T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK Belmont County Juvenile and Probate Judge Al Davies announces the Parent Project will be initiated this March through his court. The program will offer training to parents of delinquent juveniles.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — This March, the juvenile courts of Belmont and Harrison counties will train parents of delinquent children to deal with some of the issues their children are facing.

Belmont County Juvenile and Probate Judge Al Davies said his office is instituting the Parent Project as another tool to help steer juveniles in the court system onto the right path.

“The majority of cases we see in juvenile court involve kids who have challenging behaviors, attitude and conduct, and in most of those cases it’s very obvious the parents could use some help in trying to address those challenges, and that’s what the Parent Project is all about,” Davies said, adding that the program trains parents to apply behavioral interventions in the home.

“It’s a 10-week program. We’re going to be offering it in the spring and the fall. There’s no charge for the training. Parents will be placed in the program that have been chosen because their children have either unruly or delinquency cases pending in the court,” he said.

Davies added that the first group will meet March 19 and then at 6 p.m. every Tuesday at Belmont College.

There are 10 to 12 parents expected in the first class. Classes are for parents only. The children will not be involved.

“We are doing this project in conjunction with the Harrison County Juvenile Court as well,” he said.

“At these classes, the parents will get assistance on how to apply some behavioral interventions and modifications in the home. They’ll learn solutions that’ll aid in reducing their stress level, that will improve their child’s opportunity for a productive future, that will enhance their relationship with their child and will offer coping skills. A wide range of issues will be addressed in the parenting project classes,” he said.

These include basic issues of behavior, as well as more weighty problems such as the fear that a juvenile is involved in drug or gang activity. Davies said the sessions will address such issues as habitual truancy and criminal conduct including drug use and domestic violence.

Davies noted that the classes may also help break generational cycles, since the classes may involve parents with pending Children Services cases, such as allegations that a child has been abused or neglected.

“We would increase the exposure of parents involved in the Parent Project. Not only parents who have kids with charges in juvenile court, but also parents that have Children Services involved in their lives,” he said. “It’s not so much that they’re bad people, it’s that they could use some assistance in dealing with the challenges their kids present, and obviously communication is a major part of the Parent Project. The parents will be encouraged to network with other parents who are in the Parent Project groups. There’ll be referrals to social service agencies, and obviously they’ll be encouraged to have a different manner of communication with their child. They’re going to learn a different way of communicating with their child that hopefully will assist in resolving a lot of those issues.”

“It will be run by representatives by both our court and the Harrison County Juvenile Court,” Davies said.

Noah Atkinson, probation officer with Belmont County Juvenile Court, will assist in supervising the program.

“He received training directly from the Parent Project. He has the accreditation and the training,” Davies said. “He was awarded a scholarship from the Ohio Supreme Court to receive that training.”

A significant part of the program will address social media issues, such as sexting and other online influences.

“It’s really risen to a level of addiction,” Davies said of social media use. “They are constantly dominated by social media, and that can lead to some issues, both in behavior and in criminal activities.”

Davies said the Parent Project is one of the nation’s largest and most effective programs for parents who are dealing with teens with destructive behavior.

“It was developed by law enforcement and parents, and it has been around for 30 years,” Davies said. “It has been the subject of numerous academic studies which consistently show significant improvement in parental knowledge and skill in reducing destructive behaviors of kids and increased expression of love in the home. The Parent Project is the largest court-mandated program in the country.”