A summary of Action for Children's "Effective relationships with vulnerable parents"
NSPCC briefing
September 2011
This briefing summarises some of the research findings from Action for Children's
Effective relationships with vulnerable parents to improve outcomes for children and young people: final study report (PDF).
The study looked at how Action for Children professionals develop effective relationships with vulnerable parents.
The research identifies the skills used by practitioners and the qualities of supportive organisations.
Research summary
York Consulting carried out a literature review and case studies of five Action for Children sites to discover what works well in developing relationships with vulnerable parents.
The study identified the qualities, experience, skills and knowledge required by practitioners and the organisational qualities that support practitioners.
These findings were used to develop a skills framework that sets out the competencies required to achieve effective relationships and an organisational framework of qualities that support the development of effective relationships. (
See Action for Children's skills and organisational frameworks).
The findings of the final study report are summarised below.
The practitioner skills needed to develop an effective relationship with vulnerable parents
Maintaining a child-focused approach
- A child-centred approach is especially important for practitioners who have more direct contact with parents than their children.
Supporting and challenging
- Families with multiple complex needs tend to require a greater level of challenge from professionals
- A consistent (and persistent) approach lets parents know practitioners will not let them "beat the system", but also reassures them that they will not give up on them.
- Preventative and early intervention services should be more cautious about challenging parents, to avoid putting them off accessing services.
Being open
- Practitioners should let parents know from the start what support is on offer and what they are aiming to achieve for the family.
- Let parents know the potential consequences of safeguarding disclosures or non-compliance with the service.
Building trust and mutual respect
- Practitioners should appreciate that building trust takes time. Take advantage of the opportunities the assessment process offers to get to know parents and understand their issues.
- Be reliable and proactive (meet agreements within set timescales).
- Keep parents informed about what is happening
- Offer praise for parents' positive achievements.
- The case studies underlined the importance of practitioners' ability to respond appropriately to cultural issues: where possible Action for Children practitioners are matched to parents in terms of experience, background and personality.
- Case studies also stressed the importance of using locations where parents feel at ease.
Empowering and enabling families
- Practitioners should work with parents to identify issues they need help with, the outcomes they want to achieve and set goals or targets to achieve them. A tailored, goal led approach (with room for change over time) allows for flexibility and a focus on partnership.
- Focus on providing parents with strategies to move on from services.
- Model positive behaviour, encourage parents to replicate the behaviour over time.
Action-focused practice
- Practitioners should ensure that the focus on goals, targets and outcomes does not slip.
- The case studies emphasised the importance of maintaining contact and coordinating support with other agencies involved with the family. They also showed Action for Children's role in challenging other agencies to make sure they met their responsibilities.
Practitioners' ability to interact positively with children and young people
- Interacting with children breaks down barriers with parents and allows practitioners to use modelling behaviour.
Ability to facilitate parents' understanding
- Difficult information should be presented in a way parents are able to understand.
The organisational qualities that support the development of effective relationships
Management commitments and ethos
- Managers should develop a supportive service culture.
- An open door approach encourages communication and new ideas.
- Practitioners should be given the independence to get on with their daily work, but should still able to seek help when they need it.
Practitioner training and development
- Formal and informal training opportunities should be widely available. Managers should encourage practitioners to identify and meet their own development needs.
- Good external links and involvement on forums or panels increases access to training and development opportunities.
- Case studies show the importance of shared learning.
Effective supervision
- Good supervision allows a practitioner to build up their skills and provides an opportunity to discuss cases.
The delivery level qualities that support the development of effective relationships
Team development and support
- It is important to be aware of and draw on colleagues' experience and strengths.
- A team should be willing to help each other out where possible.
Creating a welcoming environment
- A welcoming environment is key to making parents feel comfortable and reducing barriers to access.
- New members should be made to feel welcome in group-based services.
Challenges faced by practitioners
The report acknowledged that practitioners faced a number of challenges in building positive relationships with parents, including:
- the need to meet organisational requirements;
- a lack of effective support;
- problems engaging other services;
- and the individual circumstances of the families involved.
Outcomes achieved for children and families
A number of positive outcomes were identified from building up good relationships with parents.
Children were noted to:
- have improved attendance at school,
- be kept safe,
- and to display improved emotional well being and development.
Families had:
- improved parent-child relationships,
- improved stability (family and housing)
- and improved parental confidence and self-esteem.
References
Crowther, Kathryn and Cowen, Georgina (2011)
Effective relationships with vulnerable parents to improve outcomes for children and young people: final study report (PDF). [Watford]: Action for Children.
Action for Children and York Consulting (2011)
Skills framework: for developing effective relationships with vulnerable parents to improve outcomes for children and young people (PDF). Watford: Action for Children.
Action for Children and York Consulting (2011)
Organisational framework: for developing effective relationships with vulnerable parents to improve outcomes for children and young people (PDF). Watford: Action for Children.
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