Purchased Parent Aide Services

The Department purchases parent aide services directly or through providers, who in turn may utilize volunteer or paid employees. In either case, parent aides must meet the following criteria: (1) Training. Prior to matching a Parent Aide with a client, the Parent Aide shall receive from the provider or volunteer organization a minimum of 12 hours of initial training, which shall include the following topics: (a) Overview of child abuse and neglect including the protective service deliverysystem and M.G.L. c. 119. (b) Community resources. (c) Basic Parent Aide skills including: communicating, listening, problem solving, relationship building, values clarification, identifying and understanding parental stress factors and preparing for an initial home visit. (d) Roles and responsibilities of the Parent Aide in relation to the clients, his/her agency, and the Department. (e) The purpose of supervision. (f) Crisis intervention procedures. (g) Confidentiality and ethics. (2) Supervision. The Parent Aide shall receive supervision at regular intervals, which shall include: (a) The integration of training with practice. (b) The support of the Parent Aide in carrying out his/her roles and responsibilities. (c) The assessment of client needs and the establishment of goals and plans for service provision in the context of the developmental stages of the case (i.e. engagement, ongoing, termination). (d) The monitoring and assessment of the Parent Aide's performance. (3) Confidentiality. The Parent Aide must demonstrate that the client's right to privacy, autonomy and self-determination shall be safe-guarded, and that no information obtained during Parent Aide visits will be divulged without the client's prior notification and consent, except as may be required by law. (4) Recognition of Cultural and/or Linguistic Differences. Whenever possible the Parent Aide should be of the same racial, ethnic or linguistic background as the client to be served; or at a minimum must demonstrate the ability to recognize and respect the diverse racial, ethnic and linguistic minority groups within the target populations.