We define a Parenting Educator as a professional who provides guidance, support, and education for individuals in their role as a parent to impact their knowledge, skills, and development leading to improved parent-child interaction and child outcomes. 

Get Connected: 

• The Family Connection Facebook 
• Oregon Parenting Educator Professional Development 
• Oregon Parenting Education Collaborative 
• The Family Connection E-newsletter 

Certified Parenting Educators play an important role in helping parents become the first and forever teachers in their children’s lives. The Family Connection provides professional training and job opportunities to Parenting Educators that are passionate about improving the lives of parents and children. Please learn more about this career opportunity below. 

2022-23 Attendance Sheet needed from each series taught in partnership with TFC (ENGLISH / SPANISH)  

2022-23 Parenting Skills Ladder needed from each participant of your series (ENGLISH / SPANISH)  

2022-23 Online Teens Skills Ladder needed from teens that attend SFP and Families in Action (ENGLISH / SPANISH)  

2022-23 Parenting Workshop Evaluation needed from each participant of your workshop (ENGLISH / SPANISH)  

Exit surveys & attendance sheets need to be scanned & sent to [email protected] or mailed to The Family Connection, 1001 Beall Lane, Central Point, OR 97502. *Online survey links available at request!  

Resources for your TFC parenting programs for you to email parents in our programs: 

• Coming Soon! TFC Parenting Education Virtual Google Classroom 
• The Family Connection Handouts for Parents of Infant/Toddlers PDF 
• The Family Connection Parent Activities For Young Children PDF 
• The Family Connection Handouts for Parents with Tweens & Teens PDF 
• SOELS’ Family Engagement Tool Resources PDF
• “Healthier Kids, Together” (5.2.1.0+9) PDF Toolkit by Providence – for TFC Parenting Educators and our programs  
• “A Families Guide to Starting Kindergarten PDF”  
• Help connect parents to community resources: Jackson and Josephine Counties Resource Guide (updated July 2023) 

Professional Development: 

Connect & Learn Webinars for Parenting Educators – Oregon Parenting Education Collaborative   

OPEC Training Academy Webinars for Parenting Educators – Oregon Parenting Education Collaborative  

Essentials of Parenting Education Professional Practice – Oregon Parenting Education Collaborative  

The Ford Family Foundation  released Foundations of Facilitation, a FREE and incredibly valuable presenter resource on their website. You can now download your own copy to keep, study, and use as a refresher before teaching your next Parenting Education series!  

NEW! Spanish Translation for Ford Family Foundations of Facilitation curriculum   

OPEC Parenting Educator Professional Development System – This is a professional development platform for professionals who teach parents. It is free, it takes very little time and talks well with the ORO (Oregon Registry Online) System. If you are a contracted Parenting Educator with The Family Connection, we will ask for you to be registered and upload your certifications. When The Family Connection does reporting on your taught programs, the information you input for your teaching hours will match our reports. For a monthly email & more professional development training opportunities, please connect to the OPEC Parenting Educator Post (email sign up at bottom of page).  

The National Alliance of Children’s Trust and Prevention Funds  

The Alliance offers a series of free online training courses to support implementation of the Strengthening Families™ Protective Factors Framework in multiple settings. Click the link and scroll down the page to “online training.”  

Reach Out Oregon Regional families with children experiencing mental, emotional or behavioral health challenges will gain access to a support team of families and friends and a community network where questions are answered, resources are shared, and needs are understood.  

The OPEC Parenting Together Newsletter is a monthly newsletter full of information and resources for parents available in English and Español. The archive of issues can be found here.  

NEW! Trauma Stewardship An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others — this book is available for free from TFFF Select Book Program!  

Mindfulness and Resilience to Stress at Work   

This self-paced course can be audited for FREE! Time commitment is about 1-2 hours per week for about 4 weeks. The course instructors are expert faculty from UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, Dacher Keltner, Ph.D., and Emiliana Simon-Thomas, Ph.D. They are the creators of the popular course, The Science of Happiness.   

Cox Campus    

Free training modules with certificates of completion on literacy and other early childhood education topics. If you would like to use their videos for teaching or training purposes, please follow their guidelines for use at https://www.coxcampus.org/resource-sharing-guidelines/ 

Virtual Parenting Education Program Adaptations and Resources: 

Conscious Discipline (from Umatilla-Morrow Head Start / Umatilla-Morrow-Union OPEC Hub)  

First Three Years: Adaptation and Lessons Learned (From Parenting Success Network / Linn-Benton-Lincoln OPEC Hub)  

Webinar: What We’ve Learned: Practical Tips for Facilitating The First Three Years Parenting Groups on Zoom  

Make Parenting a Pleasure (from Mid-Valley Parenting / Polk-Yamhill OPEC Hub)  

Webinar: Family Fun Night: Adapting Make Parenting a Pleasure for Remote Delivery  

