Parenting Support

Families will require support when faced with problems they are unable to overcome on their own. Ideally support should come from existing networks, such as extended family, religious leaders, and neighbours. Where such support is not available or sufficient, additional family and community services are required. Such services are particularly important for kinship, foster and adoptive caretakers, and child headed households in order to prevent separation and address abuse and exploitation of children. It is also vital for children affected by HIV/AIDS and armed conflict, and those children living on the street.

Parenting support services are typically provided by social and community paraprofessionals. They focus on the individual needs of a child or family, in order to address and overcome issues which may lead to family separation or harm to the child. Such services should be provided within the context of case planning, beginning with an assessment of the child and family situation. By assessing the need first, an appropriate set of services can be offered, such as day care provision, parenting support, household economic strengthening, or psychosocial referral.

Day care services are particularly important for caretakers who are overwhelmed as a result of ill health, cannot provide adaquate care because they need to work, or who are isolated within the community. It provides an excellent opportunity for children to socialise with others, and can offer additional protection and education.

Parenting support provides caretakers with an opportunity to talk about their difficulties, and learn additional techniques for meeting their child’s developmental and relationship needs. It can enable caretakers to cope with behavioural problems, and address abusive parenting techniques, thereby reducing the need for family separation and improving the incidence of successful family reunification.

The literature in this section contains information on family support programmes for vulnerable children, including day care and parenting support.

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Forensic Evaluations of Parents in Child Protection Matters: The Significance of Contextual, Personal, and Racial Trauma

Susan Cohen Esquilin & Denise M. Williams Johnson - Assessing Trauma in Forensic Contexts, 01 Mar 2020

The primary aim of this chapter is to outline the significance of trauma in the lives of parents involved in the child protection system who are sent for forensic psychological evaluations.

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Evaluation of Pause: Evaluation report

Janet Boddy, Susannah Bowyer, Rebecca Godar, Chris Hale, James Kearney, Oli Preston, Bella Wheeler, and Julie Wilkinson - UK Department for Education, 01 Mar 2020

This independent evaluation found that the Pause Programme - which supports local practices to deliver relationship-based support to women who have experienced removal of at least one child and are judged to be at risk of further removals of children - is effective in making a positive difference in women’s lives, improving their relationships with children, reducing rates of infant care entry in local areas and delivering cost savings for local areas.

“If I’m Here, It’s Because I Do Not Have Anyone”: Social Support for the Biological Family during the Foster Care Process

Eduard Vaquero, M. Àngels Balsells, Carmen Ponce, Aida Urrea, Alicia Navajas - Social Sciences, 01 Mar 2020

The aims of this article were to identify the types and characteristics of social support for families in vulnerable situations and to analyze what elements influence families’ attitudes towards these supports.

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Perceived community-based needs of low-income parents with psychiatric disabilities who experienced legal challenges to their parenting rights

Robyn M. Powell, Monika Mitra, Joanne Nicholson, Susan L. Parish - Children and Youth Services Review, 29 Feb 2020

This study describes the community-based needs of parents with psychiatric disabilities who experienced legal challenges to their parenting rights.

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The role of family centres in reducing social isolation in deprived communities

Fiona Mercer, Chris Darbyshire, Janet Finlayson, Martin Kettle, Adele Dickson - Child & Family Social Work, 23 Feb 2020

There is limited understanding related to the role of community‐based centres in reducing social exclusion and isolation, so the aim of this research was to explore the role one family centre had in improving social inclusion in a deprived community in Glasgow, Scotland.

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Caregiver Strain among Biological, Foster, and Adoptive Caregivers Caring for Youth Receiving Outpatient Care in a Public Mental Health System

Kya Fawley-King, Emily V. Trask, John Ferrand, Gregory A. Aarons - Children and Youth Services Review, 17 Feb 2020

The purpose of the present study was to examine differences in both internalized (e.g., worry and guilt) and externalized (e.g., anger and resentment) caregiver strain among biological, foster and adoptive caregivers, and assess the degree to which characteristics of the caregivers and the children in their care impact strain.

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Effectiveness of Parenting Program for Macau Shift Work Parents: Randomized Controlled Trial

Cynthia Leung, Stanley Chan, H. L. Ip, Heidi Szeto, Miki Lee, Kama Chan, Marco Chan - Research on Social Work Practice, 13 Feb 2020

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Happy Parenting: Round-the-Clock Parenting (HPRCP) program for Macau parents on shift work, using randomized controlled trial design.

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Country Care Review: Rwanda

Better Care Network, 10 Feb 2020

This Country Care Review includes the care-related concluding observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as well as other care-related concluding observations, ratification dates, and links to the Universal Periodic Review and Hague Intercountry Adoption Country Profile.

Country Care Review: Austria

Better Care Network, 10 Feb 2020

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

The Brain Architects Podcast: Toxic Stress: Protecting the Foundation

The Brain Architects Podcast - Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 07 Feb 2020

This episode of The Brain Architects explores what “toxic stress” means, and what we can do about it.

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