Iowa State University Extension

Problem:
Family Nest is an incentive-based program that allows enrolled families to earn points for healthy behaviors related to health, safety, self-sufficiency, and family stability. Participants must have children 0-18 or be expectant parents and meet income eligibility guidelines. Grundy County Operation Threshold staff designed their Nest program to include education for all family members. Families come for dinner together. Then separate learning experiences are held for preschoolers, elementary age youth, older youth, and parents. ISU Extension was asked to provide parenting education programs to address the issues and concerns Nest parents were dealing with.

Response:
Four parent education programs, one hour each, were delivered during the months of February, March, April and May. Topics were selected to be beneficial to parents of infants through teens, the range of children's ages represented in the Nest group. The topics included: Understanding Temperament-Yours and Your Child's; Dealing with Anger; Dads Make a Difference; and 18 Years From Now...Parenting with a Purpose. Topics in previous years had focused primarily on discipline issues, and the intent was to broaden the base of understanding of the parents to help prevent discipline problems.

Impact:
Following the fourth session, parents were asked to complete a written evaluation to determine if and how the programs over the past three months had helped them. Results of the evaluations were as follows:

	Yes	No
1. These programs gave me specific ideas that have been helpful to me. If Yes, what has been most helpful?	11	0

* Understanding how the similarities of mine & my daughter’s temperament impact the quality of our relationship. * How to deal with my child’s anger and my own
* How to deal with my stress
* Understanding mine and my kids’ temperament
* Learning about how to raise and deal with my child
* Discipline and ways to deal with it and understand it
* How I can be a better single parent
* It helped me with my anger with my child
* Ideas of how to handle certain situations
* Dealing with anger

	Yes	No
2. I think these programs help me be a better parent. If Yes, what have you changed or improved?	11	0

* My coping strategies with stress & anger
* Taking time to think about reactions
* To take a different approach to situations
* What to do and not to do around my child
* I have learned to follow through when I have disciplined. I have followed through with consequences
* I go for walks
* Helped me learn more about how to spend time with my child and do the best to educate her and help her down the path of life
* Trying to deal with my anger and getting dad more involved

Most of the parents represented by these comments have been attending Extension's Nest parenting programs for the past three years. Although the topics vary, the presenter has remained the same. This has led to consistency in the research-based information presented and the underlying parenting philosophies represented.

Additional ISUE Staff:
Bill Arndorfer, Grundy CEED, 319-824-6979, barndorf@iastate.edu

Additional Team Members/Community Partners:
Ann Smith, Operation Threshold, Grundy County, 319-824-3460, ASmith@operationthreshold.org

Contact:
Donna Andrusyk
Bremer County Extension
720 7th Ave SW
Tripoli, IA 50676
319-882-4275
andrusyk@iastate.edu