innovations in parenting support: an evaluation of the ymca's ‘parenting teenagers’...

CHILDREN & SOCIETY VOLUME 16 (2002) pp. 143–153Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/CHI.692

Innovations in Parenting Support:An Evaluation of the YMCA’S‘Parenting Teenagers’ Initiative

This paper describes the evaluation of a three year Initiative run by

the YMCA. The aim of the Initiative was to set up 30 differentprojects in YMCA centres in England, to provide help and support to

the parents of teenagers. The Initiative was evaluated by the Trust forthe Study of Adolescence. Funding was agreed for 29 projects, which

included group-based courses, ‘Dads and Lads’ projects, mediationschemes, transition evenings, and families and computing courses. Avariety of outcomes from these projects are identified, both for

parents, young people, project workers, and the YMCA as anorganisation. Key issues and learning points from the Initiative are

also identified. Finally, some general comments are made aboutstrategies to provide support to the parents of teenagers. Copyright #

2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Background

The YMCA’s ‘Parenting Teenagers’ Initiative, which isdescribed in this paper, was planned in the mid-1990s. At thattime there was a Conservative government in power whichsaw ‘parenting’ as very much a private affair (for furtherdiscussion see Coleman, 1997; Coleman and Roker, 2001).There was relatively little support available for parents,particularly the parents of teenagers. Some group-basedcourses were available, although provision was patchy (seeSmith, 1996; Roker and Coleman, 1998, for further details). Arange of materials was also starting to appear, including books,audio-tapes and videos. Despite these developments, themajority of information and support was, in the 1990s, stillbeing targeted at the parents of babies and young children(see also Wolfendale and Einzig, 1999, for further details).

Since this time, much has changed, and the end of the threeyear Initiative sees a much different picture of parentingsupport than at the start. The election of the Labour govern-ment to power in May 1997 heralded a change of focus andemphasis in relation to social policy, including in relation tofamilies and parenting. In particular, many branches of the

Copyright # 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Debi Roker andHelen RichardsonTrust for the Studyof Adolescence

Correspondence to: Dr Debi Roker,

Trust for the Study of Adolescence,

23 New Road, Brighton BN1 1WZ.

E-mail: [email protected]

Labour government have demonstrated an interest both in parenting in general, and in theparenting of teenagers in particular. During the last few years the government, and otherbodies, have established and extended a range of initiatives to support this group ofparents. These include: the setting up of new organisations, such as the ParentingEducation and Support Forum, and the National Family and Parenting Institute; theHome Office’s funding for a range of innovative ‘parenting teenagers’ projects; theintroduction of Parenting Orders as part of the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act (seeHenricson and others, 2000, for further information on this); and the promotion ofParentLine as a primary mode of telephone support for parents. All these changes havetaken place during the course of the YMCA’s Initiative, and provide the policy backdropto the project, which is described below.

The YMCA’S ‘Parenting Teenagers’ Initiative

It was in the mid-1990s that the YMCA became interested in working with parents. Seniorstaff at YMCA England (the main policy arm of the YMCA) were convinced of thepotential value of YMCA centres working with parents of young people, as well as withyoung people themselves. Four factors provided the foundation for this view: First, therelative lack of support for parents of teenagers compared with that available for parentsof younger children, and the obvious need of this group of parents for support. Second, thepotential benefit to young people and their family relationships of providing parents withinformation, help and support. Third, the increasing numbers of young people who wereaccessing accommodation at YMCA centres, as a result of family discord and breakdown,led to a view that working with families more broadly could contribute to improvedfamily relationships. Fourth, the wide range of skills and expertise of YMCA workers, aswell as the resources of YMCA centres, were seen as a valuable foundation for workingwith parents.

As a result of this change in focus, the YMCA committed itself to undertaking aprogramme of work with the parents of young people. Following a period of fundraising,YMCA England secured funding to set up the ‘Parenting Teenagers’ Initiative, which ranfrom late 1997 to the end of 2000. The aim of the Initiative was to set up 30 differentprojects, based in YMCA centres, to provide help and support to the parents of teenagers.The YMCA’s senior staff responsible for this work wanted to establish projects that hadnot before been undertaken within the YMCA, and encourage workers to set upimaginative projects which would be of interest and value to their local community. TheTrust for the Study of Adolescence (TSA), an independent research centre, was asked toundertake an evaluation of this Initiative.

