Kids' Turn: A Unique Program for Families in Transition
By Claire Barnes MA, Executive Director, Kids' Turn San Francisco

Published in Update, the Judicial Council of California, Administrative Office of the Courts, December 2002, Volume 3, Number 3.

Kids' Turn is a nonprofit organization started in 1988 by a group of family law professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area.  This fine group - the Hon. Ina Levin Gyemant, retired; mediator Jeanne Ames; psychiatrist John Sikorski, MD; and attorneys  Ann Van Balen and Jennifer Jackson - knew what current research has proven: parents who participate in parent education during divorce or separation have a higher likelihood of reducing the family conflict associated with the divorce or separation.  The children of divorcing or separating parents who are exposed to extended, intense conflict during times of family reorganization:

• tend to have poorer emotional adjustment 
• show an increased risk of accidents, injuries and poisonings
• are more likely to exhibit signs of early disengagement from school
• exhibit a disproportionately high range of negative behavioral problems
• may be affected directly by the losses and economic hardships created by lower income and assets
• demonstrate a lower sense of self-esteem (boys)
• exhibit over-controlled 'good' behavior (girls).

Kids' Turn filled a significant community service gap by offering a program that would reduce the chances that children be victimized by parental conflict; Kids' Turn also gives children a safe place to discuss how the separation or divorce impacts them.

Since 1988, Kids' Turn has provided educational workshops (not therapy) helping ensure that children of divorce are not overlooked by their parents. Parents and children attend simultaneous (but separate, non-interactive) instruction by re-focusing parents on their children and teaching children to understand their family situation.  By doing so, Kids' Turn contributes to an improved home environment in which children can thrive and grow up healthier and safer, feeling more loved.  The capacity exists to deliver the program in English and in Spanish.  Current programmatic offerings include: 

• the Kids' Turn core Program (Dorothy S. Huntington, Ph.D Memorial Curriculum)
• a program for parents only of children ages 0-3
• a Step Family Program for families reorganizing into a step-family configuration
• and the newest program, the Kids Turn Nonviolent Family Skills Program developed at the request of San Francisco Unified Family Court. This most recent program is designed to help parents of very young children (whose families are touched by violence) learn to parent and manage their lives violence-free.

During 2002-03,  the San Francisco Kids' Turn will present 25 workshops targeting five Bay Area counties. Each workshop will average 20-25 parents and 20-25 children participants. Some Contra Costa County and San Francisco workshops have ongoing waiting lists for participation. Most recently, the San Francisco Kids' Turn is focusing on developing community partnerships in order to make the services available to families marginalized by language, economics or ethnicity.

In the early 90's, the Kids' Turn San Francisco Board developed a framework for selling the curriculum and for licensing affiliates. Presently, seven organizations hold affiliate status; those organizations are located in California (Sonoma, Napa, Fresno, San Diego, Shasta and Yolo counties) Dayton, Ohio and Hillsboro Oregon. An annual meeting of affiliates occurs on a regular basis whereby Kids' Turn professionals can discuss and share curriculum changes and issues common to program delivery. Notably, during 2001, all of the Kids' Turn programs combined served 5000 participants.

Representative Affiliate activities include:

San Diego, California: Kids' Turn San Diego has spearheaded the effort to pass legislation to fund a research study that will monitor the efficacy of Kids' Turn-like programs in the State. The legislation has gone to the desk of the Governor for his signature. Because San Diego has the second highest number of Family Court filings and dispositions the Sate, Kids' Turn San Diego is working to address the critical need of families in that community.

Napa County, California: In Napa County, Kids' Turn workshops are offered three times per year (fall, winter and spring). Recently, the number of fathers participating in the program has increased, and Napa County offered its first Early Years workshop this past year.

Shasta/Cascade, California: Kids' Turn Shasta/Cascade conducts four workshops annually, and two Step-Parenting (blended family) sessions. Targeted outreach is being conducted into the town of Weaverville in Trinity County, and the organization hopes to travel to that mountain town at least biannually.

In its fourteen year history, Kids' Turn has developed and refined curricula for specific age groups, produced extensive educational materials for distribution to workshop participants, trained mental health professionals and certified school teachers as workshop leaders, established systematic methods of outreach and education to local and state-wide professional groups and licensed eight affiliates. As more communities acknowledge the value of education programs for divorcing families, Kids' Turn is ready to stay ahead of the challenge by enhancing its responsiveness to the communities where we conduct our programs. Addressing the psychosocial dynamics presented by high conflict, stay-way orders, incarcerated parents, economic downturns and other critical human circumstances, Kids' Turn remains committed to helping children through challenging times.