Kindergartens can provide families with access to the resources and the support they need to be their child’s first teacher through the Empowering Parents Empowering Communities (EPEC) program.

Find out more about EPEC

What is EPEC?

EPEC is a peer-led parenting program that enhances parent’s skills and confidence and empowers them to play a more active role in their local communities.

EPEC has multiple components:

1. Parents build parenting skills and form connections with other parents through the Being a Parent (BAP) course.
2.  After completing BAP, interested parents have the opportunity to become a BAP facilitator with additional training and support.

Being a Parent course

BAP is delivered to groups of twelve parents. Parent participants follow the BAP course modules according to a structured manual based on attachment, social learning, structural, relational and cognitive behavioural theory.

Over eight 2.5 hour sessions, parents will learn about determining their own parenting goals, selecting their own change strategies, evaluating their progress and rewarding themselves for goal attainment.

Being a Parent facilitator

Parents who participate in BAP may have the opportunity to proceed to formal competency-based Parent Facilitator training and are then supported by Practitioner Facilitators to facilitate BAP courses in their own communities. Over time a number of parents participate in BAP and go on to Parent Facilitator training, transferring skills, ensuring long-term support, sustainability and parent empowerment at a minimal cost.

Learning takes place through direct teaching, discussion in large and small groups, role-play, reading and research, and facilitation skills practice. The parent facilitator course covers:

• Children’s behaviour and parents’ responses
• Cultural and social influences on parenting styles
• Supporting parents and parenting skills
• Listening and communication
• Group work theory and practice
• Ethical and professional issues in parenting education.

The benefits of EPEC:

• improvements in children’s developmental problems (e.g. frequency and severity) and wellbeing as a result of changes in the home environment
• parents obtain new skills and knowledge that will continue to benefit parenting and their relationships
• parents enhance their self-efficacy, skills, optimism, workforce qualifications and opportunities
• practitioners and services access a new model that helps to engage parents and enables transformations in the physical service environment and conceptual frameworks of practice
• communities access an evidence-based approach that has the capacity to influence the way parenting programs are delivered in areas experiencing disadvantage.

Target audience

• Parents of children aged 2-12 years from all backgrounds and with a wide range of difficulties.
• Parents experiencing high levels of parenting stress and adversity may receive particular benefits through participation.

 Implementing EPEC

1. Create an EPEC hub with the support of MCRI. A local agency takes the lead role in the roll out of the EPEC program in a local area or region. The agency is known as the “EPEC Hub”.
2. Identify an EPEC practitioner. A local professional (or professionals if you are delivering EPEC as a multi-site program) is identified as the EPEC Practitioner and trained by MCRI. The initial induction training for practitioners takes 6 days.
3. Practitioners deliver a Being a Parent Course (BAP). The EPEC practitioner(s) implement an EPEC hub and begin the delivery of BAP courses.
4. Identify Parent facilitators. Local parents who have participated in BAP courses and who show aptitude and interest can be nominated to participate in Parent Facilitator Training to become the peer facilitator alongside the Practitioner Facilitator.
5. Parents co-facilitate a BAP course. Participants who successfully complete the 10-week course are required to go on to co-facilitate a BAP group, which forms part of the assessment. This means that the first BAP courses are delivered by the newly trained facilitators under the close guidance of the EPEC hub practitioner. The program is delivered at a local community facility with childcare provided.

Cost

Costs are dependent on whether you are establishing a new EPEC Hub or accessing an existing one.

Find out more

Duration

 Being a parent program: 8 x 2.5 hour sessions.

Practitioner training: 5 days of Practitioner Facilitator training, 3 days of EPEC Supervision training

Parent/peer facilitator training: 10 days of training

Why are parent-led programs effective?

Parents talk to other parents as a first choice when seeking information. Parents feel less stigmatised and more supported by parenting groups run by local people, and find information more credible when delivered by those with shared experiences.

Australian and UK evidence shows that the responses to the parent-led delivery in EPEC are overwhelmingly positive.

How can Kindergartens become involved with EPEC?

Kindergartens have the opportunity to bring this peer-led parenting program to life in local communities.

In our experience, the most sustainable model is for a cluster of services in a local area or region, to join together with an agency that takes on the role of being an EPEC Hub. The Hub is responsible for:

• organising BAP courses in accessible locations
• recruiting and retaining Practitioner Facilitators
• facilitating EPEC Parent Facilitator training
• observing and supervising BAP Parent Facilitator’s practice
• fostering a supportive and motivating environment
• providing ongoing learning, development and reflection workshops for parent facilitators
• managing on-going EPEC course outcome evaluation and quality standards reviews with MCRI.

We have experience to assist you to set up a Hub or we may be able to refer you to an existing Hub in your area.

Kindergartens can also support the delivery of EPEC by:

• providing a venue for the delivery of the BAP course and/or Facilitator Training
• providing a venue for childcare for parent participants
• identifying families who would benefit from this program.

How will you be supported?

Our Centre provides a complete support package to help you implement EPEC in your community. Supports include:

• the development of relationships in order to establish a Hub
• assistance to get a CPCS Licence
• development of promotional and information materials
• assistance to recruit Practitioner Facilitators
• training for Practitioner Facilitators
• training for Peer Facilitators
• ongoing quality standards review, monitoring and accreditation.

Get in touch for more information or to book a program

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