Taking Stock of Parent Education in the Family Courts: Envisioning a Public Health Approach

This article reviews the development and current status of the parent education movement in the family courts. Parent education programs are now being implemented in courts throughout the United States and have a high level of public acceptance; however, a stronger research methodology to evaluate the effects and continued work to align the goals with the content and teaching strategies of these programs are needed. A new conceptual framework is proposed for parent education, which views divorce as a public health problem for children as well as a legal issue. The three-level framework uses concepts from public health to align the goals, content, and format of parent education programs and to enable rigorous evaluations of the outcomes achieved by these programs. Key Points for the Family Court Community Educational programs for separated and divorcing parents are widely disseminated, popular, and diverse in their structure, goals, and teaching strategies. To enhance the value of parent education programs, a more cohesive approach to program development and rigorous evaluation is needed to work toward dissemination of evidence-based programs. A model is proposed to integrate concepts from public health into court-affiliated parent education programs.