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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New Neighborhood Podcast Series

The Center for the Study of Social Policy, 2021

The New Neighborhood is a limited series podcast that explores some of the dramatic changes taking place across the U.S. as people work to reinforce a sense of community, support young children and families, and work to build equity within communities.

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The State of the World’s Fathers 2021

Gary Barker, Aapta Garg, Brian Heilman, Nikki van der Gaag, and Rachel Mehaffey - Promundo-US, 2021

The State of the World’s Fathers 2021 report – the fourth in the series – presents research on care work during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on structural barriers that prevent equitable distribution of caregiving between women and men.

Working with Parents of Young Children

Aga Khan Foundation, 2021

This course is a resource for parents or those who work with parents of young children to support them to provide brain-building experiences and nurturing care.

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From Theory to Practice: On the Ground Cultural Adaption of a Parenting Intervention for Ethnic Minority Families Involved in the Child Welfare System

Gabriela López‐Zerón, Jose Ruben Parra‐Cardona, Alexandria Muñoz, Cris M. Sullivan - Family Process, 31 Dec 2020

The objective of this study was twofold: to explicate how a culturally adapted parent training (PT) intervention for diverse families involved in child welfare services (CSW) was perceived by participants and to better understand how interventionists adapted to families’ needs.

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Child Protection, Disability and Obstetric Violence: Three Case Studies from Iceland

James Gordon Rice, Helga Baldvins Bjargardóttir, and Hanna Björg Sigurjónsdóttir - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 28 Dec 2020

This contribution is a collective re-analysis of three research projects in Iceland focused on parenting with a disability which draws upon data spanning a twenty-year period. The core purpose of these projects is to understand why parents with primarily intellectual disabilities encounter such difficulties with the child protection system.

Caring for Your Child in Crisis Situations

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, The University of Manchester, 20 Dec 2020

This booklet was produced by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in collaboration with The University of Manchester and aims to help parents and their children as they navigate challenges and stay connected as a family.

Outcomes for Families Referred to Family Centres: Using Validated Instruments to Chart Changes in Psychological Functioning, Relationships and Children’s Coping Strategies over Time

Trevor Spratt, Lorraine Swords, Dovile Vilda - The British Journal of Social Work, 11 Dec 2020

This article reports on the use of a suite of validated instruments to measure the impact of services on children and their parents in receipt of services provided by an Irish Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) across their seven family centres.

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Improving parenting knowledge through caregiver education in China

Yafan Chen, Bin Tu, Chien‐Chung Huang, Can Huang - Child: Care, Health and Development, 03 Dec 2020

This study examines the effect of an innovative caregiver education program in China on caregivers' perceived increase of parenting knowledge.

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Meeting families where they are: Text‐based support in parent to parent programs

Robin L. Dodds - Child: Care, Health and Development, 01 Dec 2020

This paper reports on the results of an online survey of P2P stakeholders regarding: How text‐based support is being used in P2P programs and whether text‐based support is perceived as providing benefits to parents of children with disabilities.

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State of the Nation: Understanding Public Attitudes to the Early Years

Ipsos MORI, The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, 27 Nov 2020

This report sets out the findings from the most comprehensive study of attitudes towards bringing up children from conception to 5 years ever undertaken in the United Kingdom.