Nurturing Parenting (from Building Healthy Families / Wallowa-Baker-Malheur OPEC Hub)  

Webinar: Getting Creative: Adapting the Nurturing Parenting for Parents of Adolescents program for remote learning  

Strengthening Families (from Mid-Valley Parenting / Polk-Yamhill OPEC Hub)  

Webinar: Out of the Box: Adapting Parenting Education to Virtual and Remote Settings  

Parenting Education Curricula Resources: 

• Foundations of Facilitation materials  
• Haga de la Paternidad un Placer (Spanish Version – Make Parenting a Pleasure)  
• Incredible Years  
• Make Parenting a Pleasure / Parenting Now  
• Nurturing Parenting  
• Parenting: The First Three Years Curriculum Training  
• Strengthening Families Program for parents of 7-17 year olds  
• Strengthening Families Program: For Parents and Youth 10-14  

Self-paced Research & Courses: 

I-LABS Training Modules  

Each module in the library takes an in-depth look at a unique topic in the science of child development. For parents and early childhood educators, available in several languages.   

Introduction to Trauma Informed Care (TIC) Online Training Modules  

Introduction to TIC Online Training Modules includes four self-paced modules covering the basics of trauma informed care. Each module includes an additional Voices from the Community video that highlights how trauma informed care is being implemented in specific communities.   

Institute for the Advancement of Family Support Professionals  

The Institute offers Family Support Professionals the opportunity to learn new skills and grow their careers. Through engaging, online modules and a personalized learning map feature, professionals take charge of their growth and advancement. These free resources are designed for the National Family Support Professionals competencies but also align with parenting education core areas of the OPEC Parenting Educator Professional Development System. 

Resources To Add Depth to Your Program: 

Anti-Racist Resources from Greater Good — Greater Good Magazine  

21 Anti-Racism Videos to Share with Children & Parents – Conscious Discipline  

CASEL: SEL as a Lever for Equity and Social Justice (5 Parts)  

American Psychological Association (APA): Uplifting Youth Through Healthy Communication About Race  

National Education Association (NEA): Creating Space to Talk About Race In Your School  

Grandfamily Toolkits from Generations United:  

• African American Grandfamilies  
• American Indian & Alaskan Native Grandfamilies  

Getting Started: A Guide for Parenting Educators – Oregon Parenting Education Collaborative  

Trauma Informed Care: Considerations for Remote Delivery of Parenting Education Programming – Oregon Parenting Education Collaborative  

Gender Roles in Family  from Oregon State University’s College of Public Health and Human Sciences – Gender roles shape nearly all of our social interactions, so what does this mean for families?   

Researchers Baldwin, Measelle, Pfeifer and Caouette Examine Youth and Teen Behavior  —  University of Oregon faculty members are making important inroads in our understanding of the growing brain. They’re examining critical stages for babies and adolescents and advising caregivers on how to nurture young minds for healthy development.  

Center on the Developing Child (Harvard University) Resource Library  

See info graphics, videos, briefs and more related to positive parenting, brain-building through “serve and return” interactions, and strategies for promoting resilience.  

Center for Parent & Teen Communication  

Articles and resources focused on positive relationships between parents and their adolescents, including growth and development, communication, building character, and health & prevention.  

Father’s Playbook app is here to help. This app is developed for guys to help them understand pregnancy and prepare them for after the baby comes. 

Vroom.org (English/Spanish) – Vroom Tips™ help you do more with your shared moments. Add learning to mealtime, bathtime, bedtime, or anytime with 1,000+ fun, free activities. 

Top 35 Parenting Podcasts Raising children means facing new and unexpected situations on an almost daily basis. As our children grow, their needs, wants, and behaviors change so fast, we don’t always know how to deal with certain situations. That’s why listening and learning from parenting experts or more experienced parents could be a great strategy. 

The National Maternal Mental Health Hotline can help. Call or text 1-833-9-HELP4MOMS (1-833-943-5746). TTY users can use a preferred relay service or dial 711 and then 1-833-943-5746. 

• Independent Contractor position/contract (virtual or in-person program).
• Work 4 hours per week for 7 or 12 sessions. This includes prep time.
• Work for an organization that makes a positive difference in families’ lives.

• Scholarships available to be trained in certified Parenting Education Curricula (many to choose from).
• We will advertise the parenting program (class sizes are 10-15 adults) and coordinate the implementation of the program (curricula fidelity, child care, meals, attendance gifts, etc.).
• We will be available to you for troubleshooting for the entire series.

• A meeting to discuss implementation and responsibilities.
• An interactive group experience at each Parenting Class.
• Be flexible in picking up meals for your classes.
• Be personable and friendly towards parents.
• Set out a resource table for parents and connect families to community resources.
• Gather data for us about your class for us to present to our funders.