Work effectively with families to Work effectively with families to care for the child care for the child

Unit Introduction Week 2 – 25/7/2013

The family is the most powerful influence on children's learning and development;

therefore it is crucial that children's experience in their family and the family's

perspective on the child are taken into account and that professionals operate in partnership with parents on behalf of their

child.

The most significant contribution that children's services professionals can make to a child's life is to enhance parent's understanding and appreciation of their child, increase their confidence in carrying out the challenging and enormously complex role of being a parent, and ensure that they understand that they are the most important people in their child's life.

While there are some dimensions of the parenting role that cannot and should not be delegated to anyone else, in many ways the notion embodied in this Framework is that use of a children's service can be likened to sharing parenting, sharing the provisions for the child's development. (Stonehouse, 2002)