At the start of the new year, the Greene County Family Center started a new initiative aimed at assisting parents struggling to balance parenthood and addiction.

The “Families in Recovery” classes began Jan. 8 and are part of a pilot program held across Pennsylvania. The classes will run for seven weeks, with new classes beginning Feb. 26. In Greene County, specifically, sessions are offered through the Supportive and Effective Parenting program.

At the start of the program, Kayla Cressler, director of prevention programs, said she was concerned about how much attendees would be involved in the sessions. So far the group, numbering between eight and 10 parents, has been cooperative, she said.

“We’re finding that contrary to some initial concerns… with the majority of our family centers running the program, retention has been very strong,” Cressler said. “Parents are coming. They’re participating. They’re staying. They’re asking if they can come back. Family centers are equipping and preparing parents with resources and support for when the program ends.”

The idea for the program came about based on the Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance’s parents in recovery program which ran previously. The problem with that operation, however, was that its idea of the “road to recovery” wasn’t as diverse as it should have been, Cressler said. Thus, the goal was to “rebuild the program from the ground up.”

“It wasn’t inclusive of those parents who may be taking a different path to recovery or a different path to sustain that recovery,” Cressler said. “Much of the program was rooted in sort of a traditional abstinence-based approach to sobriety…We wanted to be culturally inclusive. We wanted to be inclusive to those to that broadening path or faith to recovery and wellness.”

Initially, concerns for those attending the program was their vulnerability and willingness to talk about their addiction.

“We’re asking individuals to show up and be very vulnerable… Especially the population of people there identifying as parents, who have lots of needs and perhaps lots of fears [in their] security,” Cressler said. “They are very honestly and earnestly identifying that they are recovering from this thing that society still very much has a stigma attached to it.”

A solution to getting parents more comfortable with talking about their situation is making sure the conversations take place in “safe spaces,” Cressler said.

“When you create a safe space where vulnerable conversations can be had, and people and seeing and feeling advocate that awareness, that’s helping to keep them present,” she said.

Classes are offered in Greene County courtesy of the Family Center’s Supportive and Affective Family Education parenting program.