Parenting Matters Supporting Parents of Children Ages 0-8 (2016) / Chapter Skim
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7 Toward a National Framework
7 Toward a National Framework
Pages 351-380
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From page 351... ...
As described in Chapters 3, 4, and 5, governments at all levels fund many programs designed to strengthen parenting, as well as a number of income and other support programs and policies designed to enable parents to better meet the needs of their children. The amount of support for parenting programs from federal and state resources has grown over the past 15 years, especially with respect to home visiting programs.
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From page 352... ...
There also are thousands of other parenting programs, funded by state and local governments, as well as foundations and other contributors that focus on a variety of parenting skills. Some of these programs use the evidence-based approaches described in Chapters 4 and 5, but many programs, large and small, have not been evaluated to determine whether they are effective and meet their goals.
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From page 353... ...
Delivering services through large-scale, widely available programs also facilitates program evaluation and experimentation. A number of widely used, federally supported, locally administered programs -- including prenatal care, WIC, home visiting programs, and Early Head Start and Head Start -- can form the core of a strong, coordinated system with multiple opportunities to engage parents.
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From page 354... ...
Establishing and disseminating effective parenting programs requires bolstering the preparation of a workforce capable of engaging the highly diverse groups of parents in the United States (Coffee-Bordon and Paulsell, 2010; Institute of Medicine and National Research Council, 2015)
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From page 355... ...
Many members of the early care and education workforce who provide home visiting or classroom-based services that include parenting components come to their work through schools of education (Whitebook and Austin, 2015)
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From page 356... ...
. Finally, the evidence is clear that improving and expanding parenting programs represents just one investment to support achievement of the desired outcomes for children.
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From page 357... ...
These families often need intensive, therapeutic strategies, such as parent-child psychotherapy, one-on-one parent guidance, and home visiting programs that are connected to psychotherapeutic interventions. Moreover, many of these families need more continuous and coordinated support among different services, including access to income supports, education, and other comprehensive services, such as housing assistance or job training.
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From page 358... ...
While most new parents are likely to benefit from basic information on children's development and the parenting behaviors that promote it, no universal programs for providing this information to parents have been convincingly tested for effectiveness. Some communities are testing the implementation of level 1 of the Triple P-Positive Parenting Program, which offers parenting information through several channels, but definitive evaluations of this approach have not yet been conducted (Prinz, 2014; Prinz et al., 2009; Sanders et al., 2014)
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From page 359... ...
. As described in Chapter 4, programs that provide parenting education during pregnancy can be highly effective in increasing parental knowledge and improving behaviors related to producing positive outcomes for children (Currie and Reichman, 2015)
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From page 360... ...
, has been shown to improve parental knowledge and behaviors associated with positive child outcomes, the limited studies of other programs have found no effects on parent or child outcomes. Labor and delivery classes are another universal setting that could be used to give parents important information about what to expect from their child and where to obtain additional resources in the community as needed.
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From page 361... ...
. Two key systems -- well baby care and home visiting programs -- now provide services and support to new parents.
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From page 362... ...
As described in Chapters 3 and 4, evaluations of home visiting programs have found several models with positive impacts on aspects of parenting and child outcomes. At least one model (Nurse-Family Partnership)
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From page 363... ...
In terms of producing significant child outcomes that reduce the need for additional services, only a few programs have demonstrated costeffectiveness. This could, in part, be because these home visiting programs are not embedded in a larger framework that allows for longer-term and more varied ongoing services that help address a wide array of parenting situations.
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From page 364... ...
In terms of parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices, these programs could focus on attachment, sensitivity to cues and responsiveness, household organization and routines, and language development through creation of a stimulating home literacy environment. Other general parenting education and support programs As discussed in Chapters 2 and 4, beyond well-baby care and home visitation, a number of parenting programs developed in recent years provide education and support on specific aspects of parenting, particularly behaviors that are associated with furthering children's academic preparedness, such as use of language and regular reading to children.
