Effective parenting programmes key to reducing child maltreatment: Families Commission report
Thu 24 Apr 2014
The Families Commission has released a report which finds effective parenting programmes are key to reducing the risk of child maltreatment. The ...
The Families Commission has released a report which finds effective parenting programmes are key to reducing the risk of child maltreatment.
The report Effective Parenting Programmes: A review of the effectiveness of parenting programmes for parents of vulnerable children reviewed international and national evidence on the effectiveness of parenting programmes as a way to reduce the risk of maltreatment of vulnerable children aged 0-6 years.
Focusing on parent education, parent training and home visitation programmes, the report finds that few parenting programmes have been shown to actually reduce maltreatment, rather the programmes bring about positive changes in parenting and children's health and behaviour which arguably reduces some parental risk factors associated with maltreatment. In particular, home-visiting and parenting education and support programmes are shown to have small to moderate positive effects on children's health and development and on parent's behaviours, attitudes and beliefs.
The report finds New Zealand provides a range of parenting programmes, yet rigorous evaluation is required to judge the effectiveness of these. There is general acknowledgement that a mixture of universal, targeted and re-abuse prevention programmes is needed. As no one programme will be able to meet all the needs of parents, investment in innovation and improvement of programmes will be required to match programmes with the needs of the community.
Families Commissioner Belinda Milnes said "This is a complex environment and these families don’t live in silos. They are often grappling with a mix of issues including drug and alcohol abuse, family violence or maternal depression...Not surprisingly, the report finds there is no silver bullet – no single programme meets the complex needs of all families. But it does identify the common elements that make for an effective parenting programme and how to successfully implement them."
The report will contribute to the Children's Action Plan and is to be used by government to ensure funding of effective parenting programmes.
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