Helping to build stronger families
- Youth and the their parents graduate from PACT Program -

CAMDEN - Seven juveniles from the New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission's (JJC) Camden Residential Community Home and their families graduated from the Parents Anonymous - Parents and Adolescents Changing Together (PA- P.A.C.T.) Program on May 18. Since the inception of the program in September 2001, 65 youth and family members have completed the program throughout the State.

The 16-week PA -P.A.C.T. curriculum, designed by Parents Anonymous of New Jersey in conjunction with the JJC, is designed to strengthen families of incarcerated youth. The program's goals are to reduce juvenile recidivism, provide leadership skills and strengthen families through peer support. Parent education and support empowers parents to provide the guidance and structure their children need to be successful.

"In order for these youth to be successful, community links need to be established. Parents Anonymous is a community partner which is investing in these youth and their families to help them succeed," said Howard L. Beyer, Executive Director, Juvenile Justice Commission. "The PA- P.A.C.T. program strives to ensure that these youth return to strong family structures with good communication skills which will help them succeed in the long run."

"Without family intervention it is unlikely that significant changes will take place to reduce delinquency and recidivism," said Deanna Davis, Program Director, Parents Anonymous. "Parents Anonymous is not only there to help families learn to communicate and change behaviors that are unproductive, but also to support families when their children return home."

Once a week, parents and their children come together at the JJC's Camden Residential Community Home to support one another. These sessions focus on communication skills, effective discipline, anger management and the consequences of choices. Parents are asked to remember being young themselves while youth are given insight to the responsibilities of parenthood.

For more information on the JJC, please visit www.njjjc.com

For more information on Parents Anonymous, please visit www.pa-of-nj.org