Parenting classes are routinely ordered in child abuse cases. California isn’t ensuring they work

A photo of Noah Cuatro, who died in 2019, when he was 4 years old. “I don’t think judges look very closely at the quality of the parenting classes,” said former Judge Leonard Edwards, who oversaw child abuse cases for decades before retiring from Santa Clara County Superior Court in 2006. Parenting classes may be just “one of many services” that contribute to successful family reunification, she said, and the onus is on California’s 58 counties in lieu of a statewide mandate for good reason. A spokesperson for the county’s Social Services Agency said it takes “a collaborative approach” that considers a family’s location and schedule and in some cases allows parents to choose their own providers if appropriate. It isn’t the kind of evidence that we probably would like to have to give us the confidence that the situation has appreciably changed and that the parenting has notably become more safe.” Kathy Icenhower, chief executive for Shields for Families, which offers parenting classes in Los Angeles County, has been a social worker for decades and said “there aren’t any real parameters” around the court orders she sees.