Equitable Parenting for Healthy Kids
Primary Topic:
Health & Wellbeing
Other Topics:
FCS, Nutrition, & Food Safety, Health & Wellbeing, DEI
Internship Overview:
This internship includes a combination of community based research and applied curriculum development. For the first half of the internship, qualitative data on family support and first responder perceptions and understanding of high conflict parenting role assignment will be gathered through semi-structured interviews. These will include talking to city police and county sheriff deputies in addition to social workers at DHS in 30-60 minute focus groups or one-on-one (availability dependent). Following this, the intern will gather secondary source data and engage with Extension mentor Melina Bricker and on-campus faculty mentor Dr. Harman (Psychology Department) to develop a “best practices” curriculum for serving rural families facing high conflict divorce and/or separation. Eventually, this curriculum can be augmented into online and hybrid formats, and deliverable through Extension offices in Routt, Moffat, and ideally all counties in Colorado to service providers, first responders, civil adjudicators, and parents to support equitable parenting for healthy child development. This position qualifies for hybrid and/or mostly remote.
Goals, Scope and Objectives:
Goal #1: The intern will learn the fundamentals of community research, application of research principles to practice, and recommendations based upon general community need assessment. Goal #2: The intern will learn basic thematic analysis of qualitative data, as well as findings reporting for a generalized audience. Goal #3: The intern will engage and develop research practice through creation of a literature review on the impacts of parental separation on children and equitable parenting. Goal #4: The intern will be introduced to basic curriculum development transferrable to a hybrid or online format. Scope of Work: The intern will be assigned supported duties and work primarily with FCS Extension Specialist Melina Bricker to schedule interviews, co-conduct them, and write out basic findings. Beginning Spring 2024, the intern will spend approximately 25% of their time in independent research, 25% of their time conducting field research with their Extension Mentor, 25% of their time collaborating with their on-campus mentor, and 25% of their time in co-development of findings and curriculum 1:1 and/or asynchronously with the Extension Mentor. Objective #1: Map scope of work out over ten weeks beginning May 13th, including scheduling interviews with community stakeholders. Objective #2: Create a literature review regarding the impact of divorce on children and equitable parenting impacts on child development. Objective #3: Co-conduct semi-structured interviews with stakeholders. Objective #4: Write a report of findings, with recommendations based upon literature review. Optional Objective #5: Begin preliminary curriculum development on equitable parenting for Extension professionals (with Extension and on-campus Mentors).
With which stakeholder group(s) will the intern work?
CSU Extension of Routt County
CSU Psychology Department
Steamboat Springs Police Department
Routt County Sheriff’s Department
Department of Human Services, Child and Family Division
CSU Psychology Department
Steamboat Springs Police Department
Routt County Sheriff’s Department
Department of Human Services, Child and Family Division
What student learning outcomes do you anticipate and what are the opportunities for professional development?
Student learning outcomes include engagement in community-based research protocols, development of critical thinking and research-based skills, application of qualitative data to community-need based recommendations, and a thorough understanding of rural dynamics regarding parental role assignment and potential gendered bias in parenting perceptions. The student will also learn about the developmental and social aspects of divorce on children, as well as mitigating strategies to develop resilient children through equitable parenting.
