Children's Justice Alliance
Prioritizing, Parenting and Protecting Our Children
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Success Story: David
David is the father of two children he had not seen in a year. He had very strained relationships with other family members and was not allowed to visit his twins.
In 2007, David took Parenting Inside Out (PIO) at the Center for Family Success. He used the communication skills he learned in PIO to communicate with the twins’ mother. He was able to express his wishes and to listen to her concerns. She agreed to allow him supervised visits with the children.
In 2008, David was in the pilot Healthy Relationships: Successful Families (HR:SF) class. Using the tools he learned, he continued to build a relationship with his children’s mother, allowing them to parent the children in a loving, consistent manner. Over time his visits increased to five days a week.
When the twins’ mother began a new relationship, tensions arose and she began to restrict David’s access to the children. David used the problem solving skills he learned in PIO and HR: SF to try to work out a common agreement that met the needs and concerns of his children’s mother, her partner and him. They were unable to reach an agreement, but David is now using the documentation he developed for his conversation with the twins’ mother to seek visitation rights through the court.
David is now in a healthy relationship and he and his partner use the skills he learned in HR: SF. He continues to touch base with Center staff, using them as a resource in his continued growth.