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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Stories from journeys to the edge of care: Challenges for children and family services

Barry Percy-Smith & Jane Dalrymple - Children and Youth Services Review, 25 Sep 2018

This paper is rooted in research commissioned by one local authority that used an innovative visual ‘river of experience’ co- production approach to understand better the experiences of children and families on their journeys to the edge of care and to inform how statutory services might respond ‘better’, and possibly earlier, to prevent children being taken into care.

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Randomized Trial of PMTO in Foster Care: Six-Month Child Well-Being Outcomes

Becci A. Akin, Kyle Lang, Thomas P. McDonald, Yueqi Yan, Todd Little - Research on Social Work Practice, 21 Sep 2018

This study tested the effectiveness of Parent Management Training, Oregon (PMTO) model on child social–emotional well-being.

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Country Care Review: Algeria

Better Care Network , 21 Sep 2018

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.

Report from the Hand In Hand Parent Meeting

Dr Catherine Wade - Parenting Research Centre, 19 Sep 2018

Positive Powerful Parents (PPP), an Australian self advocacy group run by and for parents with an intellectual disability, are currently running the Hand In Hand project which seeks to educate government and the community about the needs of families where a parent has an intellectual disability. This report describes the activities of the Hand In Hand Parent Meeting in Melbourne on the 19th of September 2018.

Assessing the effects of a combined economic and social intervention in Uganda on child protection and economic outcomes

E. Namey, S. Zissette, D. Onena, W. Okello, L. Laumann - ASPIRES, 03 Sep 2018

This presentation, delivered at the ISPCAN Conference in September 2018, highlights the preliminary findings from the ASPIRES Family Care Projects as regards the effects of a combined economic and social intervention on child protection and economic outcomes.

Using Administrative Data to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Home Visiting Programs for Improving the Well-Being of First Nations Children and Parents

Mariette Chartier, Marni Brownell, Nathan Nickel, Rhonda Campbell, Wanda Phillips-Beck, Jennifer Enns, Joykrishna Sarkar, Elaine Burland, Dan Chateau - IJPDS International Journal of Population Data Science, 24 Aug 2018

The objective of this study was to determine Families First Home Visiting Program (FFHV)’s effectiveness at improving outcomes for First Nations children and parents.

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A support programme for caregivers of children with disabilities in Ghana: Understanding the impact on the wellbeing of caregivers

Maria Zuurmond, Gifty Nyante, Marjolein Baltussen, Janet Seeley, Jedidia Abanga, Tom Shakespeare, Martine Collumbien, Sarah Bernays - Child: care, health and development, 12 Aug 2018

This study explores the impact of a participatory training programme for caregivers delivered through a local support group, with a focus on understanding caregiver wellbeing.

Moderating Role of the Form of Maltreatment Experienced by Children on the Effectiveness of a Parent Training Program

Roxanne Sicotte, Marie-Josée Letarte, Sonia Hélie, Isabelle-Ann Leclair Mallette - Child Maltreatment, 31 Jul 2018

The study examines whether the form of maltreatment experienced by the child moderates the effects of a parent training program (PTP) on the probability that the child’s case will be closed.

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Country Care Review: Russian Federation

Better Care Network, 03 Jul 2018

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.

Tools for Transformation: Building a Compassionate Child Welfare System - Recommendations from Foster Care Alumni

Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI), 01 Jul 2018

CCAI’s Foster Youth Internship Program® is a highly esteemed congressional internship for young adults who spent their formative years in the U.S. foster care system. In this annual policy report, the interns focus on subjects they are personally passionate about due to their experiences and understanding after living in foster care and make personal recommendations for improving the U.S. foster care system.