We are delighted to announce a new edition of the Parents Plus ADHD Children’s Programme manual. Drawing on feedback from trained facilitators and parents who completed the programme, the new edition comes with:
Additional handouts, worksheets, videos and posters
An expanded full colour standalone manual that not longer requires the PPCP manual for delivery.
Additional content on working with ADHD families from a neurodiversity affirming, strengths-based perspective.
Come along to one of our webinars Monday 10th Feb at 2-3pm or Friday 14th Feb at 10-11am, to find out more about the Parents Plus ADHD Children’s Programme and the new edition. Places are free but you must register in advance.
If you have already trained in the ADHD programme, the new Facilitator’s manual can be purchased at a discounted price of 50 euro. The new manual can be used with the the original Parent book.
If you have not yet trained, the next full PP-ADHD programme training starts on the 26th March 2025.
We are delighted to announce our Facilitator Training Schedule at Parents Plus for 2025, offering you an opportunity to build on your skills and enhance your service’s capacity to make a positive impact in the lives of the families you support.
Our scheduled training takes place online. Additional training dates will be scheduled and shared as the year progresses. You can expect the following from Parents Plus Facilitator Training:
Short morning sessions delivered online (with regular screen breaks) over several days, making it convenient to participate while managing your other work commitments.
Practical skills from experienced trainers in solution-focused group work, proven to enhance parent engagement, reduce waiting lists, and lead to better outcomes for families.
Access to a supportive community of practice, providing a space for continuous learning and development even after the training ends.
Affordable training with a purpose. As a charity, all profits from training and materials are reinvested into developing new programmes to meet evolving family needs and sponsoring training and mentoring for services with limited-funding supporting high-need families.
Parents Plus Early Years Programme Facilitator Training
Promoting attachment, learning and well-being for parents of children aged 1 to 6 years.
The Parents Plus Early Years programme (PPEY) is a practical, solution-focused and evidence-based course that builds on parent strengths. It can be delivered over 6-12 sessions to groups of parents or to individual families. The Early Years Programme can be delivered as a universal programme for parents of children aged 1 to 6 years including those with additional needs such as ADHD, Autism, and other developmental differences.
Training takes place online over five mornings from 9.15am to 1.30pm on 24th, 25th, 27th February and 3rd and 4th March 2025.
Parents Plus Early Years Programme One Module Training in Core Delivery takes place on online on 23rd January 2025 from 9:15am-1:30pm. This training is only open to facilitators previously trained in the Parents Plus Early Years Programme.
Parents Plus Children’s Programme Facilitator Training
Promoting attachment, learning and well-being for parents of children aged 6-12 years
The Parents Plus Children’s programme is a practical, solution-focused and evidence-based course that builds on parent strengths. It can be delivered over 6-12 sessions to groups of parents or to individual families.
The Children’s Programme can be delivered as a universal programme for parents of children aged 6-12 years including those dealing with additional emotional and behavioural concerns.
Training takes place online over five mornings from 9.15am to 1pm on 5th, 6th, 7th, 10th & 11th March 2025.
Addressing the particular needs of parents of children with ADHD aged 6 to 12 years
The Parents Plus ADHD Children’s programme (PP-ADHD) is a practical, solution-focused and evidence-based course that builds on parent strengths. It can be delivered over 8 sessions to groups of parents or to individual families.
Training takes place online over five mornings from 9.15am to 1:30pm on 26th, 27th, 28th, 31st March and 1st April 2025.
Parents Plus Adolescent Programme Facilitator Training
Promoting effective communication and positive relationships, for parents of adolescents aged 11 to 16 years.
The Parents Plus Adolescents programme is a practical, solution-focused and evidence-based course that builds on parent strengths. It can be delivered over 6-12 sessions to groups of parents or to individual families.
The Adolescents Programme can be delivered as a universal programme for parents of adolescents aged 11-16 years including those dealing with additional emotional and behavioural concerns.
Training takes place online over five mornings from 9.15am to 1pm on 24th, 25th, 26th February and 3rd and 4th March 2025.
