Author: Nicoletta Armstrong

INPRHU, the Institute for Human Promotion, has been applying the ICDP methodology for several years, by working in a group and individualized way, in different fields, such as in psychological care, self-help groups, families, social actors, training with teachers. The project run by INPRHU is called Casa Entre Nosotras. They have also been disseminating the content of the ICDP program through the radio, which enabled them to reach out to more people in the general population.

Update from INPRHU, April 2024:

Session with families at the Pedro Joaquín Chamorro School

A total of 78 families were attended in the Pedro Joaquín Chamorro school, who participated in the ICDP group sessions. In most families, patterns of negative behaviors that have been learned since their childhood were evidenced  and from their lived experiences they shared stories of the punishments they obtained from their parents. Sharing personal stories in warm environment allowed each participant to recognize the importance of being different with their own sons and daughters. They appreciated the importance of positive guidance that teaches children to achieve the goal of their activity step by step. The ICDP course encouraged participant families to interact positively with their children, and all expressed that they now involve their children in conversations by listening to their opinions, and making shared decisions. Participants emphasized how they observed their children gradually change as result of being listened to and how they are now maintaining a better family coexistence. The group bonded during the course and showed initiative through active participation. Attendees expressed that they learned to become more tolerant, understanding and how to give better attention to their children. They said they became aware and able to create better family spaces for their children to grow up in, and they even managed to help other parents at the school to apply ICDP guidelines in their homes.

Radio Programs

The ICDP eight guidelines of positive interactions were shared through the radio program “Our Voices for Change”. The program inspires listeners to put into practice good quality interaction and thus enhance their parenting skills. International trainer Monica Anderson, who visited the team at INPRHU in the autumn 2023, had an opportunity to participate in the radio program by sharing her experience of training foster families in ICDP, in her native Sweden.

Teacher Training at Facilitator Level

A total of 10 teacher training meetings were facilitated, distributed in two groups of 30 participants. Each group received 5 training sessions in person over approximately three hours. It was possible to achieve the objective of ICDP training and sensitizing of a total of 52 teachers, 47 women and 5 men. Everyone was invited to show their short video recordings which were made earlier and through which they evidenced what they had learned through the whole process of training, and in particular, they were aiming to illustrate how they put into practice the three ICDP dialogues: emotional, comprehension and regulative. A plan was initially agreed, with established timelines for using the ICDP interactive, participatory, and reflective methodology, to strengthen the teachers as people, first of all, and then to spread the program further by transferring it to the groups with which the teachers work. This process was completed with the delivery of certificates to the teachers of six selected schools, including Montessori, Nueva Amanecer, Pueblos Unidos, Nora Astorga, Pedro Joaquín and San Martín de la Ciudad de Ocotal.  They are now trained and qualified to replicate the ICDP program by working with their groups of students and parents. They have all received relevant ICDP material which will allow them to work with their target groups, and this was delivered to Directors of each Educational Center who participated in the training process.

New training of social actors

A new group of future facilitators was trained by Monica Anderson together with ICDP facilitators linked to INPRHU. Training was given to new members of staff, as well as social actors from outside, including community workers, preschool teachers and municipal councilors. The overall aim is to spread ICDP more widely.. The training process was completed with the delivery of certificates and accrediting 18 participants as facilitators of the ICDP methodology. They had fulfilled all their self-training and other required tasks, prior certification. Participants made a commitment to continue taking up what they have learned and continue disseminating the ICDP work to empower more families and help them overcome negative behaviors that have been learned during their difficult childhoods.

Difficulties

Teachers have little time to replicate what they have already learned. Most families live in peripheral neighborhoods and several times the ICDP facilitators did not have transportation to these vulnerable and dangerous places. Occasionally some of the parents who participate in the ICDP course have to spend all day working away from their homes and they leave their children with other caregivers, so when facilitators visit their homes they do not find the parents but their neighbours who are babysitting.

Plans for the year:

This year, in 2024, the teachers who participated in the training process are now replicating the learning they obtained during the training in 2023 by working with parent groups and in schools. They are receiving support and being supervised by the ICDP team at INPRHU.

