Parenting and Relationship Building

The Community Action Agency offers parenting/relationship building classes in Jackson, Lenawee and Hillsdale counties. These programs focus on improving childhood outcomes through building strong parental relationships. The classes offered include:

o  Healthy Couples- Healthy Couples is a classroom-based ten-week program whose purpose is to increase parenting skills, relationship skills, and knowledge of how relationships/choices affect children. The program goal is to provide couples with the knowledge, skill, and determination to give their minor children a stable home that models long-term healthy adult parental relationships. Healthy Couples uses the Marriage and Parenting curriculum written by Mark Perlman, based on Stephen Bavolek’s work. The classes are experiential and sequential in design. Healthy Couples is funded by a grant offered by the Department of Health and Human Service through the Office of Family Assistance (OFA). Healthy Couples is open to any Jackson or Hillsdale County couple who have a minor child or who are considering having a child. Healthy Couples classes are facilitated by trained staff and a meal, childcare and transportation, if needed, are provided.

o  PICK- PICK stands for Premarital Interpersonal Choice & Knowledge. The program is based on the work of Dr. John Van Epp and help individuals to examine the major areas that predict what a person will be like in marriage, and; The bonding forces that must be kept in balance as a relationship grows. PICK is offered in Lenawee County and is open to any individual/couple, 13 years old and above.

o  PREP-   The PREP curriculum (Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program) is one of the most comprehensive and well respected divorce-prevention / marriage enhancing programs in the world. PREP is a skills and principles-building curriculum designed to help partners say what they need to say, get to the heart of problems, and increase their connection with each other. PREP is offered in Lenawee County and is open to any individual/couple, 13 years old and above.

* Funding for these projects was provided by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Grants: 90FR0078 and 90FE0138 .  An y opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.

For Healthy Couples, contact Misti Warner are 517-745-8043.

For PICK and PREP, contact David Smith are 517-784-4800 or 517- 263-7861