Parents Plus Special Needs Programme Facilitator Training
Addressing the particular needs of parents of adolescents with an intellectual disability.
The Parents Plus Special Needs programme (PPSN) is a practical, solution-focused and evidence-based course that builds on parent strengths. It can be delivered over 7 sessions to groups of parents or to individual families.
The Special Needs Programme is suitable for parents who are raising an older child or adolescent with a mild, moderate or severe intellectual disability, and who may also have a diagnosis, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or a physical disability.
Training takes place online over four mornings from 9.15am to 1:15pm on 26th, 27th February and 3rd & 4th March 2025.
Parents Plus Working Things Out Facilitator Training
Promoting positive mental health and teaching coping skills to adolescents.
The Working Things Out Programme is a practical, solution-focused and evidence-based course that builds on adolescent’s strengths. Drawing on the principles of CBT, and illustrated by the stories of real young people, it can be delivered over 8 sessions to groups of adolescents and to individual young people.
The Working Things Out Programme can be delivered both as a preventative youth mental health programme to promote positive coping, and as an intervention for young people with identified mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression or self-harm.
Training takes place online over three mornings from 9.15am to 1:30pm on 21st, 22nd & 23rd January 2025.
Parents Plus Parenting When Separated Facilitator Training
Supporting parents who are preparing for, going through or have gone through a separation or divorce.
The Parents Plus Parenting When Separated Programme is a practical, solution-focused and evidence-based course that builds on parent strengths. It can be delivered over six sessions, to groups of parents or to individual parents.
The Parenting When Separated Programme is suitable for fathers and mothers as well as residential and non-residential parents.
Training takes place online over three mornings from 9.15am to 1:30pm on 6th, 7th & 13th February 2025.
Parents Plus Healthy Families Programme Facilitator Training
Promoting positive relationships, and family well-being for parents of children aged 0-12 years
The Parents Plus Healthy Families programme (PPHF) is a practical, solution-focused and evidence-based course that builds on parent strengths. It can be delivered over 8 sessions to groups of parents or to individual families.
The Healthy Families Programme can be delivered as a universal programme for parents of babies and young children aged 0-12 years, with an emphasis on establishing healthy habits that promote family health and well-being.
Training takes place online over four mornings on 13th, 14th, 20th and 21st March 2025.
In this article, Parents Plus Disability Programme Lead, Ciara Ni Raghallaigh explores the importance of self-care for practitioners delivering Parents Plus programmes. Just as we encourage parents to prioritise their own well-being while supporting their families, it’s equally vital for facilitators to take care of themselves.
As part of the Parents Plus programmes, we encourage parents to reflect on their self-care. Taking care of yourself as a practitioner is important too and will come in many different forms. Having a colleague or manager to debrief with around the programme delivery is very helpful. This is already built into the programme implementation structure where you meet and review with your co-facilitator in a ‘co-supervision’ space each week.
Pausing to reflect on your practice and how the participants are engaging with each other, the content, and you as the group leaders, will help you process the session delivery. It also gives time to consider parents’ emotional sharing that often goes with the territory when running parent programmes. Having good supportive relationships with colleagues, staying connected with support people outside of work, staying active, engaging with activities and hobbies that replenish you are all features of good mental health and well-being.
Practical Tips for Facilitator Self-Care:
Time: Before the programme starts, plan with your co-facilitator to protect time in your working week to deliver a good-quality programme. This may require five hours per week for experienced facilitators and up to seven hours per week if this is your first programme delivery (see your manual for more information)
Planning: Start planning for your programme at least two months (or more) in advance of the first session. This gives you time to advertise, recruit parents and complete goal-setting with each family. It may require up to ten hours per co-facilitator over this pre-programme period. This time is well worth it to engage parents to attend your programme.
Having back-up: Is there another person on your team who can support as you deliver a programme? This person could assist with room set-up/tidy-up, welcoming parents and making tea for in-person courses. They could help with technology issues and admin tasks for online courses. If you or your co-facilitator can’t attend a session this extra person may be able to step in so the session can go ahead.
