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Posted: 8th July 2020

Parenting Pathways explained

Sycamore's Emma Marston explains the importance of Parenting Pathways (Emma is pictured third from left alongside chair of trustees Jo Baty and senior project manager Jean Fairweather in the photo from the 2019 Children & Young People's Awards, where Parenting Pathways was a national winner)

Parenting Pathways Project support local parents (across 4 boroughs) who have a learning difficulty. They may have issues understanding or retaining information, so we adapt our interaction for each individual. We use different teaching styles and often we provide easy read sheets to share information, this is text and pictures.. Some families, will struggle developing their parenting skills and retaining the knowledge to empower them to provide good enough parenting due to their level of learning disability. But everyone is given an opportunity and we do our utmost to find ways to assist them to develop their knowledge and understanding. 

The topics we cover include:

What babies need, the importance of play and interaction,

Using a steriliser,

Washing and bathing your baby,

Babies first foods and Weaning,

Healthy Eating,

Safeguarding at home,

Safe people, Assessing risks,

Cleaning and hygiene at home and other topics.

These can be adapted to the individual’s needs as our programme is completely person-centred. Our aim is to empower the parents to put their children’s needs ahead of their own.. There are a number of objectives we try to instil into the parents ,assessing risks, allowing only safe people into their lives and having increased confidence in their ability as parents. planning ahead, and having a routine for their family and setting appropriate boundaries, healthy diet and social interaction are just a few. Our involvement often allows professionals to have fewer concerns for the family and we see CP Plans being changed to CIN Plans. We may see children’s services happy to have less involvement in the family, and in some cases, we see families going on to have no involvement with social services. After we have been involved with a family, we hope to see families able to enjoy time together, managing stress better and knowing who they can ask for support in times of need. We hope to see children eating a wider range of healthy foods, having boundaries for their behaviour and having a good-enough routine at home.

Parenting Pathways believes that parents with a learning difficulty or learning disability should have the opportunity to keep their family together wherever possible, to be fairly assessed, to be properly supported to achieve their potential and to be provided with advice, guidance and support to enable them to keep their family together where this is possible. We are also aware that some parents as much as they love their children do not have the capacity to provide good enough care and for these parents we offer support when the child is removed and with saying goodbye. We can also offer advocacy to clients with a learning difficulty, although this service does come with financial implications to the local authority. An advocate may be required to attend meetings, CP conferences and court hearings to aid the person’s understanding and any outcomes.

We can send referral forms for Parenting Pathways and Advocacy if you send an email to parentingpathways@sycamoretrust.org.uk