Parenting Classes
NOW ENROLLING! Soulful Connections
Soulful Connections Series, featuring Effective Black Parenting curriculum –
ENROLLING NOW! – Soulful Connections with Tamela Lloyd-Carraway, CPDPE. Soulful Connections features the Effective Black Parenting curriculum, which is a dynamic 15-week series that promotes Black excellence designed for parents raising proud, confident, and healthy children ages 0-17 years by providing culturally relevant strategies and resources.
Tuesdays and Thursdays, February 4, 2025 through March 25, 2025. 6:30-8:30pm.
Our parenting classes are offered via Zoom and ANYONE can join, whether you are in Alameda County, out of the area, or out of state!
TO REGISTER, call our Parenting Stress Helpline at 1-800-829-3777.
Note: Referrals/requests for service are not accepted via email. Class details and Zoom link will be given via email after registration.
WINTER 2025 Sessions:
Positive Parenting Series –
Tuesdays, January 7-March 25, 2025 (12- weeks), 6:30-8:30pm Positive Parenting with Tamera Centeno, CPDPE (In Spanish/En Español)
Wednesdays, January 15-March 19, 2025 (10 weeks), 6:30-8:30pm Positive Parenting with Michael Lewis, CPDPE
Fatherhood & Co-Parenting: Beyond Conflict Series –
Thursdays, May 8-June 12, 2025 (6 weeks), 6:30-8:30pm Fatherhood & Co-Parenting: Beyond Conflict with Michael Lewis, CPDPE
Our Positive Parenting Class curriculum is strength based and is grounded in the Protective Factors for building strong families. It is designed to provide parents with an understanding of parenting skills and knowledge, particularly in the areas of child development, communication, positive parenting practices and self-awareness, while emphasizing the importance of self-care and parental resilience. Our goal is to provide parents with the tools they need to create a strong, healthy, safe, and nurturing environment.
Family Paths embraces Alameda County Fathers Corps’ Father-Friendly Principles.
Our parenting classes are appropriate for all types of parents:
- Parents of children of all ages
- Fathers
- Mothers
- Foster and adoptive parents
- LGBTQIA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Assexual) parents
- Kinship care providers*
- Parents in the reunification process with their children
- Expecting parents
- Others involved in parenting roles
*Kinship care is the full-time care, nurturing and protection of children by relatives, godparents, step-parents, or any adult who has a kinship bond with a child.
Payment Options:
In order to make our parenting classes as accessible as possible, we offer two fee options:
- Free for those who qualify
- Sliding scale – Fee is based on household income
To make a payment online: Family Paths Client Payment Form
Family Paths is honored to be the first agency in Alameda County to be certified providers of Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors (AP/OD). AP/OD is a comprehensive evidence based 10-session parenting education program, grounded in the “popular education” approach to engage parents. The curriculum promotes school readiness, family well-being, and advocacy, best practices in brain and early childhood development (cognitive, language, physical, and social/emotional), early literacy, bilingualism, early math, positive use of technology, attendance, civic engagement, parent leadership, goal setting, and planning for family success. The goal of the curriculum is to equip parents/ caregivers with the knowledge, tools, and confidence to support their children’s success and to be effective advocates on behalf of their families.
Family Paths’ Family Support Parent Education Manager Julianne Rositas and former FP Parent Educator, Debora Roca, were the first certified facilitators of AP/OD in Alameda County as well as certified trainers for other facilitators. With a 3-year grant from Oakland Fund for Children and Youth, we are offering classes for parents in Oakland Head Start sites.
We are proud to be a national partner of AP/OD! Read their 10-Year Report.
As a result of our AP/OD leadership, First 5 Alameda County and the Oakland Starting Smart and Strong Initiative reached out to us to provide a 3-day training on AP/OD to 20 other partner agencies throughout the county in early 2017. This project was made possible by the sponsorship of the Oakland Public Education Fund, with funding provided by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, as well as funding by First 5 Alameda County. With additional support from the Packard Foundation, we were able to extend the training to include a 12-month learning community project, facilitated by Juli and Debora, to support providers in utilizing and implementing the principles of AP/OD so that their programs can be successful. We are thrilled to be at the helm of rolling out this exciting and innovative curriculum! Learn more at http://ap-od.org/home.
This project is made possible by the Oakland Fund for Children and Youth and the Bernard E. and Alba Witkin Charitable Foundation
CLICK THE IMAGE OR HERE TO SEE A LIST OF FATHERHOOD PROGRAMMING
Fatherhood Program
ONGOING GROUP FOR LATINO FATHERS!