The Evaluation of the Initiative

There was a relatively small amount of money available for the evaluation, and so themajority of the information was collected through self-completion questionnaires. As eachproject was agreed by the Initiative’s Advisory Group (see later for details), the projects’workers were sent a questionnaire to complete. They then completed anotherquestionnaire when their project ended, or for ongoing projects, at the end of theevaluation. In addition, in order to collect more in-depth information from some projects,the Advisory Group selected five projects as case studies. The case studies involved a TSA

144 Debi Roker and Helen Richardson

Copyright # 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. CHILDREN & SOCIETY Vol. 16, 143–153 (2002)

researcher visiting the projects, talking to workers, and interviewing parents and youngpeople where appropriate.

The questionnaire completed before the project started asked about the following:

� the type of project that was planned� the aim of the project� whether the project was open to all parents, or whether participation was restricted in

some way� the practical details of the project (location, timing, etc)� whether young people were to be involved in the project� whether workers were experiencing any difficulties or concerns in setting up their

project.

In the second questionnaire, at the end of the project, workers were asked about thefollowing:

� what had happened in the project, and what had taken place� the numbers and characteristics of parents who participated (and young people where

applicable)� things that they considered to have worked well, and not so well, in their project� the impact of the project on participants� whether the project was likely to continue� whether they had further work with parents planned.

The data collected from the questionnaires and five case studies were then analysedduring the summer of 2000, and a report on the results written for the YMCA. (A copy ofthe full report on the evaluation is available on request from the YMCA, details at end ofpaper). The projects set up in the Initiative, and the results of the evaluation, are givenbelow.

Development of the Initiative

At the outset of the Initiative a Development Adviser was appointed to coordinate theprogramme. An Advisory Group for the Initiative was also established. The DevelopmentWorker organised a variety of events (one day and residential), for anyone working withina YMCA who might want to set up a project to work with parents. These eventsdemonstrated the types of parenting support projects that YMCA’s could set up as part ofthe Initiative. The Development Worker also visited individual YMCAs, to discusspossible options with workers. Individual YMCAs then prepared an application, whichwas then submitted to the Advisory Group for approval. The YMCA workers who wereplanning these projects were generally experienced youth workers, with skills andqualifications in youth and community work, and groupwork, and a few had specialistskills in relation to counselling or mediation. Most had not previously offered projects forparents in their YMCA.

The Advisory Group met several times a year to decide about applications. Decisions weremade based on: whether the project was considered to be viable, whether it wassufficiently focused on providing parents of teenagers with support, and whether the

An Initiative to Support Parents of Teenagers 145


resources and staffing were appropriate. Only a handful of applications were refused bythe Advisory Group.

In total, 29 applications for projects were agreed from 25 YMCAs in England. Four YMCAsreceived two grants each. The grants awarded ranged from £130 to £1,000, with most beingfor between £500 and £750. Some of these projects were collaborations between a YMCAand other local organisations, such as schools, parenting workers, and religious organi-sations. These YMCAs planned to undertake a range of activities, including the following:

� Group-based parenting courses: generally of six to 12 weeks in length, including one forparents on Parenting Orders

� ‘Dads and lads’ sports projects: where dads and boys/young men would come togetherfor an evening of sport; it was planned to offer parenting sessions for the fathers as partof this

� Mediation schemes: these were designed to offer an impartial setting where youngpeople and their families could work through issues in their relationship

� ‘Mums and daughters’ beauty courses: these projects aimed to provide an opportunityfor mums and daughters to spend time together on a shared activity

� Residentials for parents and young people: these aimed to offer sessions for parentsalone and jointly with their teenagers, as well as opportunities to try out new leisureactivities together

� Transition to secondary school evenings: the aim here was to encourage parents to thinkabout their own experiences of growing up, and the needs of their sons and daughters asthey move to secondary school

� Support groups for particular groups of parents: for example, step-parents, parents ofyoung parents

� Families and computers courses: these would provide an opportunity for parents andyoung people to spend time together, learning a new activity

� Resource libraries: these would provide information and materials for use in work withparents.

