This report provides a review of a number of parenting programmes available in New Zealand. Both government-funded programmes and a selection of programmes not solely government-funded are reviewed. The government-funded programmes selected for review (Family Start, Parents as First Teachers, Home Interaction Programme for Parents and Youngsters, Anau Ako Pasifika, Whanau Toko I Te Or, and Parenting programmes run in prisons) are principally aimed towards vulnerable and at-risk parents with children aged 0-6. Domestic violence is noted as one of the variables that make up at-risk families. Each programme is discussed in terms of its objectives, duration, the number of participants, where it is available throughout the country, who it is specifically targeted towards, and reasons for participants' non-completion. Further demographic information is also available in an appendix. The report advises that programme data should not be compared due to the diversity in the scope and nature of the programmes, and recognises limitations in the data. Programmes that receive limited Government funding or that are solely community funded are discussed briefly in the review. These include Plunket, Parents Incorporated, Barnardos, Presbyterian Support Services, Parents Centre, and Early Start. The report also discusses the benefits of parenting programmes, characteristics of successful programmes, and key issues in the provision of programmes. The report concludes that there needs to be collaboration between government and non-government sectors to develop a strategy that supports the parenting role. Early intervention programmes should be available in all communities, and the problem of large numbers of vulnerable families withdrawing from government-funded programmes needs to be addressed. A call is made for further research into the skills and knowledge that are required for effective parenting.

This report has been archived by the National Library of New Zealand within the archived Superu website.

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