Family Paths’ Fatherhood & Co-parenting: Beyond Conflict series – (En Español/In Spanish)
October 21-December 2, 2024
Los Lunes/Mondays, 6:30-8:30pm
Facilitator: Juan Cuba, CPDPE
LAS CLASES SON EN LÍNEA VÍA ZOOM/CLASSES ARE ONLINE VIA ZOOM
Family Paths supports dads and father-figures by providing a dynamic program guided by the principles of empathy, purpose, reliability and gratitude, the curriculum is designed to increase confidence & enhance Dads’ co-parenting experience. This program will benefit fathers living separately from their children or in the home.
Sessions include the following:
1. Understanding co-parenting
2. Positive communication skills
3. Child development & the important role of fathers
4. Co-parenting vs. parallel parenting
5. Navigating the Child Support system
Limited Space Available.
TO REGISTER: Call our Parenting Stress Helpline at 1-800-829-3777
Click HERE to see the full schedule of all Parenting classes through June 2024
Parenting Workshops
Family Paths also offers parent education workshops on specialized topics to schools, community groups and other agencies at a reasonable fee. Some of the topics include:
- Stress Management and Self-Care
- Positive Parenting Strategies
- Discipline and Logical Consequences
- The Brain and Child Development
Our experienced instructors can provide an individual parenting workshop or work with you to create a parenting workshop series that meets the parenting needs of your population.
For more information contact Juli Rositas, Family Support Parent Education Manager at JRositas@familypaths.org
MEET THE EDUCATORS
Michael Lewis. CPDPE
Michael J. Lewis is our Fatherhood Parent Education Specialist and Youth Parenting Coach, leading our inaugural Fatherhood & Co-parenting: Beyond Conflict series and Facilitating our Parent Education classes & AP/OD series. Michael has 4 years’ Fatherhood Engagement Specialist training and is certified as a Fatherhood Mentor and Specialist by the Fathers Corps of First 5 Alameda County. In addition to being a father of 5, Michael has over 10 years’ experience working with Youth and Families for various Community Based Organizations in the Bay Area, including 4 years as a mental health counselor at La Cheim School in Richmond, CA and 4+ years with Youth Alive! of Oakland as a Trauma Informed Care Advocate for Juvenile Justice-involved Youth and families of at-risk youth. Additionally, Michael has been training young men of color for over 8 years as a Life Aptitude Specialist.
Juan Cuba, CPDPE
Juan Cuba is a Health Educator who was a facilitator for Men Overcoming Violence (MOVE), the first batterer’s intervention program in San Francisco. Juan is the founder of the Men’s Support Group at La Clinica de La Raza, where he has been facilitating groups for more than 19 years. Juan has presented at national and international conferences on topics relating to male issues. He has been trained by Jerry Tello of the National Compadres Network, an organization that has been working with men for over 20 years, in the Cara y Corazon curriculum – a family strengthening, rebalancing, and community mobilization program. Juan has also been trained by Sal Nunez, PhD in the use of medicinal drumming circles to promote community healing, especially among young men. Juan is a certified Mental Health First Aid instructor, and possesses extensive experience working with those afflicted with depression, anxiety, psychosis and substance use disorders.
Tamela Lloyd, CPDPE
Tamela Lloyd has over 20 years of experience working with families of infants, toddlers, and children with developmental disabilities or delays. Coming from a Head Start background, she has many years of working in the social services field, providing direct service and supervision to staff. Her primary role has been developing strong relationships with families to provide service coordination, support, and training. Tamela enjoyed assisting families in meeting the needs of their children and enhancing their roles as parents to be the primary influencer of their child’s education and physical development. She specialized in supporting families in identifying and achieving person-centered goals, promoting positive parent-child relationships, and interactions, and providing child development education. Tamela has a Bachelor’s in Human Services from Springfield College, a Master’s in Child Development from Cal-State East Bay, and a Family Development Credential from the University of Connecticut. She is excited to be working here at Family Paths, continuing her love of supporting children, families, and the valuable staff that works directly with the families.
Támara Centeno, On-Call Bilingual Parent Educator
Támara has over 16 years of teaching experience, leadership expertise, and she is an advocate for the needy especially within immigrant community. An immigrant herself, Támara has been actively engaged with the community organizing and fostering parenting education, civic engagement, and advocating for social responsibility. She is an experienced Life Coach, personal growth, parenting and relationship specialist.