{"id":73,"date":"2012-08-14T20:26:34","date_gmt":"2012-08-14T20:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.helpingchildrenafterdivorce.com\/hcadblog\/?p=73"},"modified":"2012-09-02T20:03:04","modified_gmt":"2012-09-02T20:03:04","slug":"court-approved-online-parenting-classes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helpingchildrenafterdivorce.com\/hcadblog\/court-approved-online-parenting-classes\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida DCF-Approved Parenting Classes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pursuant to Section 61.21 of the State of Florida Statutes, parents filing for divorce of minor children must take a\u00a0Florida parenting class<\/a>\u00a0approved by the State of Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF).\u00a0 This course, entitled, \u201cParent Education and Family Stabilization Course,\u201d is four hours in length and may be taken in person, or online.<\/p>\n

In the State of Florida, section 61.13(2) of the Florida Statutes mandates presumption of shared parental responsibility.\u00a0 A DCF approved course covers key elements of successful shared parenting, and touches on the basics of Florida law for divorces with minor children.\u00a0 Other mandated elements of the course include information related to grief stemming from divorce, and the reactions of adults and children.<\/p>\n

Although the DCF requires that certain elements be taught, the scope and quality of DCF classes varies widely.\u00a0 Some are based heavily in research-supported information, while others present models that have no such support.\u00a0 For instance, even though the stages of death model developed by Kubler-Ross has never earned strong support as a stage model among scientists who study death, the model continues to appear in divorce education classes.<\/p>\n

Although a four-hour class is not going to prevent or address every problem a divorcing couple will face, it can provide a solid foundation for dealing with common struggles of parents and children alike. \u00a0A parenting class does not provide individual advice or therapy, yet it can educate parents about helpful strategies and tools such as conflict management, parenting skills specific to divorce, and stress management.<\/p>\n

The diversity of information provided in various Florida parenting classes is matched by the diversity of professionals who administer such classes.\u00a0 Instructors included social workers, attorneys, marital and family therapists, and psychologists.\u00a0 The DCF mandates that at least one of the instructors hold a masters degree in a mental health-related field.<\/p>\n

As was previously mentioned, courses are administered either in person, or online.\u00a0 Online format varies considerably, however, most online classes appear to be in text format.\u00a0 Some courses are offered in multimedia format (text, video and\/or audio files).\u00a0 Courses may or may not include a quiz at the end the course, and courses vary with regard to user controls and progress monitoring.<\/p>\n

DCF approved online courses are acceptable in most court jurisdictions throughout Florida.\u00a0 However, it is important to know whether such a course is acceptable where you will be filing.\u00a0 If offered, an online course typically affords the user much greater flexibility with twenty-four hour access.\u00a0 Most courses offer bookmarking, and some will yield a printable certificate immediately after course completion.<\/p>\n

The Helping Children after Divorce website offers an online Florida divorce class that is approved by the Florida DCF. \u00a0It offers the user a choice of video or text format.\u00a0 Course completion is regulated through a browser monitor that logs the user off after browser inactivity, and a timer keeps track of the time spent engaged with the course.\u00a0 After the user has reviewed the course materials for four hours, a personalized certificate of completion is immediately emailed to the user.\u00a0 No test or quiz is required for course completion.<\/p>\n

Aside from course convenience, the user has access to course extras such as audio downloads for stress management, an ebook on reward systems for children, and a bonus course on stepfamilies that will be made available in the next two months.\u00a0 The stepfamily course will not add any time to completion of the\u00a0Florida parenting class<\/a>, and it is a logical and needed addition given the fact that most divorced parents will re-enter into a stepfamily.<\/p>\n

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Pursuant to Section 61.21 of the State of Florida Statutes, parents filing for divorce of minor children must take a\u00a0Florida parenting class\u00a0approved by the State of Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF).\u00a0 This course, entitled, \u201cParent Education and Family Stabilization Course,\u201d is four hours in length and may be taken in person, or online. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[18,19,21,15],"class_list":["post-73","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-florida-parenting-class-2","tag-florida-courts","tag-florida-online-parenting-class","tag-florida-parent-education-and-family-stabilization-course","tag-florida-parenting-class"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helpingchildrenafterdivorce.com\/hcadblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helpingchildrenafterdivorce.com\/hcadblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helpingchildrenafterdivorce.com\/hcadblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpingchildrenafterdivorce.com\/hcadblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpingchildrenafterdivorce.com\/hcadblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/helpingchildrenafterdivorce.com\/hcadblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76,"href":"https:\/\/helpingchildrenafterdivorce.com\/hcadblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73\/revisions\/76"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helpingchildrenafterdivorce.com\/hcadblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpingchildrenafterdivorce.com\/hcadblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpingchildrenafterdivorce.com\/hcadblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}