On the other hand, the ICDP facilitators at INPRHU are strongly committed to replicating the ICDP program in all the different areas of their work, with family groups, with individual families, with children and adolescents, and with the local community. They aim to continue to strengthen their own skills and knowledge as professionals working with the ICDP program..

ICDP Colombia chairperson Carmen Lucia Andrade summarizes activities in Colombia:

Program activities/ICDP projects:

As far as our programme activities, below is a list of the projects executed during the year.

As chair, I was taking care of all the administrative requirements of our ICDP Colombia foundation, but I took a break from my roll as ICDP trainer. Nevertheless, I was able to supervise the training processes in different parts of the country; in Envigado, Antioquia, Boyacá and Santander.

Between April and June, several project proposals were sent, including to Villa de Leyva to work with community leaders, to the Santander Secretariat of Mental Health and to the University of Valle – but these applications were not accepted on the account of shortages in the budgets for 2023.

In Quindío, a project proposal was approved by the Guerrand Hermes Foundation for Peace, and it will be executed in 2024 – the ICDP program will be implemented with adolescent girls.

In Santander, we/ICDP Colombia Foundation, agreed with the Secretariat of Mental Health, for them to publish the ICDP material and to carry out the ICDP program in the province of Santander by training their psychologists and in exchange they agreed to deliver some copies of the newly published material to the foundation.

At the end of 2022, in Boyacá, ICDP trainer Luis Fernando López conducted virtual facilitator level workshops for 90 psychologists in the ICDP program “I am a person” and during the year 2023, he monitored their work. His monitoring work involved facilitators linked to the mental health secretariat in Boyacá and Santander.

In Boyacá, 23 facilitators operating in 23 municipalities implemented the program with 12 new families each, for a total of 345 families.

In the municipality of Venta Quemada, an ICDP trainer, called July Catherin, who has been working in ICDP since 2018, formed new groups of facilitators. They were selected from social services, kindergartens, as well as from health centres. After the initial training she was engaged in monitoring of the process. In addition, she supported the monitoring process in the Department of Boyacá and was involved in the evaluation of the work carried out with rural and urban communities.

She has also carried out an ICDP pilot project with teenagers, by applying the ICDP material that was especially adapted by ICDP El Salvador for working with adolescents. This pilot took place from August to November 2023.

In Antioquia, in July, the Mayor’s Office of the city of Envigado, invited us to apply to become implementors of the project called Strengthening Links for the Protection of Children and Adolescents. The purpose of this project was to promote the consolidation of family ties and the creation of positive environments for children, by using the ICDP program, aimed at parents and caregivers of children and adolescents. The project focused on using ICDP parenting guidelines to help enhance parents’ ability to express affection, love, and provide overall positive attention to children, to establish good family norms and positive discipline – and thus ultimately create protective, caring and safe environments for children to grow up in. Beneficiary population: The direct beneficiary population consisted of 30 adults, parents and/or caregivers, who received the full training cycle. An indirect impact is expected on family members. The University of Lasalle was chosen to execute the project, but as it was a methodology that they had not handled before, a specific trainingagreement was established between this institution and the ICDP foundation. The university used the ICDP materials, and the ICDP logo for certification. They hired ICDP trainer Carolina Montoy who effectively carried out this training during the period between August and October 2023.

ICDP Finland is looking back at yet another active year. There have been a number of trainings around the country. We have seen 53 persons receive the ICDP Basic training and 27 new facilitators have graduated during 2023.

There have also been ICDP groups for parents and professional caregivers in a number of settings around the country: in day care, child protection, The Federation of Mother and Child Homes and Shelters (ETKL) and with newly arrived immigrants.

One of the highlights of the work by ICDP in Finland in the year 2023, was the National Child Protection conference, which took place in Turku, in October. At this conference, the ETKL and Ostrobotnia welfare area made a presentation together on the topic of ”Psychological Violence and Supportive Interaction/ICDP”. The audience was comprised of approximately 100 people, who expressed a lot of interest in ICDP.

Our biggest challenge in expanding our ICDP work is the lack of studies showing scientific evidence for ICDP in Finland. A few Master’s Theses are being published but in order to qualify for state funding, it seems increasingly more important to have peer reviweved journal publications on the effect of the program.

