Professional competencies of practitioners in family and parenting support programmes. A German and Dutch case study

Promoting family wellbeing through parenting support in ECEC services: parents' views on a model implemented in Ireland

“…According to the findings of this study, Facilitators being approachable, interested in their work, and responsive to families' specific needs were valued aspects by parents. These findings reinforce the importance of recruiting staff with good interpersonal skills and high motivation, who can build rapport and trusting relationships with parents (Moran et al, 2004;Anders et al, 2019;Cohen et al, 2020). Parents also seemed to value the organisation of activities that were enjoyable and an opportunity for social interaction with other families.…”

“…Recruiting staff with good interpersonal skills, building rapport with parents, and selecting non-stigmatising, comfortable and welcoming venues have been identified as factors that can positively affect the implementation and delivery of parenting services (Moran et al, 2004;Cook et al, 2023). High outreach and good implementation quality of family and parenting support programmes can require practitioners to have professional competencies such as high motivation, and beliefs based on openness and respect towards diverse family lives (Cohen et al, 2020).…”

“…The quantitative data collected also indicated that most participants highly agreed with having their interests and needs considered by the Facilitator. Mutual listening, openness, and adaptability towards families' needs and strengths can potentiate establishing trustful relationships with families, which has been identified as pivotal to enhancing the outreach and implementation quality of family and parenting support interventions (Anders et al, 2019;Cohen et al, 2020;dos Santos et al, 2024;Jiménez et al, 2024). Furthermore, integrating relational practices (e.g., approachability and listening to families) and participatory practices (e.g., replying to the concerns and priorities of families) into how practitioners work with families can positively impact parent, family, and child behaviour and functioning (Dunst et al, 2007).…”

Professional Practice in Child Protection and the Child's Right to Participate

“…In the context of child protection assessment, it is also useful to consider the nine risk principles in children's services, described by Munro (2019), most importantly the first five: the child's safety and well-being have to come first in any situation, decisions have to be made in conditions of uncertainty, harm and benefits have to be balanced in the decision-making process, quality of the practice depends on the quality of decision-making, not the outcome, and the context and circumstances of the situation have to be considered when judging the decision. However, regardless of the specific situation, Cohen et al (2020) outline the assessment to be family and child-centred, strength-based, inclusive, and partnership-based. They elaborate that a family centred approach views the family as a resource to meet challenges and make good decisions.…”

Implementation of ICT-Facilitated Parent- and Family-Focused Interventions in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Contexts

“…Time and resources for face-to-face contact are essential for the building of relationships and are therefore highly important for the success of family support programmes (Cadima, Nata, Evangelou, & Anders, 2017;Cohen et al, 2018;Martin et al, 2020). However, it has also been recognised that constraints on resources, and logistical and geographical barriers can limit programme outreach and participation of families.…”