Children’s Commissioner advocates a positive approach to parenting
Published in Blog by Holly Ingram on December 20th 2022
Holly Ingram, policy and engagement officer at Tavistock Relationships, welcomes Part Two of the Children’s Commissioner’s ‘Family Review: A Positive Approach to Parenting’, which recognises the harmful impact of parental conflict and encourages parents to seek relationship and parenting support.
It is encouraging and refreshing to see that the impact of parental conflict is being recognised and we congratulate the Children’s Commissioner for having the courage to argue that “if we really want to help families, so we can help children, we must first look at parenting.”
... for children, the closeness of their relationships with parents, and parents’ relationships with one another, is utterly vital for their outcomes in later life.
The reviews research “reaffirms the strong link between key parenting behaviours and children’s outcomes” and rightfully identifies how “for children, the closeness of their relationships with parents, and parents’ relationships with one another, is utterly vital for their outcomes in later life."
... parenting programmes, systemic family therapy and the Reducing Parental Conflict programme ... have strong evidence basis in supporting harmonious relationships within families.”
Due to the significant impact parental conflict has on young peoples outcomes, we applaud the Children’s Commissioner’s Office for encourging parents to seek relationship and parenting support. We endorse the review’s recommendation for parents to access support through interventions such as “parenting programmes, systemic family therapy and the Reducing Parental Conflict programme”, all of which “have strong evidence basis in supporting harmonious relationships within families”.
Funding for Family Hubs
We note with interest the commissioner’s suggestion to review the “funding streams for services delivered through Family Hubs – with a particular focus on health visiting, parenting programmes, early help and Start for Life, with the aim that Family Hubs are also an access point for Reducing Parental Conflict and Supporting Families." We commend this suggestion for Family Hubs to be an access point for Reducing Parental Conflict and agree with the need to review the funding streams for Family Hub services.
For Family Hubs to provide adequate relationship support for parents, we believe the evidence accumulated through the Government’s Reducing Parental Conflict (RPC) programme should be used to inform these commissioning decisions.
[Put] families front and centre of our politics and policy making.
We echo the review’s recommendation for parents to access support through the interventions tested in the RPC programme, and call on the Government to ensure that training is provided to all local authorities so that family practitioners are able to deliver the interventions found to be most effective in reducing parental conflict. Doing so would signal that the Government is listening to the Children’s Commissioner’s plea to put “families front and centre of our politics and policy making” and ensure that vulnerable families receive the support they need.
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© 2023 Tavistock Relationships. All Rights Reserved.
10 New Street, London EC2M 4TP
Tel: 020 7380 1975
Registered Charity Number: 211058. Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology. Company number: 241618.