History of ACTION

In 1989, Cary Quashen founded ACTION A Parent & Teen Support Program. A non-profit organization, ACTION has assisted countless families in Southern California as well as the whole United States.

Cary previously worked with TOUGHLOVE International founded by Phyllis and David York which is a behavior modification program for parents. It teaches parents how to change their behaviors in order to effect positive change in their kids.

The key difference between The TOUGHLOVE Program and ACTION is that Cary felt there was a better model and that is, that both teens and parents should attend the Parent & Teen Support Group Programs. Parents meet in small groups with parent group facilitators working on building better families. Teens work with certified and licensed counseling staff on issues.

Communication between parents and teens is facilitated via Love Notes that are exchanged at every session. What went well this week, what went wrong this week and what needs to be worked on. These love notes set the tone or the stage if you will to open a communication process about issues. Love notes are exchanged each evening and form the basis of the evening discussions in both groups.

For example if a kid says he washed the car, walked the dog, and is getting A's in school and the parent says the kid stole the car, kick the dog, and is failing school, that love note serves as a communication piece for teen counselors and parent group facilitators.
 

ACTION Parent & Teen Support Group Programs currently meet in Santa Clarita, Antelope Valley, Glendale, Simi Valley, Newbury Park, and Alhambra California.