Family Engagement Advocate
There are any number of reasons to seek Family Engagement services but there are a couple that are all-too-common.
One reason involves young people’s behavior after parents have divorced. Oftentimes, a child faces one set of rules at mom’s house and another at dad’s house. Or, at least, that is what the child says.
In some instances, children manipulate the situation so they get what they want no matter where they are.
Our Family Engagement Advocate can be an effective third-party voice. She brings everyone together to figure out what is actually happening and provides resources that can have a calming effect.
Even if only one child demonstrates behavioral problems, siblings should be part of the family-engagement process too. They watch and listen to the chaos and take it all in. This is not healthy for anyone.
Sometimes, our Parent Project is part of the answer. This is certainly voluntary but it has a solid background of success for those who are open-minded and willing to listen to our professionals and other parents. While parents learn new approaches, our Family Engagement Advocate can counsel children one-on-one.
Parent Project and other resources allow parents to understand what their children are feeling, which better equips them to handle day-to-day problems. The goal is to help de-escalate relatively minor behavioral issues before they erupt into something major.
Another fairly common issue is a juvenile arrest for a non-violent crime, such as marijuana possession. We can guide families through the justice system and give them a warm hand-off to whatever resources are appropriate.
Those of us at Juvenile Services understand that sometimes people simply don’t know where to go or who to call for help. We are always here.