Co-Parenting Education

Co-Parent Educators offering instructive services in a classroom setting are considered educational as opposed to treatment-oriented and are regulated in part by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing if they provide services sanctioned and supervised by a public school district. Other providers offering classroom services for Co-Parent Education must be sanctioned and supervised by a licensed mental health provider, such as Kaiser Permanente or the County Department of Health and Human Services, or they must possess an advanced degree (Bachelor's level or above) in psychology, sociology, or marriage and family systems.

Any provider offering co-parent education for clients referred from Family Court must address at least the following core topics of co-parenting:

• Impact of separation and divorce on children
• Children's reaction to separation and divorce at each developmental stage
• Impact of post-separation or post-divorce conflict on children
• Understanding anger and its effect on children
• Keeping children out of the middle of parental conflict
• Emotional divorce and grief: Redefining relationships and roles as parents
• Establishing a "business" relationship as co-parents
• Parenting styles
• Co-Parenting basics
• Provide examples of effective and ineffective communication in common co-parenting situations