face of personal and social deficits (Saleebey, 1998). Because this is the case, social service and counseling professional are increasingly challenged to develop effective multimodal programming and interventions that have the capacity to assist parents in developing the strengths, resources, skills and attitudes or behaviors that can result in significant improvements in the quality of family and interpersonal life.
The present study is a response to these issues. Given that there is a readily apparent need for counseling and social work intervention targeting at risk parents, children and communities, the problem addressed herein focuses on the creation of a community-based counseling and educational program that will facilitate improvements in the quality of family life for participants and their offspring. Wolin (1999) pointed out that such programming, oriented toward the enhancement of existing strengths exhibited by the client, an empower clients for positive change. Developing such a program is incumbent upon social work professionals working with at-risk clients.
The literature suggests that the development of social support interventions is positively linked to the amelioration of a number of presenting problems ranging from cancer to loneliness, weight loss, substance abuse, deficient parenting skills, and preparation for childbirth (Hogan, Linden, & Najarian, 2002). Community-based interventions are regarded as particularly important in that such interventions help to develop the local support networks that parents, children, and entire families require in order to overcome challenges implicit in the environment or linked to such persistent problems as poverty, unemployment, and at-risk status.
Enhancing the parenting skills of families believed or known to be at risk for multiple social problems is an integral part of the social work process (Shepard & Ross, 1998; Stormshack, Kaminski, & Goodman, 2002). P...