1. The Everyday of Parenting Cooloon Children’s Centre Inc Excellence for Children and Families Funded by the Australian Government Department of Family and Community Services ‘Stronger Families and Communities’ Strategy

2. Proposal The first 5 years in a child’s life is critical to his/her long-term development and well being All parents are vulnerable to some extent; young children are naturally challenging and demanding Many parents feel overwhelmed by parenting, isolated and lacking in confidence

3. Most parents recognise how challenging it is to be a good parent Most parents recognise how challenging it is to be a good parent Survey from the Australian Childhood Foundation report findings ‘The Concerns of Australian Parents’ (Tucci, Goddard & Mitchell, March 2004) Almost two thirds of the parents interviewed believe they could be better parents for their children 3 in 4 of parents interviewed do not believe that parenting comes naturally. Over half of parents (56%) lack confidence about their parenting.

4. Parents find the early years of childhood and adolescence to be the most challenging stages of a child’s development. Survey from the Australian Childhood Foundation report findings ‘The Concerns of Australian Parents’ (Tucci, Goddard & Mitchell, March 2004)

5. The majority of parents believe spending time with children gets lost in trying to balance work and family. The majority of parents want more information about how to improve their relationships with their child Fear of criticism acts as a barrier to parents asking for support and information. Finding the right approach to disciplining children is a significant issue for parents Survey from the Australian Childhood Foundation report findings ‘The Concerns of Australian Parents’ (Tucci, Goddard & Mitchell, March 2004)

6. How does this apply to an Early Childhood setting? Children and families have a long-term, trusted relationship with Centre staff Staff can identify needs through interaction with the children in the service Parents are disclosing areas of concern and difficulty without stigma on a regular basis as they access childcare The childcare centre is an ideal place, safe and familiar, for parents to receive support.

7. Funding Strategies– Core Beliefs Funding Strategies – Core Beliefs The core business of children’s service staff is providing quality care Existing staff would not have the additional time, resources or necessarily the skills to work with parents Program requires dedicated parent support staff Costs for providing childcare with qualified early childhood staff in a child setting need to be included

8. Program Strategies at Cooloon Reading Together Program Supported Playgroup Home visits Discussion nights Social functions Focused parenting library and internet resources Peer-driven support groups

9. Program Strategies at Cooloon Monthly newsletters – enrolled and wait- listed families Increased community presence – Interagency groups, Families First, Early Intervention, media, local services, private practitioners ‘The Things they didn’t tell us about Parenting’ – parenting course Employment of dedicated family worker

10. Advantages of Centre-Based Parenting Support Based within an existing supportive relationship, in a familiar and safe regularly accessed setting Committed to a longer term process of ongoing support Can offer a flexibility in the methods of support delivery Has both early intervention and prevention capacity Can be delivered for a group or for individuals Outside referrals can be monitored and supported

11. Advantages of Centre-Based Parenting Support Parent programs can be tailored and modified to suit the unique needs/concerns of parent community Can be adapted to reflect and respond to the diversity and variety of ‘family’ Approach is holistic – works with the family as a system

12. Challenges Ignorance and/or misinformation that still exists about both early childhood and the role that early childhood services play Competitiveness or ‘suspicion’ between community based and commercial services Gap between early childhood and family support philosophy and practices Parent’s willingness and/or ability to identify needs Family time constraints, perception of need, sense of safety, willingness to disclose, personal values and beliefs Space consideration and restraints within a service, particularly as they relate to issues of confidentiality and privacy Ongoing funding

13. Funding Strategies– Core Beliefs Funding Strategies – Core Beliefs The core business of children’s service staff is providing quality care Existing staff would not have the additional time, resources or necessarily the skills to work with parents Program requires dedicated parent support staff Costs for providing childcare with qualified early childhood staff in a child setting need to be included

14. Conclusions If given adequate recognition, funding and resources children’s services are ideally placed to respond to families as part of an ongoing relationship. The nature of the setting in children’s services allows for parenting supports and interventions that are child-centred. ‘There may not be one “right” way to parent every child, but parenting might need to respond to the particular characteristics of the child’ (Sanson and Wise 2001)