Padres Unidos Np

Strong Families

At Padres Unidos, we believe that strong families are the foundation of thriving communities. Through our Strong Families pillar, we partner with the Orange County Department of Education, local school districts, community partners and the Office of Restorative Justice to provide family-centered programs that strengthen communication, build resilience, and foster healing for our at-promise youth and families. Our programs are designed to improve collaboration between families, schools, probation, and community partners while supporting the successful reintegration of youth into their homes and communities. Through education, mentorship, support, and restorative practices, we empower families to navigate challenges, strengthen relationships, and create lasting positive change. Our Strong Families programs include: Family Support and Information Program Parent Outreach and Education Program Parent and Teen Conjoint Program Parent Mentor and Ongoing Support Program Together, these programs promote connection, shared responsibility, family resilience, and hope for a stronger future.

Community Engagement

Since 2010, Padres Unidos and Chapman University have shared a vision of developing, training, and preparing parent leaders to become Community Workers who create lasting change within their families and communities. What began as a partnership rooted in community engagement and educational opportunity evolved into a transformative leadership pathway for countless parents and advocates. For more than a decade, Chapman University served as a valued partner and home for our parent leaders, providing opportunities to learn, grow, and discover their potential as agents of change. We are deeply grateful for Chapman University's unwavering commitment to our families and to strengthening communities across Orange County. Through this model, participants completed hands-on community-based training with Padres Unidos while developing essential skills in leadership, ethics, group dynamics, crisis intervention, family support, and community engagement. Today, the Padres Unidos family continues to grow. As we transition our Community Worker Award Certificate Program to Santiago Canyon College, we do so with tremendous gratitude for the foundation built alongside Chapman University and great excitement for the opportunities ahead. We look forward to continuing to empower parent leaders, strengthen communities, and prepare the next generation of culturally responsive Community Workers. Successful Families Build Successful Communities.

Reaching Out with Love Circles - Community Support

6 weeks ( 2 weeks of Reach Out & 4 Focus Groups) This “Reach-Out effort will help inform community partners with regard to the how our most vulnerable immigrant families experience the current state of affairs. This will not only help inform current community partners with how we can best strategize and support our vulnerable immigrant families, but also participants and their families will have a safe space to be seen, heard and voice their rising fears. Our focus groups will leverage and strengthen the entire family system- more importantly allow us to hear from the family directly. We provide age appropriate child-care to allow participants the opportunity to attend. Child and Youth educators structure the child-care leveraging developmentally appropriate activities. Our evidence and trauma-informed approach is grounded on the importance of family systems and attachment. We understand that for our communities to thrive- their parents and families must thrive alongside them. Our skill-driven, trauma-informed and opportunity-focused “Love Circles” provide families with strength- based & solution-focused dialogue guided by research showing that a wide range of assets, like housing stability, immigration stability, food security, and a safe and supportive community, promote good outcomes for all especially our children. We will leverage Padres Unidos’ “Love Circles” as an invitation to dialogue and explore current and future resources and other essential skills parents and families may find helpful. Many of our parents and participants themselves have experienced childhood adversity and other migration related traumatic events that inform how they perceive their communities. All our staff are former recipients of Padres programs stemming from the communities we serve. Furthermore, all our staff and volunteers have received training through our two year Community Worker Award Program an educational partnership initiative between Padres Unidos and Chapman University. This two-year training takes a culturally diverse approach to crisis intervention, ethics, group facilitations, leadership development and more. The program draws together resources, assets, and wisdom from both of these organizations for the purpose of developing rigorously educated and informed grass-roots parent leaders in the local community for the purpose of social betterment and advocating for change in their communities.

Parents as Teachers/School Readiness

To address barriers to early education at school and home, Parents as Teachers/School Readiness provides weekly 3-hour classes that incorporate in-classroom school readiness strategies for 3.5 to 5-year-olds and parenting skills trainings. Lessons for children are based on our school readiness curriculum entitled Structured Playing for Learning Purposes, an in-classroom plan that encourages socio-emotional and academic learning with activities that include learning to follow instructions and pre-STEM education and more. Padres Unidos’ program is unique in that we closely integrate early education for children with parent education. In addition to building children’s school readiness, the program aims to equip parents and caregivers to continue nurturing learning in the home and community environment. Furthermore, by instituting a culture of engagement in education early, Padres Unidos helps parents become engaged partners throughout their children’s formal education.