Parents helping: Any offers of help made by parents within your group to assist co-facilitators each week can be welcomed. This may include help with room set-up/tidy-up, making tea/coffee, perhaps offering to bake or bring resources to share with the group. This can foster group bonding and as well as supporting co-facilitators with tasks that need to be done weekly.
You and your co-facilitator are welcome to avail of coaching sessions on Zoom with a Parents Plus supervisor. To set this up, and for any further practice support/troubleshooting, you can contact Karin Todd at karin@parentsplus.ie.
Evaluation Shows Sustained Improvement in Parental Confidence and Child Behaviour Six Months Post-Programme
Recent evaluations of the Parents Plus programme for parents of children with ADHD have revealed significant positive outcomes. Conducted by Assistant Psychologist at Parents Plus, Liam McGrattan in collaboration with ADHD Ireland and CAMHS, these evaluations provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of this evidence-based parenting programme developed by Parents
Plus.
Positive Outcomes from Parents Plus ADHD Programme Evaluations
Between 2022 and 2023, Parents Plus evaluated the Parents Plus ADHD Programme, gathering feedback from 118 parents of children diagnosed or expected of having ADHD. This evaluation incorporated both quantitative and qualitative research methods, providing a well-rounded view of the programme’s effectiveness.
According to the study, parents experienced significant improvements in managing their child’s behavioural symptoms associated with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and ADHD symptoms of inattention. Parental satisfaction remained high six months after the programme ended, indicating that the Parents Plus ADHD Programme has long-term, positive effects on families. The quantitative evaluation revealed that parents felt more confident in managing and understanding their child and ADHD after completing the programme.
John Sharry (Clinical Director of Parents Plus) commented on the programme’s impact:
This evaluation provides strong evidence that the Parents Plus ADHD programme equips parents with the tools and knowledge to support their children effectively. The results show that the benefits extend well beyond the duration of the programme.”
Building Support Networks Through Solution-Focused Group Work
The qualitative evaluation further highlighted the positive experience parents had during group sessions. Many participants found support in sharing experiences with others facing similar challenges. This led to the development of friendships and support networks, where parents could exchange ideas and offer advice to one another on managing the unique challenges of parenting a child with ADHD.
Parents also appreciated the Parents Plus ADHD programme materials, such as the parent book, which provided ongoing resources and information even after the programme had ended. These materials helped parents feel more able to manage future challenges.
Parents Plus Commitment to Evidence-Based Parenting Programmes
Parents Plus is committed to providing high-quality, evidence-based parenting programmes. Its ongoing evaluations ensure that the Parents Plus ADHD programme continues to meet the evolving needs of parents and children in Ireland, the UK and beyond. For more information about the Parents Plus ADHD Programme, including training opportunities for facilitators, visit our dedicated webpage.
Practical Tips for Handling Silence and Creating Connections
When learning group facilitation skills practitioners often ask: “What if nobody responds when I ask a question?” It’s normal for parents to take some time to open up and share their thoughts and experiences, especially in group settings. This doesn’t mean they have nothing to say! It just means they may need a bit more support to feel comfortable speaking up. As a facilitator, your role is to create an environment where parents feel safe, respected, and connected.
Here are a few strategies to encourage parent participation in a group:
Before the programme starts, take time to meet with each parent one-on-one. This is an opportunity to get to know the parents, understand their goals, and start building rapport. It’s also a chance to lay the foundation for open communication during group sessions.
Early on, establish a group agreement, setting expectations for how the group will work together, support one another, and respect differing opinions and viewpoints. This can ease concerns around judgment and confidentiality, making parents more comfortable and more likely to contribute.
Use facilitation techniques from your Parents Plus training:
Try a group round where each parent shares their thoughts.
Use breakout rooms or small groups which are more comfortable for some parents.
Invite specific parents to contribute by using their name, e.g., “What are your thoughts on this, Lisa?”
Use the chat function for online sessions to give everyone a chance to share without speaking out loud.
