Reaching and including vulnerable families

Evaluation of the ELPP and PPEL demonstration projects showed it is possible to reach and engage vulnerable parents. The projects generated important learning about the time, sensitivity and quality of relationships needed to overcome barriers to parental involvement in early home learning.

A major shift in focus for many services who participated in the ELPP and PPEL projects was to see vulnerable adults primarily as parents rather than clients and to bring them into a partnership which recognised their importance to their child's learning.

Key messages

  • Allow enough time for focused and persistent outreach to ensure vulnerable families within targeted areas of need are included.
  • Develop practitioner capacity and expertise in relation to outreach work.
  • 'Take the service to the parent' where necessary, rather than wait for parents to come to settings. Work with parents in the home is particularly effective in reaching and engaging the most vulnerable parents.
  • Provide services in flexible ways and at flexible times.
  • Involving parents in early home learning activities can provide a way of reaching vulnerable parents who would not otherwise access services; the focus on helping their children learn, rather than on generic parenting skills, can lessen the feelings of inadequacy that may prevent parents seeking help.
  • Services to engage the most vulnerable families in their children's early home learning cannot stand alone. They need to be part of a raft of services to address multiple needs.
  • A flexible approach is needed when helping vulnerable adults to engage in their child's early home learning. Practitioners need to make informed, responsive decisions about how to best support and involve the parent; other issues such financial worries or depression may need to be addressed before, or at the same time as, helping them to support their children as learners.
  • Voluntary and community organisations have particular expertise in reaching and engaging vulnerable families and have a proven track record in the kinds of responsive and innovative practices that characterise locally appropriate preventative work.(Edwards et al., 2006)
  • Respond quickly when parents raise a concern about their child's development. Parents who experience difficulties in accessing specialist help such as speech therapy may lose trust and confidence in services as a result.

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Last updated: 1st February 2010 at 04:02:09