Raise your hand if you’re in favor of positive parent-child relationships. . . .  My hand’s up.  Is yours?  The great news is we are not alone.  We now have friends in high places. If you are affiliated with a family service organization, it’s likely that promoting positive parent-child relationships has been one your major program outcomes for years (see listings in HOMVEE, CEBC). In 2016, the U.S. government has followed in your footsteps and written the parent-child relationship into policy.  During the last couple of months we’ve seen 3 major federal announcements spotlighting parenting.  At last, policy for child and family services is following the longstanding research detailing the benefits of positive parenting for children’s health, brain development and learning.

Administration for Children and Families: Evidence-Based Parenting Services

First, as we shared in our last KIPS Blog, the Administration for Children and Families announced the Parenting Matters! report by the National Academies of Science. This lengthy report reviewed the research on parenting, and then advocated strongly for integrating evidence-based parenting services into all early childhood programs for families with children birth to 8 years.  

MIECHV Now Requires Parenting Assessment

Second, for Fiscal Year 2017, MIECHV raised Parent-Child Interaction to the list of required measures. The MIECHV Program issues grants to US states, territories and tribal communities to support high quality home visiting services with high risk families of children under 5 years. By end of October 2016, the MIECHV-funded practitioners must begin conducting observational parenting assessments with all of the families enrolled in their services using a validated measure, like KIPS. 

Head Start/Early Head Start Focuses on Parenting

Third, and likely to impact the greatest number of children, the Office of Head Start (OHS) issued new Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS) scheduled to take effect in November, 2016. Several of the family-oriented standards take new directions as they press for services to reach out to fathers, offer evidence-based parenting curricula, and document family goals and outcomes. This the first comprehensive revision of the standards since they were published in 1975. Not surprisingly, I turned first to the standards related to Family and Community Engagement, 1302 Subpart E.  I quickly noticed they are attuned to the Parent, Family, and Community Engagement (PFCE) Framework (discussed in a previous blog) released a few years ago as guidance for Head Start/Early Head Start programs. You can study the details for yourself in English or in Spanish. Tune in for our next blog where we’ll take a closer look at a few of the new directions in the Performance Standards pertinent to parenting.

Why the Federal Push to Focus on Parenting? 

The research has been mounting for years on the strong nurturing effects and protective power of parenting on children’s health, brain development, and learning  (see for example,  Neurons to Neighborhoods Update, Parenting Matters! report, video titled Education Nation: Parenting effects on child development). Parenting has finally risen to the forefront!  Public awareness has also grown. It’s now common for parenting books, research and stories to be discussed on TV new shows, radio talk shows, internet news outlets and printed magazines. Perhaps we are all finally admitting that parenting doesn’t come naturally. Parenting is the responsibility of mothers and fathers. Parenting requires knowledge and skills and support to nurture our children. That’s where a parenting assessment, like KIPS can play a role. When offered by a supportive family service practitioner, KIPS can nurture insights into each parent’s specific strengths and needs for growth in parenting. KIPS can also show how parents grow by documenting outcomes for parents and for program evaluation.