The Mother to Son Program (MTS) offers a safe, family-centered learning environment for single mothers and female guardians, their sons ages 6-18, and their siblings. MTS utilizes a Family Centered Practice approach, incorporating methods of Trauma Informed Care, to involve participants in understanding, readjusting and recognizing their physical, psychological and personal well-being.

REFERRAL SOURCE

(RECEIVED YEAR ROUND)

PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY

• You identify as a single mother or female guardian, looking for a program that requires active participation of both mothers/guardians and their sons

• You have a young male child between the ages of 6 and 18

• You reside in the City of Pittsburgh or Allegheny County

• You are looking for coaching/mentoring for your son(s) and emotional, social, and educational support for yourself

PROGRAM PURPOSE

The Mother to Son Program seeks to address the approximately 11.8% of households in Allegheny County that are headed by single-mothers. 71% of African American children in Allegheny County are born into a single parent household. Single mothers raising their sons can be overwhelmed, isolated and struggling to balance the demands of their life and those of their role as a parent. A single mother is the primary caregiver, nurturer, and income provider and decision maker in meeting the personal needs of their children. There is compelling data over the years that inform us that young males need role models, experiences and resources to help them make positive transitions as they grow and mature. Therefore, our desire is to provide community-based (site) and remote engagement services and activities to help single mothers and their son(s) attain the self-care, sufficiency, social exposure and educational information needed for family discovery.

PROGRAM COMPONENTS

FAMILY-CENTERED RESOURCE COORDINATION

Each participating family works with a Family Resource Coordinator, Youth Coach and Education Specialist who closely support and link families to the appropriate business, school and community resources needed for a successful transformation. Each participate completes an initial online strengths assessment to support the facilitation and development of the their individualized SMART Plan. SMART Plans focus on goals for the parent and child as well as addressing the family needs as a whole. This process incorporates in-person, onsite and remote training and workshop sessions throughout the year.

Small Seeds’ Staff will:

• Assess and identify the family’s service history and present life situation

• Work with families to establish stability and independence so they can work toward a plan to transition

• Develop and coordinate with families based on the family’s strengths and desires, including any activities necessary to enable the family to live as an integral part of their community

• Assist families with identifying and accessing resources and services identified in their individual plan, and learning how to identify and link into community services and resources

• Assist families with accessing needed services and entitlements through problem resolution, including advocacy on behalf of family members

• Assist families with building an informal support network

MOM CIRCLES

Lead by Dr. Malika Turner utilizing her “SpeakHER and Motivation that Moves” series curriculum. Dr. Turner facilitates seeing others discover their innate skills and talents; as well as assisting them in creating a marriage between their abilities with tangible goals, that produce life-changing impact. Dr. Turner provides support and training to our staff so that there can be a continuation of the work beyond her initial involvement.  Mom Circles are conducted through Video Conferencing, Audio Sharing, Motivational Talks, Educational Workshops and Authorship. Single mothers have the opportunity to become lead facilitators.

Mother(s) will: 

• Increase their forward movement towards discovering and acting on goals and dreams.

• Participate in a book club reading session

• Participate in weekly online meetings, with SpeakHer, to share challenges and gain strategies to address those challenges

• Learn about resources that contribute to the success

• Gain skills that will help to improve communication between mom and son

• Participate in self-reflection and self-esteem booster exercises 

• Access an online platform, full of videos, that are specifically designed for Mother to Son participants

• Utilize a motivational journal book to improve their growth in support of documenting their findings and learning

B.E.A.M. ACADEMY

The B.E.A.M. (Black Emerging Adolescent Male) Academy, utilizes the THRIVELY online learning curriculum and platform that leverages students' unique strengths, interests, and aspirations to build the skills they need for success in the K-12 classroom and beyond. THRIVELY-trained Small Seeds’ Staff facilitate project-based grade level educational learning activities with participating youth who earn rewards and stipends for completed activities and assignments.

Son(s) will:

• Discover their personal strengths and growth potential

• Explore meaningful interest significant to their personal pathway

• Create impactful learning by working together with their peers on group projects, 

• Learn more about themselves through assessments like the Thrively Strength Assessment or MIDAS Assessment.

• Track and reflect on their strengths via Journals in their Digital Portfolios.

• Have access to tutorial support form a live person.

• Discover their purpose in life through focused exploration into Career Pathways, bite-sized videos (Sparks), or Activities matched to their unique strengths and interests.

• Build upon their knowledge base by diving deep into Courses, Lessons and tailored Playlists, SEL (Social, Emotional Learning), GATE (Gifted and Talented etc.) to enable success both in and outside the classroom.

Siblings are also key participants in our support of single mothers raising sons. We utilized “The ACT Raising Safe Kids curriculum” in support of strengthening the entire family unit. The Curriculum is considered an effective model for parent skills training by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/Head Start Office and a program that has evidence to help parents and by World Health Organization as one of only three parenting programs in the “Handbook for Parenting Programs” and by the CDC Division of Violence Prevention. Allegheny County Department of Human Services recognizes this as a high fidelity curriculum that get results.  

Sibling(s) will:

• Showcase life experiences through personal statements, visual and technological expression 

• Exercise psychological well-being and the impact on happiness in family relationships.

• Participate age appropriate character development, social and emotional development sessions 

• Increase awareness, knowledge, and investment in helping to improve themselves and others. 

• Learn how to make responsible Choices emphasizes good behavior, hard work, personal responsibility, and fairness. 

CURRICULA USED

Trauma Informed Care (TIC): Trauma-Informed Approaches (TIA) promotes trauma-informed practices in the delivery of services to people who have experienced violence and trauma and are seeking support for recovery and healing. They may or may not have a diagnosis of mental health or substance use disorders, and may experience traumatic impacts from the experiences of violence that have strained social connections in the family, in the workplace, in childrearing, in housing – and that may have led to consequent health and social problems – all of which need to be addressed in a trauma-integrated approach. (SAMHSA’s Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach Prepared by SAMHSA’s Trauma and Justice Strategic Initiative)

Thrively: Online learning platform that leverages students' unique strengths, interests, and aspirations to build the skills they need for success in the K-12 classroom and beyond.

ACT Raising Safe Kids: The ACT Raising Safe Kids Program was developed and is coordinated by the American Psychological Association’s Violence Prevention Office. The curriculum is based on research showing that through individual and parenting education utilizing the curricula, teens and parents learn how to foster healthy and safe relationships between one-another.

Youth Responsibility Act: Inspired by The Happiness Institute and Professor Martin Seligman’s study of positive emotions and "Signature Strengths," The Youth Responsibility Act was developed to provide youth, ages 8-18, tools for for self-expression. Participants utilize written, verbal, visual and technological mediums to express their life experiences, with the intent to positively impact their psychological well-being and interpersonal relationships.

Family Relationship Survey: This questionnaire is designed to gather information about parent-child relationships and the factors that influence their development. (myParentQuest.com)

SMART Plan: An action plan that identifies goals that are: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based.

Family Centered Approach (FCA): Increases family strengths, enhance child development, and reduce the likelihood of family fragmentation. Approach works to engage families, programs, and communities in building protective factors through small but significant changes in daily practice, supported by shifts at the program level that allow families to make those changes. All families are different, and support works best when you understand each family’s individual goals, expectations, values and everyday life.

For more information about the Mother to Son Program, or to enroll your family, please contact:

Michelle Weaver
mweaver@ssdipgh.org
412-665-2810