ICDP is currently being reviewed by the board of Itla, a national organisation with a web portal classifying programs and methods supporting parenting and children’s growth and education. ICDP will receive Itla:s evidence and implementation rating in the spring of 2024.

For 2024, ICDP Finland plans to organize an inspirational day for all trainers in the autumn. We will meet and share golden moments and new ideas from ICDP trainings, present the new training literature and discuss current issues of interest. Currently there are 26 trainers in Finland and we hope that many will be able to join the event! Our plan is also to continue the membership virtual coffees that are held once a month, to improve our web page and to produce an updated flyer about ICDP in Finland.

Update by Petra Zilliacus

Website: https://icdp.fi/sv/hem/

Atnaf Berhanu, ICDP trainer living in Norway, visited Ethiopia over a period of two months (February and March 2024), during which time she undertook several ICDP activities in different parts of the country, as described below. Her plan is to travel to Ethiopia again in June to continue to conduct ICDP facilitator level trainings and to hold a couple of awareness raising workshops.

Wolayeta Sodo 

An ICDP certification workshop concluded the training of a group of 14 facilitators who had carried out their obligatory tasks in 2023. This group came from 7 of the Ethiopia Full Gospel Churches in Wolayta Sodo. They were very glad to be part of a small certification ceremony to receive their ICDP diplomas. 

The facilitators worked in pairs and they delivered the ICDP programme to 98 parents and 253 children. During the training the parents exchanged many useful experiences, sharing about different ways of supporting their children. They put a special focus on positive ways of setting limits. After the training some parents said that, because of their participation in the ICDP programme they now feel that it is they and not their children who need to change!

There was a special case of a mother that is worth mentioning – it is a story of a mother who told the group how she used to have frequent conflicts with her son and how at some point he threatened to kill her. She had at that point lost all hope of being able to help her son. But after she attended the ICDP training she realized that she needed to change her approach towards him. When she got home, she talked with her son and apologised for the way she had treated him. She explained that her behaviour was due to her own lack of understanding of the situation. She reassured him that she loves him dearly. Gradually her son felt appreciated and started to behave well and eventually he became cooperative and helpful.

Two pairs of facilitators rolled out the programme to parents who attend church on two separate occasions, each time conducting 8 meetings with parents. The parents were happy to share with the congregation about their ICDP experiences, and they explained how the training helped them understand and raise better their children. They received their ICDP certificates after the Sunday service.

Shashemene Town

During 2023, Atnaf had been training groups of facilitators in the Western Arsi region EFGC. During her visit to Ethiopia in March 2024, she was able to conclude the training of those facilitators who had finished running ICDP parent groups. A total of 66 parents and 188 children participated in the ICDP programme. Two groups of facilitators were given their diplomas, but others are now continuing their ICDP work with parents. Some of the facilitators were unable finish all the 8 meetings with parents, due to being engaged in too many activities in their areas, but they all promised to continue with the parent groups and complete the delivery of the ICDP course.

Facilitators reported that the ICDP courses for parents were successful, because they saw how the attitude of parents towards their children during the training had changed for the better. Parents were keen to share about their experiences illustrating how their communication with their children had improved and how their children started to feel happy, because of the training.

Addis Abeba

In Addis Abeba, trainee facilitators embarked on their ICDP course in November 2023 and then later attended the second part of the training in February 2024. All participants had brought films illustrating their interactions with their children – that was their home task which they carried this out in the period from end of November 2023 till March 2024. Many of the participants said they had learned a lot from their experience of putting ICDP guidelines into practice, which they also said helped them to establish good relationships with their own children.

All participants received the newly translated manual in Amharic. Some of the facilitators have already started to roll out ICDP to groups of parents.

Workshop for mothers

A group of mothers approached Atnaf to ask whether she could give them a one-day introductory workshop on ICDP. She agreed to conduct sessions on some of the key topics. The mothers became very interested in exploring how parents’ conceptions of their children affect their own interactions with them. They had a lively group discussion and concluded about the importance of this topic and its relevance to many parents. They were divided into small groups and shared about their own experiences with children. The workshop sessions were held on working days and this prevented many parents of smaller children to attend. Therefore, they asked Atnaf to hold sessions on Saturdays or Sundays in future.

