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Let's get serious

Posted: 01 March 2005 | Subscribe Online

When you consult your GP or practice nurse, you can feel confident that they are properly qualified to advise you about your health. But for parents seeking advice, there is no guarantee that the professional offering support has any particular expertise or specialist training in working with parents. Some may not even be a parent themselves.

There is a myriad of professionals working with parents, from health visitors working in local health clinics or running Sure Start parenting courses to youth justice workers involved in compulsory parenting orders. And in the rush to get more services for parents off the ground, there is a temptation to assume that anything is better than nothing and that it is sufficient that the intentions of those providing the services are good.

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But poorly trained staff who interfere or criticise parents can do more harm than good. Particularly for parents suffering from low self-esteem or depression, it is vital that support is delivered in a way that enhances their confidence, rather than undermines it.

Mary Crowley, head of the Parenting Education and Support Forum, says this is something that ministers and policy makers are well aware of, not to mention the professionals themselves. Hence the establishment by the DfES of the forum to promote high quality provision in the sector. One of its key tasks is devising and implementing core professional standards for everyone working with parents.

Crowley says: "Because the sector is growing very fast at the moment there aren't enough trained people to do the work. Some professionals are being expected to provide parenting education or support who haven't the training to do it." Another problem for some professionals already working in parenting support is that the medically orientated training they have received does not necessarily fit the bill.

With the help of an expert working group including paediatrians, social workers, health visitors, psychologists and others involved in parenting support, the forum has developed a set of draft national standards for work with parents. This amounts to a 230-page document setting out principles and values, core skills and knowledge, and performance criteria. The standards are being field-tested and are out for consultation at the moment. Crowley says: "They are based on clear research findings about what is effective in parenting support. A lot of it is about the how rather than the what. For example, acknowledging that parents are the experts with their own children, and ensuring parents feel they are always in charge, rather than that people are interfering and telling them what to do."

Once the professional standards have been formally adopted, the next step is to get them implemented. The DfES is funding a training programme for everyone working with parents in Sure Start programmes and children's centres that will use the standards as the bench mark. Crowley and her colleagues at the forum are also in discussion with organisations providing and accrediting training including City and Guilds and several universities to ensure there are enough opportunities for professionals working with parents. They are also looking at different types of training - distance learning and practice teaching for example - for people who can't easily take time out to study.

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Getting all the different professions working with parents to take on board the new occupational standards will be a major challenge. The involvement of bodies like the Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association and the family courts service CAFCASS in their development ought to mean the relevant bodies will have a sense of ownership. Ultimately it will be up to employers to drive up standards by insisting that staff have a professional qualification in parenting before doing this kind of work. But at the moment, while there's a national shortfall in trained staff, providers are in no position to be choosy.

To view the full document, go to parenting-forum.org.uk/documents/NOS2.pdf

Behind the standards
The draft standards for professionals working with parents rest on the following values:

Parenting education and support should reflect the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Parents are acknowledged as having unique knowledge and information about their children.
Work with parents should be non-judgmental and anti-discriminatory and should build on parents' strengths.
Anyone who works with parents should have specific training for that purpose.
Good practice requires reflection and a continuing search for improvement.