Parent Mentor Volunteers to Assist Families at Risk

Colette Fairclough-Thorpe, a mother of two, has volunteered her time to provide assistance and support to families at risk or in need.

She was commissioned as a Parent Mentor by the National Parenting Support Commission (NPSC) in 2017, following the completion of 10 training modules over several weeks.

Mrs. Fairclough-Thorpe, who spoke to JIS News at a parent-training and information session hosted by the NPSC on Thursday (August 3), at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston, said she was among the first cohort of parent mentors trained in Montego Bay, St. James.

“I was introduced by a co-worker. I am a mediator, so another mediator told me about the training, and I went with her,” she recounted.

The parent mentor relishes every opportunity to interact with families, guide parents in proper disciplinary measures and impart knowledge to help them to be effective parents.

“It has been a great experience. I work in the community, and I work in the church and I’m a part of an infant school as a board member, and I’m also the community representative. I’m on the PTA (Parent-Teacher Association) body, so I get to interact with the parents all the time,” Mrs. Fairclough-Thorpe said.

She shared that through the church’s women ministry, children’s department and family life department she has been able to engage parents and children in training and fun activities.

Her reach was further extended when the Commission launched its helpline in April 2020 to support parents struggling with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We helped parents to cope with their children and getting back to school and so on. Parents called about not having tablets for their children to get online to do schoolwork and wanting to get their children on the PATH programme,” she told JIS News.

“It’s very enriching and it helps to empower me and other parents,” said Mrs. Fairclough-Thorpe.

For her part, Chief Executive Officer of the NPSC, Kaysia Kerr, said the parent mentorship programme remains the flagship initiative of the Commission, with roughly 400 mentors across the island.

“We have parent mentors of varied skillsets. Some are vice principals in schools, some are guidance counsellors, some are just regular parents… . I stand here very humbled all the time when I hear that there are people who continue to serve in the programme, but when I also hear that we have people who are willing to come into the programme to serve in this special way,” Ms. Kerr said.

An agency of the Ministry of Education and Youth, the Commission’s mission is to assist parents in developing the skills they need to raise and protect their children.

This, while encouraging a collaborative effort between home and school, so that parents and teachers may cooperate intelligently in the education of their children.