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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Measuring parenting capacity for disabled children using a child protection assessment

Susan Flynn - Journal of Social Work, 17 Sep 2020

This paper provides a critical commentary on approaches to assessments of the capacity of parents of disabled children. International review of literature on this subject matter is enacted across three themes.

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Kinship capital: young mothers, kinship networks and support in urban South Africa

Nirvana Pillay - Social Dynamics , 28 Aug 2020

This paper explores kinship and other networks of support for young mothers and their babies after an unintended, ex-nuptial pregnancy in a resource-poor urban setting.

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Parents' perceptions of a group‐based parenting programme in families with child protection and other family support services in a real‐life setting

Piia Karjalainen, Olli Kiviruusu, Päivi Santalahti, Eeva T. Aronen - Child & Family Social Work, 23 Aug 2020

The aim of this study was to assess parents' satisfaction and perceived usefulness of the Incredible Years® (IY®) parenting programme in the Child Protection Services (CPS) context, where children's behaviour problems are common.

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Stress and parenting during the global COVID-19 pandemic

Samantha M. Brown, Jenalee R. Doom, Stephanie Lechuga-Peña, Sarah Enos Watamura, Tiffany Koppels - Child Abuse & Neglect, 20 Aug 2020

This study examined the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to parental perceived stress and child abuse potential.

Mothers with cognitive limitations who have children in placement benefit from intervention

Päivi Adolfsson, Gunnel Janeslätt, Helena Lindstedt, Karin Jöreskog - Child & Family Social Work, 13 Aug 2020

The aim of this study was to examine the experiences of mothers regarding their mothering role after participation in the ‘Mamma Trots Allt’ (MTA) program, a support program for mothers with cognitive limitations who have children in placement.

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Pregnancy and Parenting Among Youth Transitioning from Foster Care: A Mixed Methods Study

Heather L. Rouse, Tera R. Hurt, Janet N. Melby, Maya Bartel, Bethany McCurdy, Emily McKnight, Feng Zhao, Carol Behrer & Carl F. Weems - Child & Youth Care Forum, 09 Aug 2020

The purpose of the current study was to better understand the experiences of foster care youth to inform policy and practice recommendations that address the high rate of unintended pregnancies and early parenting among youth transitioning from foster care.

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Families Offering Children Unfailing Support (FOCUS) Fatherhood Program: Changing Child Welfare through Child Support and Parenting Skills

M. Angela Nievar, Suhasini Ramisetty-Mikler, Mahasin F. Saleh, Natasha Cabrera - Children and Youth Services Review, 05 Aug 2020

The Fathers Offering Children Unfailing Support (FOCUS) program serves fathers referred by Child Protective Services and the Attorney General’s Office. The goal of the authors of this paper was to investigate changes in fathers’ report of parenting involvement and fathers’ instrumental support through child support payments through two separate studies of community samples.

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Caregiver and family factors promoting child resilience in at-risk families living in Lima, Peru

Laura E. Miller-Graff, Caroline R. Scheid, Danice Brown Guzmán, Katherine Grein - Child Abuse & Neglect, 03 Aug 2020

The current study aims to evaluate relationships between child victimization and child resilience with a particular focus on caregiver and family promotive factors.

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Multi-service prevention programs for pregnant and parenting women with substance use and multiple vulnerabilities: Program structure and clients’ perspectives on wraparound programming

Deborah Rutman, Carol Hubberstey, Nancy Poole, Rose A. Schmidt & Marilyn Van Bibber - BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 03 Aug 2020

This article presents findings from the Co-Creating Evidence (CCE) project, a three-year evaluation of eight multi-service programs located in six Canadian jurisdictions.

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Unwed single mothers in South Korea: Increased vulnerabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic

Shinwoo Choi, Soo-Jung Byoun, Eun Hee Kim - International Social Work, 23 Jul 2020

This short essay presents unwed single mothers’ increased vulnerabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of childcare, financial crisis, and mental health.

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