Tusla's parenting support champions project: process, implementation and outcomes

Abstract

The Prevention, Partnership and Family Support (PPFS) Programme is a comprehensive programme of early intervention and preventative work which is being undertaken by Tusla – Child and Family Agency in Ireland with the support of the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre (UCFRC), National University of Ireland Galway (NUI Galway). This Programme is being implemented collaboratively by Tusla and its partner organisations by way of five main work streams (Tusla, 2017), one of which is the Parenting Support and Parental Participation work stream. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs’ ‘High-Level Policy Statement on Supporting Parents and Families’ (2015) gives a policy platform for Tusla to strengthen and grow Parenting and Family Support as an effective prevention and early intervention measure to promote best possible outcomes for children. To that end, Tusla produced the Parenting Support Strategy, which ‘sets out the strategic direction of the Child and Family Agency in its role in supporting parents so as to improve outcomes for children and young people’ (Gillen et al., 2013). As part of the implementation of the strategy, Tusla has developed the Parenting Support Champions (PSC) Project. PSCs are existing practitioners working with children and families who are employed by Tusla and its partner organisations. At the time of writing there were 107 PSCs across Tusla’s 17 areas whose role is to: • Promote the objectives of the Parenting Support Strategy within their area. Part of this work is to support parental participation initiatives. • Facilitate parents getting involved in the planning, delivery, and evaluation of services in partnership with related initiatives and networks. • Promote the 50 key evidence-based parenting support messages, including Parenting24seven to parents.1 • Participate in relevant planning and networking events within their area that are related to the implementation of supports for parenting, where possible. The UCFRC at NUI Galway is responsible for the research and evaluation of the PPFS Programme, and its work focuses on the process and implementation and outcomes of the programme over its lifetime. This report details the findings of the research undertaken on the PSC Project. Preceding reports on the PSC Project include: The Parenting Support Champions Questionnaire Report, The Report of the Parenting Support Champions Regional Learning Group, and the Second Report of the Parenting Support Champions Regional Learning Group.2