Theoretically, increasing family resilience, may contribute to an increase the resilience of communities. However families in South Africa experience challenges to their resilience, often owing to a variety of historic, socio-economic, and political factors. Research and intervention planning that attempts to ameliorate the effects these factors,…

Consideration is given in this article to the provision, practice and positioning of universal parenting programmes in Northern Ireland. The article commences with an outline of the provision of programmes that currently exist in Northern Ireland, progressing to an overview of the practice and the positioning of these programmes. This is followed…

The subject of engaging mothers in appropriate family support continues to be debated and this paper explores the complex factors that influenced one mother's willingness to accept support. In addition, it captures how her family support worker built and sustained a "help-providing" and "help-receiving" relationship despite the…

This study used a pre-experimental and post-experimental design to evaluate a TEACCH-based Early Intervention Programme. Thirty-one parents of 18 preschool children recently diagnosed with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder attended the eight-week programme delivered by trained facilitators. Parents completed pre-intervention and post-intervention…

Families bereaved by suicide can experience an extremely intense and complicated grieving process. This can be associated with a range of difficulties and can put bereaved family members at risk of a range of problems. In recognition of this, Barnardo's Child Bereavement Service piloted a two-day residential programme (integrating separate…

This article explores the interface between adult mental health issues and child development. It refers to the literature on the impact of parental mental health difficulties on children's developmental trajectories. The article then describes a pilot scheme involving a partnership between the Northern Ireland Association of Mental Health and…

The article is based on a practice task, which was completed as part of the Higher Diploma/Masters in Family Support Studies at NUI Galway. The practice task explored in this article was conducted in a residential care unit that specialised in working with children and families. The care team based in the unit strived to provide more than…

This paper provides an account of the design, development and implementation of a postvention model of responding to the needs of families within a community following the aftermath of a tragic event, including suicide. This model was developed for a specific disadvantaged urban community. The paper includes the context of the need for such an…

This article draws on results of an evaluation of Sure Start activities in an area of South Wales in 2004, focusing in particular on measurements of improvements to child development and measurements of benefits to parents. The article reports on the methods that were used to collect relevant data and examines the problems associated with linking…

What might family support services look like in the reconfigured children and family services after the Children Act? This is the question this article attempts to explore by drawing on evidence from the National Evaluation of the Children's Fund in England. The article describes common features in two case-study sites that might indicate the…

Parenting programmes have been provided to a wide range of child and parent groups across a number of countries, but are they effective? This aim of this paper is to examine the findings from a number of systematic reviews that summarise the best available research evidence on the impact of these programmes on a range of parental and child…

Sure Start is a Government project that aims to prevent social exclusion by targeting children between 0 and 4 years of age living in areas of social and economic deprivation. This study examined whether a Tier 2 Behaviour Support Service within a local Sure Start project was able to bring about improvements in children's behaviour and the levels…