The Mellow Parenting program is launched in the Republic of Moldova for the first time and aims at supporting parents in the development of their parental skills at various stages of child development, from pre-birth to the pre-school age. The Mellow Parenting program is underpinned by the principles of attachment, social learning and cognitive behavioral theory.
Mellow Parenting is a program imported from Great Britain. Initially, it will be implemented in six regions of the country. To this end, a training is delivered by two international experts in Mellow Parenting on September 13-16, 2016, in Chisinau. The trainees are future practitioners based in Chisinau who will be licensed to deliver the Mellow Parenting program in Moldova. After the training, the practitioners will be supported to recruit parents, moderate and evaluate the group meetings with parents.
The Minister of Labor, Social Protection and Family, Mrs. Stela Grigoras, who was present at the opening of the training, declared: “We increasingly realize the importance of the support provided in the first years of the child’s life to make sure the child has safe and healthy development. Therefore, it is important to offer the family the right support at the right time, by providing it with access to services, including parental skills development.”
The results of the Mellow Parenting program implemented in Scotland in 2013 and 2014 indicate a significant reduction of cases of depression and anxiety among parents, a rise of their self-confidence, a decrease of negative behavior among children, as well as a reduction of the number of quarrels caused by the challenging behavior.
The Mellow Parenting training is delivered by the NGO Partnerships for Every Child, in collaboration with the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family, within the Mellow Parenting developing project funded by the World Childhood Foundation. In the other 5 regions: Cahul, Calarasi, Falesti, Nisporeni and Ungheni, the Program is delivered with the financial support of the European Union within the “Improving access to community-based early years and preschool support services for vulnerable children with special needs in Moldova”.