In 2012, The Nebraska Supreme Court approved the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension online class “Co-Parenting For Successful Kids” because it is a hardship for some parents to participate in an in-person class. Since 2008, in-person classes have been mandated for parents experiencing custody/divorce issues. Nebraska Extension teamed up with eXtension and Nebraska Education Television (NET) to develop the class. Parents have 30 days to take the 3-hour class. The official certificate needed by the court is emailed to the participant within three working days of class completion. Cost is $50 per person and includes video instruction, interactive pages, and chapter reviews. Content is University research-based and includes experiences gained by teaching 8,200 parents in person since 1999. During the first five months, over 200 parents have graduated. Evaluation is in process, including six-month follow-up. Preliminary follow up data will be available in October 2012. Initial participant feedback includes comments such as “I really learned how badly divorce and separation could affect the children”; “This is the first parenting class I have ever had.” The eXtension presentation will include lessons learned related to working with multiple Extension partners which are transferrable to broader users.
Comments (0)