Assessing Parenting for Better Partnerships & Parent-Child Interaction
Many of our posts have discussed the value of assessing parenting in collecting evidence of outcomes (1,2 & 3) and for obtaining funding for family services programs (4,5 and 6). Beyond documenting evidence and obtaining funding, parenting assessment offers information to build nurturing parenting. Upon entry into a family services program, an initial parenting assessment can identify parents’ current strengths. As we have discussed earlier, identifying strengths and reinforcing them early can build a strong working relationship and increase engagement (7).
Our research has consistently shown that parent engagement in the family services program is a predictor of parenting quality (Comfort et al. (2010). Keys to Interactive Parenting Scale: KIPS Shows How Parents Grow. Zero to Three Journal, 30(4), 33-39 and Comfort et al. (2011). KIPS: An Evidence-Based Tool for Assessing Parenting Strengths and Needs in Diverse Families. Infants & Young Children 24(1), 56-74). The initial assessment of parenting skills can also identify areas that the parent may want to improve. Choosing a parenting goal can motivate change and result in immediate success during parents’ interactions with their children. Early success can further promote family engagement in services. As engagement increases, the risk of attrition decreases.
This brings to mind a video we have in our online video collection of two home visitors from North Carolina describing a particularly highly engaged husband and wife. When they thought their play interactions with their child were going particularly well, they used to shout, “KIPS me now! KIPS me now!” By KIPS they were referring to the Keys to Interactive Parenting Scale. For this couple, seeing their improvement and a little friendly intra-marital competition proved very motivating.
Building Confidence
Another value of assessing parenting is building confidence. Using a validated parenting assessment, parenting service providers can offer objective support to reinforce parents’ progress and build their confidence. An example of this is described in a recent KIPS TIPS newsletter. After a teen mom saw her parenting assessment results, she said, “I now know that I am a wonderful mom who just happens to be a teen.”
As the partnership develops between parenting service provider and parent, further assessment information can be used to specifically tailor services to address each individual parent’s strengths and needs. The parenting assessment becomes what Nohemi Ortega, Yuma Parents as Teachers Program Supervisor in Arizona, calls our “learning tool” for the partnership to use in reflecting together and planning next steps. These conversations could lead to goal setting and brainstorming about alternative strategies for parents to use as they interact with their children. In addition to reflecting and planning, parenting assessment information can document that a parent’s goal has been achieved, or is showing progress toward the goal, and can reinforce gains made. All of these build confidence, further motivation and engagement.
Continuous Cycles of Improvement
When parents and parenting service providers partner in discussing specific information from assessments, they can collaborate as a team to focus their efforts, adjust their strategies and effectively promote children’s development. To engage the family successfully, the provider will need to adapt the type of information shared to each family’s level of comfort and understanding. When each goal has been achieved, they can celebrate the success, and then focus on another area for family growth. This forms a cycle of assessment guiding intervention, which leads back to another assessment. This cycle can improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of family services. When describing her use of a parenting tool, Debbie Lancuki of Three Rivers Healthy Families in Virginia commented, ” I find that KIPS helps me identify specific areas to work on which focuses services with each parent. By using KIPS over time, we can track progress and decide when we are ready to move on to new areas.”
In the hands of a skilled parenting service provider, a parenting assessment tool can inform the work, enhance the partnership with parents, and promote engagement which results in more nurturing parenting. More nurturing parenting results in better attachment, improved child development, as well as physically and mentally healthier children.
Aren’t these the aims of parenting services?