The Mellow Parenting Program – for healthy and happy children

The project purpose

The “Mellow Parenting Program – for healthy and happy children” project aims at intervening early to improve the safety, wellbeing and development of vulnerable children under 5, especially, those who are at risk of abandonment and separation, because of the lack of adequate parental care and of the poor attachment and parent-child relationships.

The project also aims to contribute to:

• Improving parents' knowledge and skills to provide adequate care to children, developing attachment and relationships with children, contributing to the prevention of child separation from the family.
• Promoting the parental education program “Mellow Parenting” to become a parental education program offered to parents and children at risk and delivered throughout the country.
• Recognizing the Mellow Parenting Program as an effective measure of support and early intervention for both mothers and fathers.

Partnerships and support in the implementation:

The project is implemented by the NGO “Partnerships for every child” in collaboration with the Mellow Parenting organization based in the UK and the local authorities of four regions of the country: Chisinau, Orhei, Singerei and Soroca, with the financial support of World Childhood Foundation. The direct beneficiaries of the project are: young children at risk of abandonment and their parents, children and parents in a poor socio-economic situation.

The indirect beneficiaries are: practitioners working directly with vulnerable parents and children (social workers, psychologists, preschool teachers), who will be supported to improve the skills of working with parents and their children, as well as with the general public, will acquire knowledge and will better understand the needs and rights of vulnerable young people.

The innovation of the project:

The parental education program “Mellow Parenting” is a method of early intervention based on relationships and focused on improving the parent-child relationship. The Mellow Parenting groups are intense and are delivered in 14 weeks, 1 day per week. The groups focus on disadvantaged families, including the ones where there are difficulties in the parent-child relationship. The “Mellow Parenting” program contributes to:

• increasing a positive interaction between children and parents
• improving the mental health of parents by reducing anxiety and depression
• achieving a higher level of wellbeing, confidence and self-esteem
• improving the child's behavior
• improving children's language and learning

The project has been extended for the third year, until February 2019, with a possible extension thereafter.