For the first time in nearly a decade, Elkhart County was home to an official Triple P America training, resulting in 20 new providers supporting parents across northern Indiana!

From Sept. 9-11, Triple P America trainer Dr. David Anglada coached 20 participants through Primary Care training, capped with a session on Primary Care for Teens at Church on the Rock, 2626 Prairie St., Elkhart. Thanks to the investment of Oaklawn and The SOURCE Elkhart County, 16 professionals at Oaklawn were joined by four other community members for this special Positive Parenting Program training opportunity.

“This training is a story of true community collaboration,” said Triple P Elkhart County director Leah Plank. “You have a local church hosting a training by a world-renowned parent support organization, and it’s made possible by a regional mental health care provider. Every parent who comes into contact with these professionals and faith leaders will benefit from what happened here this week.”

Dr. David Anglada leads a session of the Triple P Primary Care and Primary Care Teen training Sept. 9-11 at Church on the Rock, Elkhart. (HEA Photo)

The training was only possible because Oaklawn, in coordination with Triple P Elkhart County and The SOURCE, decided to invest into training many care facilitators, skills trainers, and case managers in Positive Parenting Program at once. Once Oaklawn program leaders had selected the professionals on staff who would best be able to implement Triple P in their work with clients, a training date was set and Dr. Anglada was scheduled to travel to Elkhart from his home base in Santa Rosa, Calif.

The following Oaklawn staff members participated in the training:

• Elizabeth Avery, Family Preservation Care Facilitator
• Shanna Bontrager, Skills Training Specialist II
• Daniel Clingenpeel, Skills Training Specialist II
• Alexis Daymont, Skills Trainer
• Melissa Greene, Skills Training Specialist
• Tiffany Hagy, Skills Trainer
• Sandra Haligarda, Family Preservation Care Facilitator
• Sandra Hammons, Cross Systems Care Facilitator
• Megan Harris, Skills Trainer
• Michelle Holmes, Child and Adolescent Orientation Specialist
• Daniela Lopez Velazquez, Family Peer Support
• Kayla Meczynski, Skills Training Specialist
• Kayla Mkandawire, Family Preservation Care Facilitator
• Cheyanne Purciarele, Family Preservation Care Facilitator
• Samantha Ryder, Cross System Care Facilitator
• Jaid Winland, Child and Adolescent DCS Case Manager

Church on the Rock associate pastor Sean Bevier offered space at his church for the training and participated in it as well. It’s the first community event the church has hosted since moving into the building on Elkhart’s south side in the spring. He said he already talked to at least one family in his congregation about Triple P, and he’s looking forward to being able to share his new knowledge with them.

Bevier wasn’t the only local faith leader to participate in the training: Pastor Andrew Stroup of First Baptist Church in Elkhart was one of the community members who said “yes” to Positive Parenting skills. Also, Dr. Anglada is president and pastor of Iglesia Cristiana Tiempo de Decision in his hometown.

The last two community participants were Jake Hartle, a skills trainer at Bowen Health in Kosciusko County; and Sheila Martinez, a Healthy Families family support specialist at CAPS in Elkhart. Hartle’s role puts him in direct contact with parents of students in Warsaw Community Schools, and Martinez has served families of children birth to 5 years old in Healthy Families for more than two decades.

Martinez was the only member of the group to have prior training in a different Triple P intervention, and she is enthusiastic to add more Positive Parenting tools to her toolbox.

“I like the way Dr. Anglada talked about the process of Triple P Primary Care and how it gets people to be able to make their own decisions, which changes the brain! Fascinating!” she said. “I’m excited to be able to present it to parents.”

Thank you to our partners at Oaklawn, The SOURCE Elkhart County, Church on the Rock, and Triple P America for supporting parents across our community. Since 2015, we have delivered more than 10,000 Triple P interventions, and these newly trained providers will be key to delivering the next 10,000 and beyond!