Creating awareness

During her stay in Ethiopia, Atnaf conducted several consciousness raising workshops for leaders of the Amanuel Hebret organization. As a result of creating awareness about the purpose of the ICDP programme, this group of leaders became interested in applying ICDP through their churches and asked for facilitator level training to be arranged. It was agreed to start with the ICDP training in June 2024, in the Adama area.

March 2024: The latest ICDP project in Bangladesh represents cooperation between the ICDP team operating under Normisjon and UNICEF. It is a large-scale project, in which UNICEF is providing resources, as well as personnel to be trained in the ICDP programme. In addition, they produced and published a locally adapted pack of ICDP materials that will ease the implementation of the programme, envisaged to be applied by hundreds of future facilitators.

The ICDP activities were inaugurated with a ceremony in Dhaka, which was attended by the Norwegian ambassador. The ICDP trainers started to roll out the first phase of the project by conducting workshops for future facilitators with three different groups. One hundred and six participants attended the workshops and they were selected from a project linked to the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA).

ICDP in Bangladesh counts with a good team of trainers, some with years of experience and a few who finalized their training in 2023. Bobby Sajeda, is the trainer of trainers, as well as overall project coordinator and she keeps in touch with Nicoletta Armstrong who has been involved in forming the ICDP team. Bobby shared her impressions: “We had a great time together with the participants. The interest was high. All presented their home tasks digitally. Everyone shared their personal stories and we learned of many positive experiences with their children. Thank you for your kind support for this project. We hope through this work with UNICEF we will be able to benefit thousands of children in Bangladesh. I share some photos from the inauguration program in three different divisions.”

The Danish Centre for ICDP has produced their annual report which shows continued growth and application of the ICDP programme in different settings. A total of 697 new professionals were trained, mostly at level one and two. Read their full report here.

Extracts from the report:

The year 2023 has generally been stable, with us consolidating the new management structure and working to future-proof ICDP’s importance in the educational landscape in Denmark. In relation to our development plans for 2023, we have reached the goal: We have certified the first Danish school in ICDP; published a booklet on ICDP and the Children’s Convention, as well as published a book on ICDP and Management.

Certification of organizations: We have fully developed a certification of organizations. The certification consists of a free online test – an assessment by our certification committee – a consultant visit and an agreement on an implementation and action plan. It has been important to us that the certification process was thorough, but also easy to access and was experienced as meaningful in the organization. The feedback we have received is that the test strengthens our own reflection and the visit from the certification consultant ensures that the management sees blind spots in the organization that stand in the way of a successful implementation of ICDP. Moelleholmskolen by Per Hovmand is the first certificated School in Denmark. The photo above shows Per Hovmand at the Nordic ICDP conference in Oslo, September 2023- where he talked about the school’s work with ICDP. By his side is Anne and Jens Linder, sister and brother, Leaders of the Danish Center for ICDP.

Challenges in the past year
As can be read from the report, we have many successful development projects in the Danish Center for ICDP. We try to use our extensive know-how and expertise to develop the ICDP implementation. Although we have used many resources, we have not yet succeeded in creating a successful use of the online parenting platform. We are still working towards finding ways and means to draw attention to our offer to Danish parents. On our platform, we offer guidance, information, and courses for parents. During 2024, we will consider various measures – perhaps a fund application.
The municipalities – which are our biggest partners – are currently squeezed in the financial field, which of course also has a knock-on effect on how many ICDP products they can buy within their limited budgets, but we are hopeful and expect 2024 to be another year where ICDP creates new good development and
learning environments for Denmark’s children.

ICDP newsletter November 2023 issue is now available, bringing updates from a number of our partners around the world.

