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January 21, 2007

Young Jailbirds Get Parent Education

Eight teenage fathers or fathers-to-be aged between 16 and 18 at Christchurch Prison’s Youth Unit went through a five-session course on parenting and fatherhood facilitated by Father & Child Trust staff at the request of the Youth Unit.

The course is believed to be the first such initiative anywhere in New Zealand.

The course was designed after a focus group was held to determine what participants most wanted to get out of it, and the resulting course covered early childhood development as well as Family Law issues and the impact of ‘lifestyle choices’ such as drugs and alcohol on parenting.

Feedback obtained after the course was unanimous in that the course was too short and more was needed.
Trust workers were surprised by the high proportion of parents in the 40-bed unit, which is about 100 times higher than in the general population of this age group.

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