‘Mums and Dads Forever’ : A Cooperative Parenting Initiative

- an ‘intake’ interview to assess readiness for group work,

- up to four one-hour individual counselling sessions,

- a six-week workshop programme, and

- mediation on request.

Although we originally intended to run children’s groups, logistical constraints have precluded this goal. Instead, we have referred a number of parents to other agencies that offer children’s support services.

We have found the information forums difficult to schedule. Their timing and presentation in the central city area proved problematic in terms of access, particularly for those parents who could not get time off work. In order to reach a wider audience, we are looking at running the forums in suburban community centres both during the day and in the evenings.

The counselling support and mediation services are integral to the parental group workshop process, and it is the preliminary results of the evaluation of this ‘triage’ approach that are reported in this paper. All services are provided free of charge, with the only condition being that participants provide as much feedback as possible so we can fully document and evaluate this pilot programme.

Evaluation Framework

The evaluation framework was incorporated in all facets of the programme planning. We have used the Context, Inputs, Process, and Product approach for educational programme evaluation and a client-centred method that allows the participants to determine the outcomes that are specific to their needs. Social work evaluation literature suggests that such a client-centred approach is particularly relevant in this type of programme, which continues to evolve.

A number of methods of data collection were used:

- weekly participant feedback from the workshop groups,

- weekly assessment of each workshop by the facilitators,