Parenting practitioners urged to demonstrate value of their work

By Ross Watson Tuesday, 19 January 2010

Family and parenting practitioners have been warned to start providing more evidence of the outcomes of their work, ahead of the publication of the government's families and relationships green paper this week.

Parenting practitioner, parents and children. Credit: Eleanor Bentall/ FPI

The Family and Parenting Institute (FPI) is launching guidance today (19 January) to help practitioners measure outcomes. The guidance, Knowing What You Do Works, is intended to support practitioners to justify their role and secure funding in the current economic climate.

The government is set to emphasise its commitment to supporting families in this week's long-awaited green paper. But Honor Rhodes, author of the guidance and FPI's director of development, says practitioners cannot afford to be complacent. "I wrote this guidance because the sooner we start measuring the outcomes of our work for ourselves, the better," she said. "We must be the masters of our own fate."

The document suggests that many professionals who work with families are reluctant to use existing tools to measure the outcomes of their work. It claims that some feel uncomfortable working through a questionnaire with a family they have just met in order to get early data to test their work against later.

Others are unconvinced that this can tell them any more than what they observe from spending time with families. The guidance also suggests that measuring outcomes can be seen as a strain on resources for practitioners, particularly those working in the third sector.

But the document states that well-evidenced work will save money in the long run: "If we are fairly sophisticated, we can show that a pound spent on our salary produces many more pounds in benefit by the savings we make in helping families to function well."

The guidance is being offered to all practitioners on the FPI website. The document also signposts readers to a variety of measuring tools that practitioners can access depending on their area of expertise.

The government has indicated that its green paper will focus heavily on stable relationships and their effect on children's wellbeing. The Conservatives are expected to publish their own families green paper within the next couple of months.