The aims of these projects were generally very broad. However, the aims fell into fourgeneral categories:

� to provide knowledge about adolescent development� to provide support for parents, and a psychological space for them to consider their

parenting and relationships� to improve parents’ skills (particularly around communication)� to enable parents and young people to spend time together

It is of note that few of the projects had only one aim; most projects had multiple aims.Many of the projects also hoped to do such things as: increase knowledge about the YMCAlocally, develop community leaders, and promote links between the YMCA and the localcommunity.

Projects set up in the Initiative

We now turn to the projects that were actually run within the Initiative. Of the 29 grantsthat were agreed from the 25 YMCAs, the outcomes are detailed in Table 1. The results of



Table 1 show that 23 of the 29 projects (80 per cent) took place, either according to theapplication or in modified form. Of the other six projects, three had not started (at the endof the three-year evaluation), and three did not take place, either because the staff memberconcerned was not able to organise the project or no parents were interested inparticipating.

The projects that were actually run within the Initiative are detailed in Table 2. This tablerepresents the individual YMCAs in the Initiative. As these results show, 24 per cent of theYMCAs ran group-based parenting courses, 10 per cent ran ‘Dads and Lads’ schemes, anda number of projects were run by one YMCA only. It should be noted that at each of theseYMCAs, some ran several of the projects described, or ran projects that are still ongoing.

Participants in the Initiative

This section details those who participated in the Initiative by four key elements—(i) thenumbers of parents, (ii) gender (iii) ethnicity, and (iv) where applicable, the numbers ofyoung people.

Firstly, we provided figures for the numbers of parents who participated in the projects inthe Initiative. The smallest numbers involved in a single project were two parents whoparticipated in one of the group-based courses. The largest number involved in a single

Table 1: Outcomes of 29 grants agreed in the Initiative

Status Number %

Project took place (according to application or in modified form) 23 80Project agreed but not yet started 3 10Project agreed but did not take place 3 10

Table 2: Types of projects run to date

Type Number %

Parenting course 7 24‘Dads & Lads’ sporting activities 3 10Mediation scheme 1 3‘Mums & Daughters’ activities 1 3Transition to secondary school evening 2 7Quiz evening 1 3Residential for parents 2 7Course for young people 1 3Family fun day 1 3Resource library of parenting materials 1 3‘Families and Computing’ course 1 3Support group for parents 1 3Identifying support needs of young offenders and their families: research project 1 3n/a—did not take place/planning event only 3 10n/a—project not started yet 3 10



project was 125 parents, who participated in a Family Fun Day. In total 365 parentsparticipated in the Initiative as a whole.

Secondly, we explored the gender balance of those parents who participated in theInitiative. Following the trend of much other work in this area, the majority of those whoparticipated in the Initiative were mothers—45 per cent of the projects involved ‘all ormainly’ women. Ten per cent of the projects involved ‘all or mainly men’, primarily the‘Dads and Lads’ projects that were run within the Initiative. Of the remainder, 17 per centwere ‘equally mixed’ in terms of gender, and the other projects had either not started, didnot take place, or did not involve any parents.

Thirdly, we asked all projects to indicate the ethnic mix of parents who participated intheir programmes. The results showed that very few of the projects involved non-whiteparticipants. Only one project involved ‘all or mainly’ minority ethnic parents, with twoprojects describing the participants as mixed in terms of ethnicity.

Finally, although it was not a specific aim of many of the projects to involve childrenand/or young people directly, a calculation was made as to the numbers of children andyoung people involved. The existence of events such as the Family Fun Days made itdifficult to be precise about these numbers. However, figures indicate that over 300children and young people (of all ages) were involved in the projects that took place in theInitiative.

Outcomes from the Initiative

Earlier in this paper, we mentioned the fact that most of the projects in the Initiative didnot have single or specific aims. Rather, most had broad aims, including to provideparents with knowledge and support, to improve skills, and to enable parents and youngpeople to spend time together. The outcomes from the projects reflects these broad aims.Thus the project workers, and our interviews with parents in the case studies, showed thefollowing positive outcomes for parents from participating in the Initiative:

� gaining information about young people and adolescent behaviour� spending time with and getting to know their teenagers� sharing ideas and experiences with other parents� feeling supported and less isolated in their parenting� developing skills to promote better communication and relationships

However, not all the projects were able to demonstrate these outcomes, and this isaddressed further in the Discussion and Recommendations sections of the paper.

