by building protective factors including: parental resilience, social connections, knowledge of parenting and child development, concrete support in times of need, and social and emotional competence in children. FOCUS for Mothers' classes deal with the parent's control issues, anger problems, fear of loss, sense of failure, low self-worth, and low stress tolerance, all of which can be triggers for violent behavior.
In 2016, Mothers who attended the FOCUS for Mothers Program through referrals other than CPS reported a:
- 79.01% increase in ability to respond calmly to conflict with the child’s father (post questionnaire).
- 27.59% increase in desire to relate peaceably with the child’s father (post questionnaire).
- 17.99% increase in understanding of importance of the mother’s role in the child’s life (post questionnaire).
- 47.52% increase in ability to remain under control in stressful situations (post questionnaire).
- 54.50% of graduates indicated an increase in access/visitation with children (by access records).