Tune in to parents and pay attention to feedback forms—are parents feeling supported? Are they making progress? If needed, follow up between sessions.
While there’s lots we can do to support parents’ participation, it’s also important to remember that some parents will prefer to speak less, and that’s okay. As Parents Plus facilitators we can appreciate that respecting their comfort level is part of good facilitation. Finally, don’t be afraid of silence – it often gives parents the time they need to gather their thoughts before responding. A little silence is absolutely fine!
For more tips on facilitating group sessions or to enhance your group facilitation skills, explore the resources in our Parents Plus members area!
Karin Todd is a Parents Plus trainer and supervisor and is an experienced facilitator of our evidence-based programmes. Her professional background includes youth and community work, service management and therapeutic family work. Karin has a special interest in adolescent psychotherapy and in the family experience of parental separation and loss. She currently works in a community-based setting as a family support practitioner.
Gill Moses and Eileen Brosnan from Parents Plus, recently facilitated a bespoke Community of Practice session with a group of practitioners from Better Finglas who were trained in and delivering the Parents Plus ADHD programme to families in their area.
The online ADHD Community of Practice session was specifically tailored to the topics and challenges for this highly motivated and skilled group of Finglas based practitioners. It was full of discussion, sharing of experience, reflection on core facilitation skills and troubleshooting – the 90 minutes flew by.
Focus for this group:
Content and structure for the post-programme follow-up group session offered to participating parents at 3 or 6 months after the 8 week programme ends.
Ensure the parents come back and get the opportunity to talk through their successes, continuing challenges and get onward signposting to any further support needed.
The importance of parent feedback
Refreshed on the Solution Focused Practice model
Applying this approach to group work and the pre group individual goal setting sessions.
Feedback from the Better Finglas practitioners
“Sharing of information for programme follow up sessions – it gave me a real fire in my belly to arrange the session for parents that had attended as I truly believe it will be very beneficial for them to reconnect.”
“Really helpful discussions and information/tips supporting facilitation skills and challenges of delivery.”
“To have a space to reflect and discuss our learning as a group.”
“Knowing there are ongoing Community of Practice sessions and opportunities to check in with Parents Plus when needed.”
Better Finglas is an Area-Based Childhood (ABC) programme for Prevention and Early Intervention, funded by the Department of Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth (DCDEIY), delivered through the Prevention Partnership and Family Support (PPFS) within Tusla. Bernardo’s is the lead agency for Better Finglas.
A key aim is to respond to family support and parenting needs in their community. Having identified the need for families struggling to support their children around ADHD issues, many of whom were on waitlists for assessments and services, the team set about their first round of delivering the Parents Plus ADHD programme. This programme is suitable for parents of children with a diagnosis of ADHD, as well as for parents of children with symptoms of ADHD and/or who are awaiting assessment.
We are delighted to announce the return of the Parents Plus ‘Innovations in Practice’ Conference. Join us onlineon the morning of Wednesday, 13 November 2024 – 9.15 AM to 11.30 AM.
Be Inspired: Learn from leading practitioners pioneering new approaches in delivering Parents Plus programmes. Engage with best practice case studies from a variety of sectors including Family Resource Centres, Children’s Disability services and CAMHS. Leave motivated to apply these insights in your own practice.
Be Informed: Hear about the latest meta-analysis of the Parents Plus evidence base and discover new research findings on the Parents Plus Healthy Families programme.
Make an Impact: You will also have the opportunity to engage with colleagues from across sectors through interactive breakout sessions. Exchange ideas and discuss the challenges of effectively implementing parent programmes.
Whether you are already delivering Parents Plus programmes in your service or are new to our community, this interecative online session is open to you. This is a fully sponsored Parents Plus event and free to attend.
Follow Parents Plus on LinkedIn for further conference updates.
