Parenting%20Support%20

1
Parenting Support A New Policy Domain in
Northern Ireland and Elsewhere

• Professor Mary Daly
• School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social
  Work
• Queens University Belfast

2
Parenting Support What is it?

• Parenting support refers to a range of
  information, support, education, training,
  counselling and other measures or services that
  focus on influencing how parents understand and
  carry out their parenting role
• Mainly takes the form of advice and information,
  one-to-one counselling and parenting programmes
• Started to become popular in the 2000s especially

3
Where Did it Come From (1)?

• 1. Child-related research and developments
• - health and welfare (child protection child
  poverty)
• - childrens rights
• - early child care and education (performance of
  children, social investment in children)
• 2. Family Functioning
• - problem families
• - social order/social control
• 3. Parental Well-being/Parental Employment
  (top-down and bottom-up)

4
Where Did it Come From? (2)

• International Policy
• The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
• Council of Europe also important
• Especially Recommendation (2006) 19 on positive
  parenting which identifies the types of action
  that are desirable
• awareness raising, removal of barriers and the
  provision of a range of supports

5
Where Did it Come from? (3)

• Some national governments (e.g., New Labour in
  UK, Merkel in Germany) strongly in favour
• Commercial developments the programmes are all
  marketised
• 5 main programmes in the England
• Triple P, Incredible Years, Strengthening
  Families, Strengthening Communities

6
An Example

• Triple P (5 levels)
• 1. a universal parenting information strategy
• 2. brief (one or two session) primary health
  care intervention for mild behavioural
  difficulties or a three session large group
  seminar series on positive parenting
• 3. A session of interventions for mild to
  moderate difficulties including parent skills
  training or a one-off brief 2 hour discussion
  group (multiple topics available)
• 4. An intensive 8-10 session programme which is
  individual, group or self directed (with
  telephone support) for more severe problems
• 5. Intensive behavioural family intervention
  where parenting problems occur in the context of
  other family difficulties (e.g., conflict,
  depression).

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Whats New about it?

• Parenting support is not completely new in most
  settings its a development and extension of
  older ideas
• However there are (at least 2) novel phenomena
  involved
• (1) the putting in place of measures oriented to
  influencing how parents manage and rear their
  children which at its most developed involves
  three moves
• a) from a passive to an active cast
• b) towards universal provision
• c) moving beyond parents of infants/young
  children.
• (2) greater engagement on the part of the state
  with socially desirable forms of parenting

8
England

• Trajectory is from national level down
• Under New Labour put in place the most elaborate
  architecture anywhere for parenting support
• A national network of Childrens Centres
• A national roll-out of education programmes for
  parents
• Parenting Commissioners in each LA
• Evidence-based guidance for LAs in commissioning
• A national programme focusing on the
  education/support of young mothers
• A national academy for practitioners and a
  national institute for family and parenting (FPI)
• Training programme and Council for the
  Development of the Childcare Workforce
• A series of family intervention projects around
  parenting

9
Northern Ireland

• More demand- and voluntary sector led
• Main providers are ParentingNI and the Lifestart
  Foundation
• Information, education programmes, a Parenting
  Forum

10
Different Models/Emphases in Different Countries

• France
• bottom up, more support than education or
  training, no parenting programmes
• Main form REAAP (Parental Support and Guidance
  Networks) offering peer support and educational
  activities to parents on a universal basis
• Germany
• Family education/education for family life a
  strong root - 1,000 open access information and
  counselling centres
• Also some parenting programmes but for parents of
  younger children and those experiencing
  difficulties

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Impact/Pros and Cons

• Known effects
• Can makes parenting a less stressful and more
  enjoyable role
• Can reduce the risks of emotional and physical
  harm to children
• Can improve childrens well-being and development
• However it is not known whether these effects
  endure and there are risks involved (for
  example)
• Parental overload
• Too much intrusion in family life
• Increased anxiety for parents

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What Works Best?

• Programmes with more than one method of delivery
• Programmes with measureable concrete objectives
• Programmes with a strong underlying theory and
  model of how they will improve outcomes for
  children and parents
• Programmes that are aware of and seek to meet
  families other needs as well
• Effective multi-agency working
• Joined up services
• The blanket application of a particular type of
  programme can be counterproductive
• Services that allow multiple routes in for
  families (i.e., have a variety of entry or
  referral routes)