In July 2023, ICDP foundation signed a partnership agreement with the Nexus organization in Thailand. Through the application of the ICDP programme in the country, Nexus “aims to offer much needed resources to parents and caregivers at all levels of society, as well as among minority and marginalized ethnic groups living in Thailand.” ICDP it is hoped will help alleviate some of the hardships met by families. In Thailand, domestic violence is on the rise. One survey showed that 75 percent of women in Thailand have experienced domestic violence more than once (Thai PBS, 2023). Many children are placed in children’s homes, even though they have living parents. This is because parents, for various reasons, are unable to care for their own children – this could be due to poverty, alcohol addictions, lack of resources, mental health issues, or when parents remarry children become unwanted by the new spouse.

In February, 2023, the first group of 13 facilitators (on photo above) received their ICDP certificates. Most of the facilitators continued to run ICDP courses for parents during the year. At the same tine a second group of facilitators embarked on their training which will be completed by the end of the year.

An ICDP committee was established, and efforts were made to start network with other local organizations. Throughout the year, a great deal of work was also carried out on preparing local ICDP materials.

ICDP is very active in the department of Boyacá, where facilitators continue to roll out the ICDP programme to parents in many parts of the department. Families have recently been trained in 23 municipalities, each facilitator on average trained 12 new families, for a total of 345 families.

ICDP has also reached families n the department of Santander – see photo report.

The Changing Children’s Worlds Foundation has adopted a new state-wide strategy to expand and build sustainability for the “ICDP: Best Start for Families-A Health Equity Approach in Illinois.

The Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois (LCFS) will launch the Best Start for Families to support more families involved with the Child Welfare system.   This experiential training model provides families with the necessary motivation, tools and skills to navigate the challenges of parenting successfully.  

In parallel, the LCFS “Best Start for Families” Department will continue its commitment to partnering with schools, community organizations, jails and other agencies serving families and children.

The “Best Start for Families-A Health Equity Approach” curriculum is based on the International Child Development Program (ICDP), an internationally tested and supported psycho-social approach to strengthening adult caregiver/parent-child relationships. It is recognized as an Effective Practice by the Centre for Disease Control (CDC).

“Best Start for Families starts with the training of professional resource persons within institutions and communities who serve families,” explained Kimberly Svevo, Ph.D., Department Director at LCFS. “Its comprehensive parent learning group curriculum equips parents with a deep understanding of what they and their children need to thrive, as well as effective parenting techniques, communication strategies, and problem-solving skills, which strengthen and bring joy to family relationships.”

The program offers a range of services for caregivers, youth and children, including individual coaching, weekly group sessions, and workshops. By providing parents with the tools they need to foster healthy relationships and create supportive home environments, LCFS strives to strengthen families and promote positive long-term outcomes for children.

“The Best Start for Families program felt like a natural fit for us,” said Mike Bertrand, President & CEO at LCFS. “It allows us to not only meet a significant need of the families we currently serve through our foster care program, but also aligns with our organization’s strategic direction of providing more preventative services to families within our local communities before things get bad.”

By extending their expertise beyond foster care and their other DCFS-funded services, LCFS takes proactive steps to support families, preventing crises and creating stronger foundations for children’s well-being.

Already, LCFS has made tremendous strides in delivering parenting training to families in need by utilizing the Best Start for Families program. The organization is currently successfully serving nearly 50 parents in their foster care program and previously on a parenting class waiting list, underlining their commitment to ensuring access to vital resources and support.

LCFS is also excited to offer to train others in this effective model. By equipping social work and mental health professionals, educators, home visitors, childcare providers, nurses, community leaders, and all who work directly with parents and children, LCFS aims to create a ripple effect of positive change in the lives of families.

For more information about Best Start for Families and LCFS’s mission to nurture and strengthen children and families in need, visit www.LCFS.org.

ABOUT LUTHERAN CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES OF ILLINOIS (LCFS)

Lutheran Children and Family Services of Illinois (LCFS) is a non-profit dedicated to nurturing and strengthening children and families in need. After 150 years, LCFS has grown into one of the largest community-based child welfare agencies in Illinois. LCFS has regional sites in the Chicagoland area, Belleville, Decatur, Joliet, Kankakee, Mt. Vernon, Oak Brook, Oakbrook Terrace, Quincy and Springfield. For more information, visit www.lcfs.org.