It is significant that, as well as these benefits for parents, there were a number of otheroutcomes from the Initiative. These related primarily to YMCA’s as organisations, and toYMCA staff, and included:

� developing the skills and expertise of YMCA staff, in particular via the trainingprovided within the Initiative, such as in mediation skills, groupwork, running group-based courses, and skills to support parents



� promoting collaborations between YMCA staff and other organisations� enabling YMCA workers to participate in training others and disseminating expertise� broadening the public’s knowledge about the YMCA as an organisation� demonstrating that the YMCA has a greater role to play in supporting families than just

working with young people.

The issue of how to identify the outcomes for participants from parent support projects isdiscussed later in this paper. Another set of outcomes from these projects, however, wasthe learning that arose from them, and that can be of value to others working in this field.In the remainder of this section, we identify the learning from these projects, in terms ofwhat worked well, and what did not work so well. Factors that worked well in projectsincluded the following:

� Using a ‘hook’ to attract parents into projects was very important, for example offeringparents information and support through sports sessions, a beauty course, a transitionand quiz evening, and a computer course. These hooks were crucial to getting parents into YMCAs to participate in the parenting projects. Even organising leisure events, suchas the Family Fun days, led to many parents then signing up for parenting courses andmore relationship-focused activities. The use of ‘hooks’ and bridge-building inparenting support was a key learning point from this Initiative. Whilst this is awell-established approach in other settings, such as community development, this was anew approach for many of the YMCAs involved in the Initiative.

� In group-based courses, a number of aspects worked well. These included: offering ‘tastersessions’, focusing on the appearance and wording of the flyer, personally approachingparents to participate who were already known to a worker, paying attention to thevenue and location, and enabling parents to input into the content of a course.

� Being responsive to what happens in a project and amending it accordingly—forexample, the mediation scheme was originally aimed at those aged over 16 only, butwas offered to the under 16s because of the needs of this group, and their demonstrableability to participate in mediation. Flexibility and adaptation in projects was thereforevery important to their success.

There were also two problem areas that we identified in the evaluation of the Initiative.Firstly in relation to getting projects underway at all, and getting parents involved, the twokey issues here were:

� Project workers not having enough time to attend to marketing and selling their projectsto parents, and/or underestimating the amount of effort needed at this stage

� Not being able to attract parents to a project at all (and the disillusionment anddisappointment that this led to), or finding that parents only attended infrequently.

Secondly, in relation to factors that led to projects ending early or not continuing after theinitial project, the main factors were:

� A key staff member leaving the organisation, often the person who had set up and wasrunning the project

� Lack of funding to continue a project.

Both of these issues were identified as problems or difficulties by a large number of theYMCAs in the Initiative.



In concluding this section, it is significant that 22 of the 25 YMCAs involved did have plansto continue their projects, or to undertake other types of parenting work in the future.Despite some of the difficulties described above, therefore, participating in the Initiativehad led YMCAs to plan further work with parents.

Discussion and issues raised

A number of important issues were raised during the course of the Initiative. These arediscussed in detail in the full report (Roker and others, 2000) and are summarised below.

Encouraging organisations to undertake parent support projects: It is significant that,prior to the involvement of these YMCAs in the Initiative, the majority (90 per cent) hadnot undertaken any significant work with parents before. Thus it must be acknowledgedthat, regardless of the outcomes of projects, the Initiative managed to engage a variety ofYMCAs in work with parents, despite their having little history or experience of doing so.Many of these projects were also run in collaboration with other voluntary and statutoryorganisations, encouraging partnership working and the sharing of expertise.

The range of projects offered: The majority of the projects that took place were group-based parenting programmes, including one course run for parents on Parenting Orders.Whilst these projects can all be classed under the single heading of ‘courses’, it isimportant to recognise the diversity of the programmes offered, and their relative successin attracting parents. A number of features characterised those projects that seemed to bemost successful in engaging parents in courses. Those courses which attracted mostparents were generally those where time and effort had been given to ‘preparing theground’, such as by offering taster sessions, and approaching parents individually toencourage them to participate. They also focused on practical aspects such as flyers, andthe location of the course. Projects that organised residential events for parents, or leisureactivities, were particularly successful in encouraging parents to then sign up for courses.