Here is an overview of the programme:
9.15
‘Innovations in Practice’ – Welcome and Context Prof. John Sharry, Clinical Director, Parents Plus
9.20
‘New Parents Plus Evidence – Meta-analysis (2023) & recent Parents Plus Healthy Families Programme Research’ Prof. Alan Carr, School of Psychology, University College Dublin
9.45
‘A preventative approach for the Management of Overweight and Obesity within the context of the Health Service Executive Model of Care – The Parents Plus Healthy Families Programme Dr. Kathy Looney, Assistant Professor, School of Psychology, University College Dublin & Dr. Adele Keating, Senior Clinical Psychologist, Our Lady’s Children Hospital Crumlin
10.00
‘Working in Partnership with Parents in delivering the Healthy Families Programme’ in St. Kevin’s Family Resource Centre, Kilnamanagh, Dublin Yvonne Anderson, Family Support Manager & Healthy Families Facilitator Samantha Byrne, Family Support Practitioner & Healthy Families Facilitator
10.15
Interactive breakout session – working together in small online discussion groups addressing topics and challenges in implementing Parent Programmes.
10.35
’A collaborative approach to supporting parents in separation and divorce – the Midwest Family Resource Centre Network, Parenting When Separated Project’ Ciara Kane, CEO, Northside Family Resource Centre, Limerick
10.50
’Embracing neuro-affirming practice through the Parents Plus ADHD programme’ Lisa Whitlock, Parent Support Team – Lead Coordinator, Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
11.05
‘Flexibility in delivery to meet the needs of families – Parents Plus Special Needs Programme with a younger age cohort’ Liza Kelly and Sinéad Wearan, HSE Children’s Disability Network Team practitioners
11.20
Closing commentsand FeedbackProf. John Sharry, Clinical Director, Parents Plus
Professor Alan Carr is founding director of the UCD doctoral programme in clinical psychology. He has a couple and family therapy practice at the Clanwilliam Institute where he treats individuals couples and families with a range of psychological challenges across the lifespan. His research programme at UCD focuses on clinical psychology, family therapy, parent training, and positive psychology. He has produced over 25 books and 250 papers and presentations.
Dr Kathy Looney
Dr Kathy Looney is an Assistant Professor at University College Dublin and a Senior Clinical Psychologist at Children’s Health Ireland, Temple Street working in the Healthy Living with CHI Child and Adolescent Complex Obesity Service. Dr Looney has co-supervised research on the Parents Plus Healthy Families Programme. In her presentation Dr Looney will discuss the importance of the programme as a preventative approach to childhood overweight and obesity.
Dr Adele Keating
Dr Adele Keating is co-author of the Parents Plus Healthy Families Programme and a Senior Clinical Psychologist in the Endocrinology Department in Children’s Health Ireland, where she works with children with obesity. In the presentation, Dr Keating will give an overview of the Healthy Families content and discuss the research rationale behind the programme content.
Samantha Byrne
Samantha Byrne is an Early Years Educator on the management team in St Kevin’s Family Resource Centre Childcare. She has a wealth of experience working with children under five having worked in the Early years sector for over 17 years. She is passionate about providing first class quality childcare to all children and working in partnership with parents. Samantha is an accredited Parents Plus Healthy Families Facilitator. “One of the many positives of facilitating the Parents Plus Healthy Families programme is seeing first-hand the benefits of this programme for the participating families.”
Ciara Kane
Ciara Kane is CEO of Northside Family Resource Centre, a prominent FRC located in Limerick City, whose mission is to provide safe, welcoming, and supportive opportunities. She holds a Master’s Degree in Community Development from the University of Galway and postgraduate qualifications in conflict intervention and family mediation. Ciara has a deep understanding of the complex challenges faced by parents living in deprivation and poverty. Using a collaborative, grassroots, and solutions approach, she is committed to providing support and advocacy to families, empowering them to create sustainable and positive changes in their lives.
Lisa Whitlock
Lisa Whitlock has worked alongside parents for over 20 years, starting off in community playgroups then later moving into CAMHS delivering a range of parent groups. Her hope is to empower parents to understand their child and be present with them, acknowledging there is no “rule book”. Lisa manages the Parent Support Team in Gloucestershire CAMHS where up to 12 Parents Plus programmes a year are delivered. She is also a facilitator and trainer for the Parents Plus ADHD Children Programme. Lisa has two adult children and a three-year-old grandson.
