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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Implementation of Reach Up early childhood parenting program: acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility in Brazil and Zimbabwe

Joanne A. Smith, Helen Baker‐Henningham, Alexandra Brentani, Rose Mugweni, Susan P. Walker - Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 23 May 2018

This paper presents an evaluation of an early childhood parenting training package implemented in Brazil and Zimbabwe, called Reach Up, with the aim of providing an evidence‐based, adaptable program that is feasible for low‐resource settings.

What do foster families and social workers think about children’s contact with birth parents? A focus group analysis

María J Fuentes, Isabel M Bernedo, María D Salas, Miguel A García-Martín - International Social Work, 22 May 2018

This study analyzes the opinions of foster families and social workers regarding the benefits and problems associated with contact visits.

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Ending violence against children in Lao PDR: A multi-sectoral response to the national Violence against Children Survey Priority actions 2018

National Commission for Mothers and Children, Lao Statistics Bureau and UNICEF Lao PDR, 18 May 2018

This document outlines the priority actions to which the Government of Lao PDR is committed to pursuing in order to tackle violence against children in the country.

Collaborating with parents during intervention with parental agreement: Practitioner perspectives on procedural justice

Dr Jemma Venables & Prof Karen Healy - , 16 May 2018

In this paper, the authors use procedural justice theory as a lens to explore how “intervention with parental agreement” (IPA) policy is enacted in practice.

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Violence Against Children Survey in Lao PDR: Full Report

National Commission for Mothers and Children, Lao Statistics Bureau and UNICEF Lao PDR, 01 May 2018

This report provides estimates of the prevalence of physical, emotional and sexual violence against children and information about the circumstances in which violence occurs in Lao PDR, based on findings from the national Violence against Children Survey.

The Uganda National Parenting Guidelines

Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, 01 May 2018

These Guidelines are for all persons taking care of children. The goal of these Guidelines is to empower parents, the family and community structures to effectively nurture children so that they can realise their full potential.

Pilot randomized controlled trial of foster parent training: A mixed-methods evaluation of parent and child outcomes

Anne-Marie Conn, Moira A. Szilagyi, Linda Alpert-Gillis, Carolyn Webster-Stratton, Jody Todd Manly, Nicolas Goldstein, Sandra H. Jee - Children and Youth Services Review, 24 Apr 2018

In this project, researchers provided foster parents with a trauma-informed, evidence-based parenting program (Incredible Years; IY) and assessed its impact on child behavior, foster parent stress and attitudes, and perceived effect on parenting.

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The effectiveness of a child day-care program in child welfare services

Victoria Hidalgo, Lucía Jiménez, Víctor Grimaldi, Lara Ayala-Nunes, Isabel López-Verdugo - Children and Youth Services Review, 20 Apr 2018

This study analyzed the impact of a novel child day-care program on children's quality of life, adjustment and development, and explored the moderating role of different child and family dimensions on the program's impact.

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Foster mothers' parenting stress and coparenting quality: An examination of the moderating role of support

Evin W. Richardson, Ted G. Futris, Jacquelyn K. Mallette, Avery Campbell - Children and Youth Services Review, 18 Apr 2018

The current study examines the relationship between foster mothers' parenting stress and coparenting relationship quality, and the moderating influence of foster caregiver role support.

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Needs and preferences of parents of adolescents with multiple and complex needs in residential care

Helena Van den Steene, Dirk van West & Inge Glazemakers - Child & Family Social Work, 17 Apr 2018

Drawing upon in‐depth interviews with 12 parents of adolescent girls with multiple and complex needs in residential child welfare, this exploratory study describes parents' own needs and preferences with regard to care delivery.

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