Whilst acknowledging that a significant proportion of the projects were group-basedcourses, it is important to note that many of the other projects established in the Initiativewere innovative and new in some way. Although some approaches had been used withinother contexts, this is the first time they had been adopted within the YMCA. Thus the‘Dads and Lads’ schemes were innovative projects within the YMCA context. Similarly,several of the other projects were also new to the YMCA, such as the families andcomputing courses, the beauty courses for mothers and daughters, the mediationschemes, and the transition evenings. It is important for this field that further work isundertaken to refine and develop these Initiatives, and build on the learning theyprovided. Indeed, it is significant that two of the projects set up during the time of theInitiative—‘Dads and Lads’ and a play on parenting by Y-Touring—are now available ona national basis (see end of paper for further details).

Outcomes from parent support projects: It was demonstrated earlier that there was awide range of outcomes for parents from participating in the projects. The ‘success’ ofprojects was therefore described very differently by those involved, workers and parents.The outcomes described included: improving relationships, developing understanding,gaining friendship and support, learning new skills, and sharing experiences with others.



Despite these reports of positive outcomes, however, it is necessary to question the impacton parent-teenager relationships of participating in some of the projects in the Initiative.Whilst some projects clearly provided a setting for parents and young people to spendtime together, there was not always evidence of a strategy to address parenting andrelationship issues. Addressing this issue was a key recommendation from the evaluation(see later).

Funding for projects: It was shown earlier that most grants within the Initiative were inthe range £500–£749. A number of points need to made about this. First, all the amountsgiven were relatively low, particularly given the size of several of the projects. In mostcases, the funding provided was used for only one element of the project, most commonlythe purchase of materials, or the hire of rooms or equipment. Thus where a project costmore than this, the additional costs were generally born by the organisation, or in somecases the worker offered their time on a voluntary basis. Future projects such as thosedescribed in this paper may need to be funded in full if they are to be viable. Second, it issignificant that for many of the projects the small grant from the Initiative was aspringboard to further funding. For example the mediation project secured funding fromsocial services locally to develop and extend the work; another project which ran coursesin the Initiative found a local partner to fund further courses. Thus undertaking projectssuch as these can lead to new sources of funding for the organisations involved.

Marketing and advertising projects: One of the key issues identified by projectworkers in the Initiative was the issue of how best to market and ‘sell’ projects to parents.A number of strategies seemed to be effective in attracting parents, and these have alreadybeen highlighted in this paper. It is significant, however, that some projects claimed tohave used all these strategies, and still found no interest in the project they offered. It isclear, therefore, that persistence is a virtue in this sort of work, including trying outdifferent projects aimed at different groups. Overall, it is clear that training andinformation about marketing and selling must be a priority for the future. Further workneeds to be undertaken, however, into why parents might—and might not—wish toparticipate in such projects. In setting up parenting support projects, analyses need to beundertaken early on of crucial aspects such as the setting of the project (for example withinschools or YMCA centres), and parents’ perceptions of the values and beliefs of theorganisations involved. The perceptions of parents will have a key impact on theirwillingness to participate in projects such as those described here. Moreover, it is clear thatsome parents see parenting support projects in a negative way, as stigmatisingparticipants as ‘failures’ or being primarily for those in difficulty (see Roker and Coleman,1998). A great deal of work needs to be done to encourage parents to see parenting supportprojects as a positive and valuable activity in which they want to participate.

Training and support: The issue of training, advice and support was mentioned by manyproject workers in this Initiative. Most workers described their colleagues as supportive oftheir parenting work, although a few reported scepticism and suspicion from co-workers,who felt that work with parents ‘diluted’ the YMCA’s primary goal of working withyoung people. For this latter group in particular, it was important to have the support ofthe Initiative’s Development Adviser, and the encouragement and information gainedfrom the training events organised. Indeed, several project workers commented that theywould not have contemplated running their project had they not first attended a trainingevent.



