Good Practice Element: Building on strengths and creating trust
West Belconnen Good Beginnings
This case study demonstrates the importance of using a strengths based approach and building trusting, consistent relationships with families. West Belconnen Good Beginnings aims to promote parents’ confidence and self-esteem, and strengthen their belief in their own parenting skills. It does this by supporting parents through a home visiting program and by encouraging families to link with other support services. The home visiting program provides trained volunteers, called Community Parents, to support the parents and provide positive role models. The Community Parent is able to develop a unique relationship with the families while providing the necessary support to develop confidence and parenting skills.
The community
West Belconnen Good Beginnings operates out of Holt Primary school in Canberra and targets families with babies and young children in the West Belconnen area of the ACT. This area has pockets of significant disadvantage including a high rate of public housing, a high rate of unemployment and high numbers of families experiencing poverty.
Auspiced by Belconnen Community Services, the project is jointly funded by the Federal Department of Family and Community Services and the ACT Department of Education and Community Services. It is staffed by a Coordinator and a Community Worker (both part time). A Community Committee with broad representation of local agencies, Community Parents and parents provides a range of expertise and fulfils an advisory role.
Intervention approaches
The service recruits, trains and matches volunteers to parents who may benefit from having a role model to help in developing basic skills such as establishing daily routines and budgeting and providing emotional support. Often the parents have had negative childhood experiences and poor parenting role models; little parenting experience to build on; and limited opportunities to develop self-esteem and social skills. They may have experienced professional contact with services that they have not been considered positive, and are therefore sceptical and feel threatened by professional contact. Many parents using the service lack peer support and social networks within their neighbourhood.
Community Parents visit the family on a regular basis and maintain involvement for as long as the client has a need. Once involvement in the program ceases the family often maintain contact with the community parent as a friendship has evolved. Community Parents adopt a strengths based approach to build on the skills and confidence of the parent.
By fostering linkages with other agencies such as health services, parent support groups, schools, TAFE and the various programs offered by Belconnen Community Services, Good Beginnings can provide parents with access to a range of community supports to help them manage the many and complex issues that parents confront. The project also collaborates with other organisations in the delivery of some services. For example a mobile toy library has started to assist in resourcing the supported playgroup (which is run by the community parents) to provide input to parents on appropriate play. Other examples of this is a cooking class which is run in conjunction with HACC (Home and Community Care) and Belconnen Community Services, and working in tandem with the Family Support Team in providing counselling and advocacy to clients. The project also does some joint casework with other agencies, with meetings which involve the client, Good Beginnings and the external service provider jointly identifying and addressing the client’s goals and support needs.
One external service provider feels that West Belconnen Community Services has been very successfulin engaging those who are more reluctant to participate in parenting programs. This is because "they are very good at engaging people at the human level…they don’t come in as experts…people are more comfortable with a person considered equal and non judgmental."
Individual outcomes
Wendy, a young parent of 2 small children, was homeless and in a destructive relationship with the father of her children when she first made contact with the program after having been referred by a support facility for mothers and babies. Wendy is now living in stable accommodation, has some part time employment, is positive about her parenting ability, feels connected to her local community, and has set some boundaries which she is able to adhere to in relation to her ex- partner. Wendy now talks with pride about the positive changes she has made to her life and reports feeling confident. Wendy feels this is largely due to the partnership she has forged with her community parent.
Wendy and other parents feel that the programs’ success lies in the selection of the community parents. All report that they:
"…are flexible and individual in how they work …are good listeners and non-judgmental… are committed …are comfortable to be around …make me feel good about myself... are good at making positive suggestions…provided useful information on things like sleeping, breastfeeding, toilet training, and outings with children….helped me with budgeting….provided emotional support and reduced the stress in our lives …helped me with problems in my relationships, and…..have often become a grandparent like figure for my kids. Its made me…feel good about myself and my ability as a parent.…now I have an understanding for the reasons my kids behave like they do and having ways of managing them…be aware of other services in the community …before I wouldn’t go looking for services and now I would."