Liza Kelly
Liza Kelly works in a Children Disability Network Team in Co. Laois where she facilitates the Parents Plus Special Needs programme, creating a safe space for parents to share their experiences and learn from one another. She has worked in the intellectual disability field for 30 years, starting her career in Stewarts Hospital Palmerstown, supporting young adults to live in a self-directed way, making their own choices. Following this as an advocacy officer in Inclusion Ireland, developing and promoting self-advocacy locally, nationally and at European level and with Muiriosa Foundation in Laois creating new services for school leavers with varying support needs. She is a mother of 3 teenage boys, a yoga teacher, and loves being outdoors.
Sinéad Wearan
Sinéad Wearan is currently a Trainee Educational Psychologist. After spending 22 years serving in the Irish Defence Forces, Sinéad undertook a BA(Hons) Degree in Psychology, followed by an MSc in Autism in Queens University Belfast. She followed this with a HDip in Counselling and Psychotherapy. Sinéad has worked as an Assistant Psychologist in Primary Care before moving to the Children’s Disability Network Team as a Behaviour Therapist. It was in this role that she trained as a Parents Plus Special Needs facilitator, recognising the benefits immediately with families but also acknowledging this course could also serve parents of children with intellectual disability under the age of 10.
Yvonne Anderson
Yvonne Anderson is a Project Manager at St Kevins family resource centre. She started her career working in the Garda Youth Diversion programne with young people and their families involved or at risk of becoming involved in anti-social/criminal activity. In her current role she coordinates services for families including play therapy, counselling, family support, education, childhood bereavement and parental separation. She has a keen interest in development of people and working alongside them in their journey.
Northumberland Case Study: Working with Separated Parents
Background
Family hubs offer universal and targeted support for all children and families, including those where parents have separated or are separating.
Family Solutions Group highlighted that in 2021 there were 2.3 million separated families in the UK, affecting 3.6 million children. The report What about me? A child’s right to matter recommends that family hubs “recognise children whose parents separate as a discrete target group in need of support and direct services through the national family hub programmes.”
Building capacity of services to improve outcomes for children and families.
As we look back on 2023, we would like to acknowledge the impact made possible with the services we work with, across mental health, disability, family support, education and youth services.
Through building the capacity of these services to improve outcomes for families by training and supervising their teams to deliver and evaluate our evidence-based parenting and mental health programmes, we continue, together, to ensure that families can avail of proven parenting support, at their point of need, and in the their local communities.
Together, we have continued to deliver on our mission, and we look forward to even greater impact in the future.
I am pleased to present Parents Plus Annual Report 2023, which is an important opportunity to look back at 2023, spotlight our charity’s key achievements and activities, and acknowledge the challenges facing our sector.
As a small Irish charity, with over 25 years’ experience researching and developing evidence based parenting and mental health interventions for services supporting families, I am incredibly proud of the invaluable work and collective commitment of Parents Plus team, and voluntary board of trustees, to deliver on our mission to improve outcomes for children, adolescents and their families, by empowering professionals to deliver and evaluate our programmes through their services in local communities. Without you, none of this life changing work would be possible.
Our model of developing tailored parenting and mental health interventions in partnership with services and families for services and families, means that teams are better equipped to work collaboratively with parents to achieve the outcomes they define for their family, with our proven programmes, supervision, evaluation and outcome tracking. Indeed, our model of reinvesting all profits made from sale of our professional parenting and mental health intervention packages into development of new programmes to respond to the evolving needs of families, and in sponsorship of services with limited funding, to train in our programmes, emphasises our steadfast commitment to working together with community, mental health, disability and education services, to improve outcomes for families.
I would like to extend a special thank you to our funders of 2023 including The Community Foundation Ireland and The RTÉ Toy Show Appeal, An Pobal and The JP Mc Manus Benevolent Fund. We are extremely grateful for your support, which enables us to continue to provide our evidence-based and subsidised services at affordable rates to services supporting families, children and adolescents.