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From page 365... ...
Parenting Programs in Connection with Early Childhood Education In addition to home visiting, the most widespread parenting programs, especially for parents of children under 5, are found in in the context of an early childhood care or education setting (Brooks-Gunn et al., 2000; Chase-Lansdale and Brooks-Gunn, 2014)
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From page 366... ...
Careful integration of proven parenting programs with Head Start and other early care and education programs serving low-income families is needed. In 2011, HHS released the research-based Head Start Parent, Family, and Community Engagement Framework, which is intended to improve services, with the ultimate goal of having a greater impact on school readiness (U.S.
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From page 367... ...
, several obstacles presently impede the implementation and sustained use of best practices in parent engagement. These obstacles include enduring perceptions that parent engagement is a supplement to rather than a core element of high-quality early education; a dearth of official requirements or guidance at the local, state, and federal levels to ensure and incentivize the implementation of these best practices; a lack of attention to cultural and linguistic moderators of effective practices; and an early education workforce that lacks professional preparation in implementing these practices.
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From page 368... ...
In the absence of these programs, many parents would experience great difficulty in helping their children attain the outcomes identified in Chapter 2. Parents with Children with Special Needs or Behavioral Problems As discussed in Chapter 5, there is strong evidence for the value of parenting programs that help parents meet the special needs of their children, including programs for parents who seek advice on parenting children with disabilities and children with behavioral problems.
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From page 369... ...
These adversities include mental illness, substance use, and intimate partner violence. The components of a system for supporting parents experiencing one or more of these adversities and protecting the development of their children would include quality care focused on the parents or family conditions and the addition or expansion of services designed to help these parents provide adequate parenting.
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From page 370... ...
For many parents, participation in a single evidence-based program may be sufficient to help them acquire and effectively use the particular knowledge and skills they need to help their children achieve the desired outcomes discussed in Chapter 2, especially if they have access to ongoing support through wellchild care providers, family, and community. Some parents, however, would benefit from more intensive, longerterm, and more integrated services designed to strengthen and support their parenting.
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From page 371... ...
As discussed in Chapter 5, even when there is a finding of child maltreatment, child welfare services are not well designed to work with families experiencing chronic adversities and are often not successful in helping them -- hence the high level of re-reporting to child welfare services. Child welfare services experience considerable difficulty in responding to the needs of these families and children, beyond protecting the children from immediate harm.
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From page 372... ...
Such a system could begin with screening for significant adversities during pregnancy and at birth within prenatal and obstetric care, WIC, well-child visits, and home visiting programs, much like existing screening for children with disabilities. The goal would be to identify parents needing more intensive services and help them access these services.
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From page 373... ...
Another approach might be to use a care coordinator who would remain in contact with parents on an ongoing basis, help parents monitor their children's progress, encourage those who would benefit from additional services to seek those services out and help them do so, and collaborate with parent support professionals and relevant institutions (e.g., schools and mental health services) to implement effective parenting interventions.
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From page 374... ...
Children and families with such needs could be identified by health care providers, child care and early education personnel, and even family members. While earlier is better, research is clear that even when at-risk children are entering elementary school, it is not too late for effective programs to provide significant benefit.
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From page 375... ...
. Common components of parenting programs for children birth to eight years of age involved with child welfare services.
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From page 376... ...
. Recruiting and Training Home Visitors for vidence-Based Home Visiting (EBHV)
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From page 377... ...
. Enduring effects of pre natal and infancy home visiting by nurses on children: Follow-up of a randomized trial among children at age 12 years.
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From page 378... ...
. Effects of nurse home visiting on maternal life course and child development: Age 6 follow-up results of a randomized trial.
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From page 379... ...
. Supporting replication and scale-up of evidence-based home visiting programs: Assessing the implementation knowledge base.
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From page 380... ...
. Organizational context and readiness for change: A study of community-based parenting programs in one Midwestern city.
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