The Dallas County Resource Center is hosting “The Whole Parent” parenting classes this month. Parents will receive one-on-one coaching on different parenting strategies to help participants build stronger familial bonds.

The ABC’s of practical parenting, ages and stages: birth to 19 and prenatal care are some of the topics that will be discussed.

Louise Johnson the Dallas County Family Resource Center program manager, said the center started classes after noticing the need. Even though most of the participants attend voluntarily, some parents are court ordered to complete the courses.

These classes offer a way for those parents to redeem themselves and be reunited with their children, but also for other parents to learn new techniques.

“It’s good for the parents to learn the new parenting skills that they have today,” Johnson said. “It’s not the same as it was back then, parenting has changed a lot.”

The dates for the classes are June 5, 7, 12, 14, 19, 21, 26 and 28, and each class will be 10 a.m. to Noon. The free courses will be at the Dallas County Family Resources Center located at 10096 AL Highway 14 West.

Local businesses, including Jack’s, KFC, Taco Bell, Dominoes, All in One, Hancock and Tally-Ho will donate food for the classes.

The maximum for each class is 20 participants, and the center is still accepting participants.

If the knowledge and free food weren’t enough, as an extra incentive to complete the program every participant that completes six to eight classes will get a free diaper bag and a GRACO pack n’ play.

Parents are given a book during each class to increase their children’s libraries and encourage literacy.

Sallie Hooker, human sciences extension field specialist, said she is passionate about her job and loves instructing the courses.

She said the main goal of the program is to prevent separating families due to improper parenting, and reunite families. One of the first steps in reclamation, for some parents, is taking these classes.

“Those who are court ordered give me a form to sign each day and they take that back to the judge showing that they are in compliance,” Hooker said.

The classes are making real change and impacting families.

“Fortunately, based on the records I got from Judge Armstrong’s office, there were eight families that were reunited,” she said. “The state of Alabama save about $80,000 in foster care.”

Hooker believes children that see their parents doing positively will emulate that positivity, and by learning the different skills on how to parent it sets the entire family up for success.