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| L - R: Oscar Gomez, Craig Brown |
Oscar Gomez was the featured speaker at the November 15, 2016 RB Sunrise Rotary breakfast meeting. Oscar is the Director of Parenting Services for the Jewish Family Service (JFS) of San Diego and is a military family specialist.. His presentation explained the Positive Parenting Services offered by JFS.
He earned his Master of Social Work and Associate Social Work at the University of Southern California. He has worked for over 10 years serving as a United States Marine working with military and civilian families. He has extensive knowledge of family development and case management of families in need of services.
Oscar stated that his main focus is to prevent child abuse and help victims of crime. He spoke about the Power of Positive Parenting – what gets parents in the door. Most of the families served are low income and some are even illegal immigrants. The Program offers some extra tools/tips to help parents become better parents. The main principles of Positive Parenting Services include
- Having a safe and interesting environment – making parenting work with extra tips and minor tweaks creating a safe and security environment for the children.
- Having a positive learning environment in the home.
- Using assertive discipline with children.
- Having realistic expectations of children.
- Taking care of yourself as a parent.
The focus of Parenting Services is on early childhood and cultural connections, with parenting and PTSP interventions. It is funded for five more years and is a model program in California. Everything the Program does is statistic driven, showing that early childhood development is a smart investment. They have Head Start, elementary schools, and military (10% of clients) referrals, as well as partner with the YMCA. The Program is also 100% free. They also offer childcare and food for the children.
Jewish Family Service will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2018.
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