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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Parenting a Child Who Has Experienced Trauma

U.S. Children’s Bureau, 01 Nov 2014

This factsheet discusses the nature of trauma, its effects on children and youth, and ways to help your child.

Building Happy Families IRC Research Brief

Amanda Sim, Research Evaluation & Learning Unit, International Rescue Committee (IRC) , 01 Nov 2014

This research brief provides an overview of an impact evaluation of the “Happy Families Program,” conducted by the International Rescue Committee (IRC). The Happy Families Program is a parenting and family skills intervention designed for Burmese families living on the Thai-Burmese border.

Transforming gender roles in domestic and caregiving work: preliminary findings from engaging fathers in maternal, newborn, and child health in Rwanda

Kate Doyle, Jane Kato-Wallace, Shamsi Kazimbaya & Gary Barker - Gender and Development, 29 Oct 2014

This article draws on Promundo and RWAMREC’s programmatic experiences in Rwanda of implementing MenCare+, a gender transformative approach to engaging young and adult men (ages 15–35) in caregiving, maternal, newborn, and child health, and sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Integrating Early Childhood Development and Violence Prevention - A Landscape Analysis: Networks, Campaigns, Movements, and Initiatives

Cassie Landers Ed.D., MPH Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 24 Oct 2014

This review aims at gaining a better understanding of the landscape of, and support efforts by, the Early Childhood Development and Violence Prevention communities through identifying networks, campaigns, movements, and initiatives

Preventing Rapid Repeat Pregnancy and Promoting Positive Parenting among Young Mothers in Foster Care

Nadine M. Finigan-Carr, Kantahyanee W. Murray, Julia M. O'Connor, Berenice R. Rushovich, Desyree A. Dixon & Richard P. Barth - Social Work in Public Health, 15 Oct 2014

This article assesses the evidence-based programs that are most likely to improve key health and well-being outcomes for teenage mothers in the United States and yields a list that reflects the best evidence for efficacy and effectiveness.

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Peeling Back the Layers - Kinship Care in Victoria

Rachel Breman - Baptcare Research Unit in partnership with OzChild and Anchor, 01 Oct 2014

Baptcare, OzChild and Anchor - three organizations that provide kinship care services in Victoria, Australia - commissioned this research to explore the impact that complexity in care arrangements has on children and families in kinship care.

The Longer Term Experiences of Parent Training: A Qualitative Analysis

M. Furlong and S. McGilloway - Child Care, Health and Development, 24 Sep 2014

This study involved the use of qualitative methods as part of a larger process evaluation to explore the longer-term experiences of parents who participated in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the Incredible Years Parenting Programme (IYPP) in disadvantaged settings in Ireland.

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Measuring the Impact of Parenting Interventions in Low-Resource and Humanitarian Settings

Dr. Jeannie Annan - International Rescue Committee, 24 Sep 2014

This presentation from IRC, given at the State of the Evidence on Children’s Care Symposium, outlines the findings of recent research on parenting interventions in low-resource settings.

Saving Brains, A Grand Challenge

Dr. Mike Evans, 23 Sep 2014

This animated video, made by Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Health Design Lab at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, illustrates the impacts of trauma and negative experiences on young children’s brain development and the ways in which healthy cognitive development can be promoted.

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The Right of Children to Live in a Caring and Supportive Family Environment: Examples from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia

UNICEF & The Permanent Mission of Bulgaria, 09 Sep 2014

On 10 September 2014, UNICEF and the Permanent Mission of Bulgaria co-hosted a high level Lunchtime Discussion on The right of children below three years to live in a caring and supportive family environment: examples from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.