ABSTRACT
Attention is increasingly being paid to the provision of support to parents to assist them in the rearing of their children. Parenting is viewed as a functional role concerned with a myriad of processes and tasks associated with ensuring positive child development and well-being. Recent policy orientations globally have concentrated on supporting parents as a specific focus in formal children and family services. Parenting support refers to the wide range of initiatives and services that work to inform, develop and enhance parents’ knowledge, skills and confidence to help them in their parenting role and to ultimately achieve better outcomes for their children. Examples of parenting supports include home visiting, parenting programmes, one-to-one advice and support, support groups and helplines. Despite the challenges involved, the inclusion of parents in the design and delivery of these supportive initiatives is advocated as best practice and promoted as a means of achieving positive outcomes for children and parents themselves. In recent years, there has been increasing research and evaluation activity in the area of parenting support to determine an evidence base for effective approaches and the significance of participatory processes in achieving positive outcomes. This chapter introduces this edited collection on parenting support and parental participation in formal children and family services.
