Parents empowered

It is often said that parenting does not come with an instruction manual. However, David Cameron appeared to take issue with that adage, stating several weeks ago: “It’s ludicrous that we should expect people to train for hours to drive a car or use a computer but, when it comes to looking after a baby, we tell people to just get on with it.”

The government is now offering free parenting classes for parents of under-fives, after its child poverty adviser, Labour MP Frank Field, recommended an increase in such classes. Three areas – Middlesbrough, High Peak in Derbyshire and Camden – are piloting the initiative, called Can Parent, and the government wants the classes to eventually be available to all parents. Classes are redeemed via vouchers worth £100 available from Boots stores, children’s centres and health visitors.

“Parents think nothing of attending an antenatal class and I can see parenting programmes being the same,” says Pamela Park, chief executive of Parenting UK, which has the contract to support course providers in the pilot areas. “We want to break down that sense of stigma and making parenting programmes accessible via the high street could do that.” But Alison James, parenting co-ordinator at Derbyshire County Council, says: “I expect uptake will be higher when a professional has taken time to explain the programme rather than if parents just pick up a voucher.”

The Can Parent scheme will also evaluate how national availability of classes could be funded. One option under consideration is to ask parents to pay to attend. James, however, believes only “a small minority” of parents will pay: “A few parents have expressed surprise that the classes are free, but bringing up a young child when family budgets are already tight means I can’t see many prepared to pay.”

Meeting the demand
Coram’s Parents’ Centre is running the Camden pilot. Mary Rose Brady, who heads the centre, says the average cost to the charity of running a course is between £500 and £1,000 a parent, depending on its intensity. This includes ongoing supervision and evaluation of courses to ensure they are meeting parents’ needs. She is optimistic that the charity sector can help meet potential demand for a universal parenting programme. “There has been a lot of capacity building in this area around training and running courses. I think the workforce is already equipped to meet the need to run courses,” she says.

The coalition’s enthusiasm for parenting classes is not unique. Labour set up and funded the National Academy of Parenting Practitioners (NAPP) for three years from 2007. It sought to support training and research the effectiveness of various programmes. British Association of Social Workers chief executive Hilton Dawson, a former NAPP chair, says there is a solid business case for continued government investment in parenting programmes. “When you factor in costs such as improvements we found to mental health, antisocial behaviour and reducing the prison population, it pays to invest in parenting support.” But he is concerned that the Labour government’s “cooling interest” and the coalition’s switch to universal classes leaves parenting policy with “a lack of focus”.

In power, Labour’s Parenting Early Intervention Programme (PEIP) initiative backed the use of globally recognised, often more intensive parenting courses with a strong track record in turning around family’s lives (see boxes, overleaf). Evaluation of the PEIP-endorsed programmes – Triple P, Incredible Years, Strengthening Families 10-14 and Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities – showed the proportion of parents reporting serious behaviour problems fell by about a third after they completed their course across all the programmes.

Geoff Lindsay, director of the Centre for Educational Development, Appraisal and Research at Warwick University, who led the PEIP evaluation team, says: “The most successful programmes at retaining families were those that recruited through face-to-face contact from a professional they trusted and where it was presented in a positive way.”

The Department for Education also supports these established programmes, in particular Triple P, Incredible Years and Families and Schools Together (Fast), which goes into schools. All three received the top mark of four stars in a list of approved programmes evaluated by the National Academy of Parenting Research at King’s College, London.

The evidence of improved family outcomes provided by long-established programmes is attractive to councils and charities, but they by no means have a monopoly on provision.

Lincolnshire is typical of many councils in having an approved list of parenting programmes that it looks to run and fund training for. As well as the established programmes, other tailored courses are available, including the eight-week Supporting Parents of Teenagers (Spot) course.

Rosalyn Johnson, parenting co-ordinator at Lincolnshire County Council’s youth offending service, says: “The more established courses are popular, but we don’t exclusively use them. I like using Spot because of the way it encourages group discussion. One part involves a timeline for parents, listing the age they think a child should have responsibility for something such as babysitting or cooking a meal. This produces lively debates and makes parents look at parenting in a different way.”

Families are referred to parenting classes from a range of places including schools, GP surgeries, health visiting and social services. Coram’s Brady says: “There’s a wide variety of routes into a programme. Sometimes it is because a problem has been highlighted by the school, perhaps around behaviour. Sometimes parents self-refer to our courses.”

Derbyshire has been offering Incredible Years courses since 2007, and James says: “The majority of the parents on this course are known to a support service.” She adds that the Can Parent pilot in High Peak could provide an important gateway to further help for families with complex needs. And they can form part of councils’ response in meeting their targets to turn around the lives of “troubled families”.

But engaging fathers in classes is a challenge. Celia Hannon, head of research and policy programmes at the Family and Parenting Institute, says many programmes have not been as effective at encouraging fathers to take part as they have with mothers. She says: “Service providers are increasingly incorporating strategies to encourage fathers’ attendance such as holding classes outside working hours, advertising classes for both mothers and fathers, as opposed to ‘parents’, and organising classes aimed specifically at fathers.”

Any desire to make parenting classes more widespread will, however, be checked by the reality of funding cuts. Warwick University’s study found programmes that recruited parents in person by a trusted professional tended to be more successful, but Johnson warns that public sector cutbacks have made this more difficult. “In Lincolnshire, we used to be a team of nine, who could go out to meet parents, build up a relationship and then offer them a place on a programme,” she says. “Now with cutbacks there are less of us to do that.”

