Court Ordered Parenting Class with Certificate of Completion
Have you been ordered to take a parenting class as a requirement from your court? Our online parenting classes satisfy the requirements for many jurisdictions and states.
This page provides information for people who need to take a court ordered parenting class and want to become better parents to your children as you navigate the new territory of parenting after divorce.
What makes this online parenting class different?
Many states and counties require a court ordered parenting class be taken for people with children who are going through divorce. Many of them provide good information. What sets this program aside is that it offers you a way to shift your relationship with your ex so that you can more easily get past the hurt and move on to creating a new co-parenting relationship that empowers your children.
When can I start and what is it like?
You can start the class right after signing up. This is a self-paced class that you can start or stop any time and come back to. Altogether it will take you about 4 hours or 6 hours to complete. There are video segments by two communication experts who help parents develop the capacity to communicate and bring clarity to parenting issues with their co parent so that problems are resolved more easily and effectively. The course ends with a short quiz and then you will receive the certificate of completion that many court ordered parenting classes require.
What is Parent Education and Why Do Some States Require It?
Divorce is not easy on parents or children. Families have increasingly relied on the courts to resolve divorce issues and problems including child custody, visitation, child support, paternity, emergency protective orders, and restraining orders.
As a result, courts have found that parental conflict related to divorce is a societal concern because children suffer potential short-term and long-term detrimental economic, emotional, and educational effects during times of family transition due to divorce. To address this concern, many states and localities determined that a court ordered parenting class for divorcing parents helped children and schools and communities get through these tough times. This course takes it a step further and addresses some of the underlying problems that could get in the way of being a powerful parent for your children.
Do all states have court ordered parenting class requirements?
Seventeen states require all divorcing parents, whether the divorce is uncontested or not, to attend some form of parent education class. These states are Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin. The states of Idaho, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Virginia require all parents who file for contested divorce to attend a parent education class. The other states either leave it up to the judge’s discretion or only mandate parent education classes in certain counties or judicial districts.
What are the benefits of a court ordered parenting class?
Some of the benefits of co parenting classes are improved communication between parents after and during divorce. Parents become more confident in their ability to co-parent and children have increased emotional well-being, as well as increases in the ability to adjust to social situations and excel in their educational achievement.
Researchers at Arizona State University developed and studied a parent education program and monitored the effects of this parenting class over a period of 20 years. The study found that the children of divorcing parents who participated in the program benefited in several ways as compared to a control group of children whose parents did not participate in the program. The children whose parents took the parenting class developed better self-esteem, got higher grades, and had fewer behavioral problems. They also found that rates of drug and alcohol use and early sexual activity were reduced.
When they followed up in later years the researchers found that the program had lasting positive effects with the children (who were now grown up and in their 20s). They found that there were fewer mental disorders and substance abuse problems, and their relationships with romantic partners was a higher quality than those in the studies control group.
Why should I take a parenting class? Do I have to wait until it is ordered by the court?
The parenting class doesn’t teach you how to be a parent, but it does teach you how to communicate in two different households. Many attorneys encourage their clients to take a co parenting class early on in the divorce process.
Parents need to be prepared for the challenges that come up when transitioning to two households. They need to be on the same page with how they’re going to move forward. It can be hard enough to discipline children in one household; in two separate households, being able to discipline and communicate with your children take a different kind of attention.
If divorced parents don’t talk to each other, children will pick up on it and start to say what each parent wants to hear. If you are on the same page with the other parent, you can address concerns you have with your children directly with the other parent — not through your child. It will help you protect your child from being negatively impacted by the divorce process. It will help set you up to be the most supportive parent you can be for your child and set up a workable relationship with your ex spouse (and now co-parent) from the start. After all, you may have divorced your spouse, but you’re going to be a co-parent for the rest of your life.