Building on the work done in 2022 to increase the impact of Parents Plus charity, and guided by Parents Plus Strategic Plan 2022 – 2025, developed in partnership with Rethink Ireland, 2023 was an extremely busy year for Parents Plus with the charity working with over 900 professionals across the community, mental health, disability and education sectors. The charity trained over 740 professionals in the delivery of our suite of evidence-based programmes and provided supervision and implementation support to 283 practitioners. We also delivered seminars to a range of professionals across Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS), disability, family support and education, in key areas such as ‘Improving outcomes for children with ADHD by empowering parents’, and master classes in Solution-Focused Groupwork.
A significant milestone in 2023 was the announcement in December of Parents Plus three year partnership with the HSE. The partnership with HSE Disability Division, will see our charity work with the 92 Children’s Disability Network teams (CDNTs) and provide our proven trainings and implementation support for 160 practitioners over the next three years, to build their capacity to improve outcomes for families with evidence-based parenting support, the Parents Plus Early Years Programme and Special Needs Programme, as well as provision of tailored workshops on the Parents Plus Solution Focused Model of working with families, and supervision, accreditation and evaluation support.
Other notable milestones of 2023 include the continued RTÉ Toy Show Appeal transformative grant funded delivery of online Parents Plus programmes to families via Parentline, ADHD Ireland and the Midwest Parenting When Separated Project, as well as the JP McManus Benevolent funded training and supervision of services in Limerick and Clare in the delivery of the Parents Plus Special Needs and Early Years Programmes.
2023 saw Parents Plus charity continue to build the capacity of a wide range of public and community and voluntary sector organisations to improve outcomes for families and children, including the TUSLA Traveller Project, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) to roll out the Adolescents and Working Things Out programmes in secondary schools, and supporting the Tavistock and Relate services in the UK to deliver the Parenting when Separated Programme.
The charity also continued to invest in infrastructure to support growing the impact of our evidence-based services, including investment in HR consultancy, external governance review, PR expertise, SORP reporting, and salesforce functionality, all continuing to enhance delivery of high standards of governance and regulatory requirements, as well as our purpose and mission.
Without question, as with all services in the charitable sector, the economies we are working in remain challenging. Many of the services we worked with in the UK in 2023 experienced significant budget cuts. Parents Plus also experienced the challenges of rising costs to deliver our services across, for example, print and distribution. Nonetheless, the need for our services has increased considerably, and the charity has observed gradual recovery and steady progress.
As a member of the Parents Plus team since 2019 I was proud to accept the position of CEO of this invaluable charity in June 2023. The issue of inequitable access to proven parenting interventions for parents raising children, via services in their local communities, remains a challenge. However, as we embark on 2024, we are confident that as a team, and with the services we support, we can and will collectively make a significant positive impact in driving our mission forward and achieve our vision of a country where families in need have access to proven and tailored parenting tools from the services they turn to, in their communities, early on in their journey, improving their outcomes and preventing difficulties arising.
The Core delivery of the Parents Plus Early Years programme (PPEY) is an alternative to the original delivery format of the programme. The concepts of the original programme and the written materials for parents have been adapted to become more accessible to a wider range of parents.
This alternative delivery allows facilitators to run the programme with individual families in a flexible manner, shaped to their needs over an extended period of time.
For facilitators already trained in the PPEY, we offer a special one-module training on May 28th, 2024, to demonstrate how to use the PPEY Core Programme, which includes an introduction to the new format and content, a recap of solution-focused video feedback skills, and copies of the new Parent Pack and Facilitator notes.
This special one module training to show you how to use the PPEY Core will take place on the8th October 2024 (9:15am-1:30pm) online via Zoom.
This training workshop will – *Introduce you to new PPEY core format and content * Recaps on skills of solution-focused video feedback Copies of the new Parent Pack and Facilitator notes are included.
You can book a place on this special one-module training via the button below.
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