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Flintshire Youth Justice Service Parenting Support Programme

Supporting the Parents of Adolescents

∞Promoting Engagement and

Overcoming Resistance

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Flintshire Parenting Support Programme

Aims to improve the relationships between parents and children with the overall aim of preventing anti-social, criminal or challenging behaviours.

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Background

Intermediate Treatment Officer 1990 – Clwyd County

Juvenile Support Officer 1994 -2000 -East Division Clwyd

Youth Offending Team Officer 2000 - Flintshire

Youth Justice Service 2003 - Parenting Coordinator

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History

It was during the mid 1990s that our service began to recognise that any work with a child could be undone if no change was promoted with regard to their relationships with their parents, carers or siblings. In fact our interventions made things worse at home and in some cases it……

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Past mistakes

Disempowered parents Caused resentment within sibling

groups Increased attention on child’s

challenging behaviours further labelling the child as the problem

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A more holistic approach was needed.

In 1995 the youth justice service commissioned Dr Carol Sutton, De Montfort University, to deliver Positive Parenting training to our service.

This training helped us prepare for the formation of Youth offending Teams in 2000.

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YOUTH OFFENDING TEAMS !!

Following the Crime & Disorder Act 1998 Youth Offending Teams, known as YOTs, were established in all authorities in England and Wales.

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Legislative framework

‘’ Parenting is a challenging job. Helping parents to develop good parenting skills is an effective way of ensuring that problems in a child or young person’s behaviour or development are not allowed to grow unchecked into major difficulties for the individual, their family and the community.”

Home Office (2000) Parenting Order GuidanceCrime and Disorder Act 1998Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003

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The work with parents or carers was to be undertaken within the framework of:

Voluntary Parenting Interventions

Parenting Contracts

Parenting Orders

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Referral routes

Multi-agency Prevent and Deter Panel Youth Court Young People’s Drug & Alcohol Team

Families First - Early Intervention Parent Support Programme

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The referral and assessment process strives to help parents:

Overcome RESISTENCE Encourage

ENGAGEMENT Increase parental

SELF-CONFIDENCE Develop

RESILIENCE

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The referral and assessment process strives to identify:

Parental strengths and weaknesses

Triggers of conflict

Parenting styles

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Engaging with Resistance and Working Towards Change

Resistance to change is normal!

Starting where parents are and taking their feelings and views fully into account is the key to providing an effective service.

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Engaging with Resistance and Working Towards Change

Resistance may not just reside with parents:

Time to be heard without being judged, acknowledgment of feelings, support and information sharing is as important for professionals as it is for parents.

Good staff supervision is important in order to promote engagement and keep programme integrity

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Engaging with Resistance and Working Towards Change

Assessment is part of the intervention process.

An informal, supportive style which encourages trust building is the key to engagement. Think conversation rather than administration

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Engaging with Resistance and Working Towards Change

The capacity to take on change is a process which comes about through the relationships made between parents and parent support workers.

Programme content is secondary to the importance of good facilitation skills and a parenting worker’s ability to maintain programme integrity .

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Interventions include

‘Challenging Years – Living with Teenagers’ -- individual or group intervention.

‘Take 3’ parenting programme Family agreement work Resource library….Parenting

CDs..Relaxation CDs Referral to other adult services.

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Evaluation and monitoring includes:

The Family Grid evaluation tool is used at the start and closure of an intervention.

It measures a parent’s self esteem and confidence in relation to themselves and their relationships with their child.

Parents are evaluated after 6 months of closure

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Outcomes:Parents comments following an intervention:

‘Since being on the course my home has become more stable, mainly because I didn’t realise that I was the root of the problem , so I changed the way I was and not tried to change my son and it really worked. No more conflict – a nice calm home. I would not have been able to realise that it was the way I was parenting that was the problem……

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Outcomes:Parents comments following an intervention:

‘I would not have been able to do it without the support. I stand back and think and don’t take sides any more. Things have improved so much and my son has not been getting into trouble’.

‘’We have to change ourselves first…’

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Recent developments;

Flintshire’s Parenting Strategy Plan has provided framework for development

Comments made in the evaluations have led to an expansion of our service to include a referral route for an early intervention for the parents and carers of adolescents.

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Current excitement and future plans!

Develop parent engagement in service planning and delivery

Overcome new barriers or resistance Engage partner parents to embrace

proposed scheme Encourage new facilitators in the

wider community to expand effective interventions of support

Thank you