Service

Parent Connection Academy

Live online courses for parents and caregivers, one hour a week, in a small group. Each series builds week by week. You learn why behavior happens and what to do about it, working on your own child's real situations alongside other families doing the same.

(951) 440-6220
Serving the Inland Empire

Also available by telehealth

Who this is for

If this sounds like your family, this is the right page.

Parents, caregivers and legal guardians. Grandparents, partners and anyone else who spends real hours with your child are welcome to come with you. For most families it is an authorized service, so we check your coverage before you start.

Six parents and grandparents sitting in a semicircle in a bright room, listening to a facilitator.

What it actually looks like

What an ordinary week tends to involve.

Weekly sessions, an hour each, live online
Several series, each with a set curriculum that builds week by week
A small group, led by our clinical team, in English or Spanish
The lessons in your portal to go back to whenever you want
A certificate when you finish each series

How it works

Parent Connection Academy

Your child is with a therapist for a few hours a week. They are with you for all the rest. That single fact is why the Academy exists.

The Academy is not us telling you what you are doing wrong. Most of what parents do is already right, and often the missing piece is small: a five-second wait, a different first word, catching the good moment instead of the bad one.

It runs as a set of series. Inside each one, every week stands on the one before it, which is why it is a course and not a drop-in class.

An hour, once a week, online

You join live by video from home. A quick check on how the week went, a short lesson, and then the two parts people say they came for: talking it through with other parents, and practicing out loud with people who will not judge you. You leave with one thing to try before next week.

You are not the only one

The group is other parents, and a lot of what gets learned in it comes from them rather than from us. Someone there has already tried the thing you are about to try, and will tell you honestly how it went.

You work on your own child in your own workbook, and you share out loud only what you want to. Nobody is asked about a diagnosis, a plan or a score in front of the group.

You keep everything

A workbook with each week's activity, a list of what your child will work for, the sheets for tracking what happens before and after a behavior, and the plans you write. The lessons sit in your portal in English and Spanish, so you can go back over week three in January when a routine falls apart.

How you will see what changed

You answer a short set of questions before a series starts and the same set when it ends. We show you the difference. It is not a grade. The result goes in your child's record with us. Finish a series and you get a certificate.

What it costs

For most families this is covered by their insurance or funding, the same way therapy is. We check your coverage before you start and tell you exactly what we find, and if it is not covered we will say so before you commit to anything.

Your first few weeks

So you know what is coming, and when.

Tell us you are interested
A phone call. We will tell you when the next group starts, where it meets, and whether it is covered for your family.
Answer twenty-five questions
Before week one, in your portal or on paper. There is no passing or failing. It is the starting line we measure from.
Come for an hour a week
At a center or by video. Bring whoever else is in the house at six o'clock, they are welcome.
Try one thing between sessions
Not homework in the school sense. One small change to something you already do, written in your workbook so you remember what happened.
Answer the same twenty-five
We show you the difference, area by area, and you finish with a certificate.

A good fit if

You want to understand why your child does what they do, not just be told what to try.
The same twenty minutes of your day go badly, over and over.
Your child does something with the therapist that they will not do with you.
You are new to all of this and the vocabulary alone is exhausting.
Therapy hours are ending or reducing and you want to hold on to what was gained.
You would rather learn this alongside other families than from a handout.

This may not be the right starting point if

You are in a crisis this week. Safety first, and that means talking to your BCBA today rather than waiting for the next session.
You need to work through your own child's plan in detail. That belongs in a session with your team, where the detail can be discussed properly.
There is genuinely no hour in your week right now. Say so and we will put you in a later group rather than set you up to miss most of it.

If that sounds like your family, say so on the first call and we will point you towards something that fits better.

Questions parents ask

Is it covered?

For most families, yes. It runs as an authorized service under the same funding that covers therapy. We check before you start and tell you what we find, rather than leaving you to discover it on a statement.

Will I have to talk about my child in front of everyone?

No. You work on your own child in your own workbook, and you share out loud only what you choose to. Nobody is asked for a diagnosis, a plan or a score in the room.

Is it in Spanish?

Yes, with Spanish-speaking staff, and the workbook and the portal lessons are in both languages. Learning this through an interpreter is not the same thing and we do not pretend it is.

Can my mother come? My partner?

Please bring them. The people who spend the most hours with your child get the most out of this, whoever they are. Grandparents, partners, siblings old enough to help, a regular sitter.

Do I have to be a DDE family?

It is built for families we work with, and it is authorized as part of their child's services. If you are not with us yet, call anyway and we will tell you what is possible.

In person or online?

Either. Groups run at the Riverside and Desert Hot Springs centers and by video, and some run as a mix. Tell us which works for your week and we will tell you what is running.

Other ways we help