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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Preventing Household Violence: Promising Strategies for Humanitarian Settings

Khudejha Asghar, Beth Rubenstein and Lindsay Stark - Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, CPC Learning Network, UNICEF, 01 Feb 2017

This report presents and reviews 43 interventions addressing household violence within the context of humanitarian emergencies, including a range of programs focused on parenting education and support and economic strengthening.

The prevention of violence in childhood through parenting programmes: a global review

Charlene Coore Desai, Jody-Ann Reece, & Sydonnie Shakespeare-Pellington - Psychology, Health & Medicine, 29 Jan 2017

This global review examines past systematic reviews to determine whether parenting interventions help prevent child maltreatment.

Stepping Stones With Children

Salamander Trust, 12 Jan 2017

This training package is designed to enable transformative work with children affected by HIV and their caregivers.

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STRONG: A Comprehensive Resource for Trainers - Teaching the Strengthening Families Protective Factor Framework to Parents and Professionals

Maureen Durning & Jane Zink - Butterfly Trainings that Transform, 02 Jan 2017

This resource provides guidance for training professionals and parents on the Strengthening Families Protective Factor Framework.

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A Relational Approach to Practice: An Ethical Alternative to Working With Parents in Out-of-Home Care Processes

Elizabeth Claire Reimer - Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics, 2017

This qualitative study explored a relational practice approach with parents whose children have been removed into out-of-home care in Australia.

Vulnerable parents with and without a learning disability: Long-term outcomes for families with and without prior involvement in a parenting skills programme

Sharon McGregor, Dominic Jarrett, Ailsa Stewart - University of Strathclyde, East Ayrshire Health & Social Care Partnership, and North Ayrshire Health & Social Care Partnership, 2017

Families including a parent or parents with a learning disability can often have complex needs linked to issues such as poverty and mental health, and are known to be overrepresented in child care proceedings. Previous local project work with 12 families had demonstrated the potential of providing intensive support to parents with a learning disability, as well as others without a learning disability who were vulnerable for other reasons. A follow-up project 16 years later sought to re-engage with those families in order to explore their outcomes.

Isibindi's Family Strengthening Approach

Isibindi Project - National Association of Child Care Workers, 2017

This brief summarises key findings of a qualitative study of the family strengthening approach of the Isibindi model.

Backward Progress Toward Reinstating Parental Rights

LaShanda Taylor Adams - N.Y.U. Review of Law and Social Change, 2017

This article examines the legal inadequacies of reinstatement statutes in the US which "often punish parents who opposed the termination of their parental rights and reward those who voluntarily signed relinquishments."

Post-adoption support and interventions for adoptive families: Best practice approaches

Julie Selwyn - German Research Center on Adoption (EFZA) , 2017

This rapid literature review was commissioned by the German Research Centre on Adoption (EFZA) located at the German Youth Institute in Munich (Germany). The overall aim of the review was to consider the support needs of domestic and intercountry adoptive families and the evidence for effective interventions. Step-parent, relative and domestic private adoptions were excluded.

Caring for children: Relationships matter

Lizette Berry & Elmarie Malek - South African Child Gauge 2017, 2017

In this essay from South African Child Gauge 2017, the authors seek to respond to the following questions: Why are caring relationships important for children’s development? What do we know about systems of care for children in South Africa? What are the factors that can compromise care? What are the interventions that can improve the quality of caring relationships?