Despite these positive comments, it was clear that some workers occasionally felt ‘out oftheir depth’, having to deal with difficult and sensitive issues raised by parents, such asrelationship breakdown or mental health issues. Supporting those who are engaged inparenting education work, particularly those doing it for the first time, must be a priorityfor future work in this area. Related to this, further thought needs to be given to thetraining and accreditation of those working in this area, an issue currently beingconsidered by the Parenting Education and Support Forum. Whilst it is encouraging to seepeople entering the field of parent support work, this must be done in a way thatacknowledges the need for specialist knowledge, training and ongoing support. Bothworkers and parents need to be protected and supported, with work undertaken to thehighest standards possible.

Recommendations made in the evaluation

In the report to the YMCA on this Initiative, TSA made a number of recommendations.These relate first to the Initiative as it took place (essentially ‘hindsight’ issues), andsecondly relating to future work in this area. The recommendations were as follows:

First, recommendations relating to how the initiative was run (‘hindsight’ issues):

� Specify more clearly how some projects aim to promote better relationships betweenparents and young people. Some projects clearly provided a venue for parents andyoung people to spend time together, but had no particular strategy to addressparenting or relationship issues.

� Increase the amounts of some grants to ensure that all the costs of running a parentingsupport project are included. In addition, work with all projects to attract additionalfunding from other agencies, to expand and develop their projects.

� Ensure that all project workers have access to the training days and residentials, ifnecessary by covering all costs involved.

� Provide additional training and sessions on ‘marketing and selling’ projects to parents,one of the main areas of concern and difficulty for project workers.

� Ensure greater clarity about exactly what individual grants are funding, and formallyauthorise any changes to this.

Second, recommendations relating to future work in this area:

� A considerable number of benefits to parents and families were demonstrated fromparticipating in this Initiative. A key recommendation is therefore that this work iscontinued and extended, whether in the present form or in another way.

� Further work needs to be undertaken to broaden the range of parents participatingin these projects, particularly in relation to engaging fathers and minority ethnicparents.

� Future work should be targeted at attracting a wider range of organisations toparticipate in this work. These organisations would bring with them a broader range ofworking practices, community links, and ethnic/cultural mix.

� Future work needs to address the issue of training and support for those workers whoare running parenting projects, particularly those who are involved in it for the firsttime.



� Further develop innovative ways of working with young people about communicationand relationships, rather than with parents only.

� The role of the Development Adviser in this Initiative was crucial to the success of manyof the projects. It is recommended that in future work this role is maintained anddeveloped.

Conclusions

This paper has reported an evaluation of a three-year long ‘Parenting Teenagers’ Initiative,run by the YMCA. This Initiative was important in focusing on innovative ways to drawparents of teenagers in to parent support projects, and it provided much new and valuableinformation about effective work in this area. The Initiative was timely, in that it focusedon supporting experienced youth workers to undertake work with parents. It encouragedthe development of new skills and expertise, and the development of collaborationsbetween individuals and organisations. As the field of parenting support grows at a rapidrate, initiatives such as this—and the learning that they provide—will becomeincreasingly important.

Further information

For further information about the current ‘Dads and Lads’ Initiative and the parentingplay produced by Y-Touring, or for a copy of the full report on the evaluation, contact:Dirk Uitterdijk, YMCA Training, Dee Bridge House, 25–27 Lower Bridge Street, ChesterCH1 1RS . Tel: 01244 403090.

References

Coleman J. 1997. The parenting of teenagers in Britain today. Children & Society 11: 45–52.Coleman J, Roker D. 2001. Supporting Parents of Teenagers: A Handbook for Professionals. Jessica

Kingsley: London.Henricson C, Coleman J, Roker D. 2000. Parenting in the youth justice context. Howard Journal of

Criminal Justice 39: 325–338.Roker D, Coleman J. 1998. ‘Parenting teenagers’ programmes: a UK perspective. Children & Society12: 359–372.

Roker D, Richardson H, Coleman J. 2000. Innovations in Parenting Support: An evaluation of the YMCA’s‘Parenting Teenagers’ Initiative. YMCA: London.

Smith C. 1996. Developing Parenting Programmes. NCB: London.Wolfendale S, Einzig H. 1999. Parenting Education and Support: New Opportunities. David Fulton:

London.

Contributors’ details

Dr Debi Roker is Assistant Director, and Helen Richardson is Research Assistant, at theTrust for the Study of Adolescence.



innovations in parenting support: an evaluation of the ymca's ‘parenting teenagers’...

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