Kids don’t come with instruction manuals.

But Vancouver Island communities have the next best thing – a free parenting skills program.

“What we all know as parents ... is that each child is different,” said Tom Christensen, Minister of Children and Family Development, announcing the province is providing $600,000 to expand the Triple P Positive Parenting Program to the south Island.

The Greater Nanaimo Early Years Partnership and Success by Six provided the funding for an awareness campaign about the program, which began in Nanaimo last year.

Cheryl Streifel, Triple P coordinator for Nanaimo, said support is available through the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Vancouver Island, Nanaimo school district, Nanaimo Child Development Centre, Nanaimo Family Life Association, the Vancouver Island Health Authority’s Child and Youth Mental Health, Snuneymuxw First Nation and public health nurses.

The program gives parents ideas to help build relationships with their children, ensure positive behaviour, develop new skills and behaviours and manage misbehaviours.

The program is a partnership between school districts, VIHA, MCFD and other community agencies.

Allison Cutler, executive director of primary health care, population and family health with VIHA, said parents can get involved in the program as little or as much as they want, from picking up tip sheets to attending seminars on parenting topics to individual counselling sessions.

“Triple P is a program for all parents, not just parents who are struggling,” she said. “A real advantage of Triple P is that parents can take as much as they want out of it.”

Cutler said more than 500 front-line workers are trained to deliver the program, including public health nurses, educators, parent group facilitators, child care staff and child mental health staff.

Candice Morgan, president of the Vancouver Island School Superintendents Association, said the role of Island school districts will be to distribute program materials in schools. For more information, please go to www.triplepvip.ca.

reporter@nanaimobulletin.com