Any expansion of parenting classes also requires the corresponding availability of skilled practitioners to deliver them. Most programmes require trainees to have an A-level or equivalent qualification in family support, education or social care as well as experience in working with families. However, others such as Fast, encourage parents to become group leaders as well.

Johnson welcomes the recruitment of parents to lead groups, stressing that communication and social skills are vital. “The success of a course is based on the facilitator’s skill in communicating, on their personality and in being a trusted figure parents can relate to,” she says. She adds that if parenting courses are to become the norm, there needs to be a greater focus on professional training and qualifications on “facilitation skills”. Parenting classes are clearly in vogue, but their nationwide viability and impact remains to be seen.



Triple P (Positive Parenting Programme)

How did it start? The programme was first developed in Australia 30 years ago by a University of Queensland’s Parent and Family Support Centre team, led by Professor Matt Sanders. It was branded as Triple P in 1992 and is now run worldwide.

Who is it aimed at? All parents, with a focus on targeting parents and carers of children with behavioural problems.

How is the course arranged? Support is tailored to fit the level of support the parent needs and extent of their child’s behavioural problems. The programme has five levels ranging from level one, which signposts support available to parents, through to level five, for parents with complex problems at home such as domestic abuse.

What do parents learn? Topics covered depend on the level of support a parent needs, with seminars covering areas such as understanding children’s behaviour and managing stress.

Who delivers the programme? Triple P training accreditation is only open to those with an A-level or equivalent qualification in health, education or social care. Experience of working with families and a knowledge of child development issues is also required.

What training is involved to run the programme? Separate courses are available for each level of parental need and specific groups, such as those aimed at parents of teenagers.

How much do courses cost? Among the cheapest is a one-day course to run parent discussion groups that costs £710.

www.triplep.net



Incredible Years Parenting Programme

How did it start? It was created by Dr Carolyn Webster-Stratton, professor and director of the Parenting Clinic at the University of Washington. She has been running parenting courses since the 1980s.

Who is it aimed at? All parents of children aged between three and 12, with a focus on those with problems managing their behaviour.

How is the course arranged? Parents take part in 12 weekly two-hour group sessions. The sessions involve role-playing exercises and reviewing DVDs showing family behaviour.

What do parents learn? The focus is on improving social skills and relationships between parents and children, reducing the use of physical discipline and helping parents to manage their children’s behaviour.

Who delivers the programme? Training is taken by Incredible Years-accredited group leaders. They tend to have a background in counselling, social work, psychology, nursing or teaching, as well as training and experience in child development, behaviour management and running group sessions.

What training is involved to run the programme? Three-day courses take place for group leaders to run groups for parents of toddlers, early years and school-aged children. These cover strengthening children’s social skills, using praise, setting routines and handling misbehaviour. A two-day course for parents with babies covers understanding babies’ communication and child development.

How much does the training cost? The toddler and school-aged training courses cost around £375, while the baby course costs £250.

www.barnardos.org.uk/pp_no_12_incredible_years.pdf



Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities

How did it start? The SFSC programme is run by the Race Equality Foundation in the UK and has been adapted from the US parenting programme, Strengthening multi-ethnic families: A violence prevention programme. It has been adapted for the Can Parent pilot.

Who is it aimed at? It is targeted at parents of children of all ages, with a specific focus on those from different ethnic communities, those who speak different languages, young parents and those with disabled children.

How is the course arranged? The course involves 12 weekly three-hour group sessions, usually involving eight to 12 parents. Childcare and transport costs can be met to help parents attend regularly.

What do parents learn? The programme asks parents to consider how their culture or faith has shaped their parenting style and ways to help young people avoid drug and alcohol abuse. It also aims to help curb antisocial behaviour and signposts participants to community youth and parent services.

Who delivers the programme? It is run by two SFSC-trained facilitators. There is no minimum requirement for entry, although it is recommended that trainers have a family support qualification to A-level standard or higher and experience of working with parents from a range of ethnic backgrounds. Parents who complete the programme are also encouraged to become facilitators.

What training is involved to run the programme? A five-day facilitator course with accreditation through the Open College Network.

How much does the training cost? The facilitator course costs £975.

www.raceequalityfoundation.org.uk/sfsc



Strengthening Families Programme 10-14

How did it start? The programme was created by the Iowa State University in the US and is run in the UK by Oxford Brookes University.

Who is it aimed at? Children aged between 10 to 14 and their parents. It has a focus on reducing alcohol and drug misuse, and improving behaviour and relationships between parents and their children. It is particularly recommended for single and first-time parents.

How is the course arranged? Parents and children take part in seven weekly, two-hour sessions. During the first hour, parents and young people are divided into separate groups and then come together for family activities during the second hour. Around eight to 13 families take part. Booster sessions are also offered between six months to a year after the initial course.

What do parents and young people learn? Children’s sessions focus on dealing with stress and emotions, improving communication skills and dealing with conflict. Parents discuss issues such as making house rules and protecting their children against alcohol and drug misuse.

Who delivers the programme? Three facilitators with an A-level qualification or equivalent in working with parents and children.

What training is involved to run the programme? Course facilitators take part in a three-day course. Further training is offered to become a trainer of facilitators or to use the programme for academic work.

How much does the training cost? The total cost of training two facilitators and providing course materials is £9,151.

www.mystrongfamily.org/



Families and Schools Together (Fast) Programme