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At COTS, many of the homeless parents were not parented well when they were children. Lacking good role models and training, they struggle to be good parents without knowing how to do that.
Consequently, their children may not thrive or develop their full potential, and sometimes suffer from neglect and abuse. To support homeless parents in becoming better parents, to help them and their children and to break the cycle of homelessness, COTS has developed Kids First.
In developing Kids First, we asked ourselves, What is the best way to learn? In school, we often sit at desks while information is presented to us, and we have the opportunity to interact with the teacher and with other students.
The classroom is a good starting place, yet if we want to change the way that we live and some of our habitual responses to common situations, the classroom may not be enough. For example, if we want to learn to speak Spanish, we may take classes and then seek an environment where only Spanish is spoken. Full immersion in a Spanish-speaking environment continually challenges and supports us in learning to speak Spanish as a way of life. Our fluency can improve very quickly this way.
We decided that Kids First would not only offer classes based on a state of the art child development curriculum, but would also be supported by full immersion residential parenting education (FIRPE). The key to FIRPE is that the homeless parents reside in environments that COTS manages, and come into contact with COTS staff frequently. So, we are able to support sound parenting practices not only in Kids First classes, but also as part of the day-to-day living experience and participation in COTS programs—the way an immersive environment supports learning of a foreign language.
We integrate shelter and services such as Kids First, Children’s Haven, and case management in an intensively focused educational experience that leverages the residential nature of our services and that strengthens parenting skills and provides parallel support.
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