Parent involvement in the PEACE program can look and feel a variety of different ways. Below are some ways PEACE Program counsellors can involve mothers in the program.

• This handout offers a template of an orientation package that can be adapted to fit your PEACE Program and shared with mothers.
• Welcome mothers to the program and begin building trust and rapport through listening, presence, and a strengths-based approach. Acknowledge for mothers the courage it takes to reach out for support and highlight the ways they are already supporting their child/children by enrolling them in the PEACE Program.
• Clarify the expectations mothers have of the PEACE Program, and your expectations of the mother’s involvement. Be clear and realistic about the ways her involvement might support the PEACE Program outcomes.
• Inform mothers about the goals of the PEACE Program (see PEACE Program Toolkit p.13-14) and of individual and group session opportunities for her child/children within your Program.
• Share and complete the appropriate administrative forms including consent, confidentiality and medical forms. (Sample templates of administrative forms are available on pages 197-235 of the PEACE Program Toolkit.)
• Clarify the PEACE Program’s psycho-educational mandate.
• Inform mothers about any group or individual counselling and support opportunities within your program, agency or community, and make referrals as appropriate.
• Inquire how mothers would like to be supported and acknowledge that this may change as time passes. This may help determine how involved mothers can be during their child’s time in the PEACE Program.
• Offer support with safety planning.
• Offer to make referrals to appropriate local agencies if topics and questions are beyond your scope of practice.
• Share some strategies and role-play ideas and resources for navigating difficult behaviours. If interested, offer a one-on-one session with mothers to dive deeper into these strategies.