Support services for parents in communities affected by violence have been found to positively impact their mental health and improve communication with their children.
Children’s charity Coram evaluated two London pilot schemes funded by the Mayor of London’s Violence Reduction Unit, which supported 374 parents from 2022-23.
The Strengthening Families project in Southwark supported parents and carers from African Caribbean and mixed backgrounds, while the Midaye Hope scheme in Kensington and Chelsea worked with parents and carers from primarily Somali and Arabic backgrounds.
The schemes helped parents understand their own and their young person’s emotional wellbeing and worked to build trust with external services.
On top of the positive mental health impacts, both services were found to help parents better understand and meet their child's needs.
In some cases it was also reported that the projects helped schools shift from punishing children to a more supportive approach that better recognised and met their needs.
Report author Richard Ollerearnshaw said: ‘At a time of record school suspensions and excessive use of permanent exclusions, as well as concerns around violence affecting young people, there is a need for interventions working alongside families and schools to support young people better.
‘More attention and funding is needed in this area.’
