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Successful parenting services get extra cash
Parenting services for some of the country's most vulnerable, including teenage mums and dads, disabled parents and families facing break up are to get a share of up to £8m, announced Children's Minister Beverley Hughes today.
Projects such as helping parents with drug/alcohol problems, sports sessions and parenting workshops will have their Parenting Fund grants continued until March 2009. The additional funding will allow successful projects to seek permanent long term funding from their local authorities, giving parents and their children the ongoing support that has changed lives for the better.
Children's Minister Beverley Hughes said: "The recent report on the Parenting Fund showed that thousands of families have been helped by the excellent services these voluntary organisations provide. We all know that children don't come with an instruction manual, and that all parents need some support at certain times. I'm pleased that our Fund is doing so much to provide that support and give parents the confidence to look after their children and give them a good start in life."
The Parenting Fund is run by the Family and Parenting Institute on behalf of the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).
Honor Rhodes, Director of Development at the Family and Parenting Institute said: "This funding boost is a real tribute to all those involved in the Parenting Fund projects across the country. Without their hard work and dedication we wouldn't have such wonderful outcomes for parents and children. It is excellent that the Government was able to listen and act when the funding shortfall and the possible closure of projects were identified.
"We will work with all the projects that continue for the extra nine months, using this time to not only to help them support more parents and children but also to seek permanent funding for their services."
Projects in the second round of the Parenting Fund round include those that:
* support parents and children with mental health problems
* provide help and advice for teenage parents
* work with families to help reduce conflicts which can lead to a child leaving home and living on the streets
* encourage black and minority ethnic parents to access family support services.
One of the projects to have their funding extended is the Dads R Us project in Barnardo's Community House, Derby. The project organises sports sessions with Derby County football club, father and toddler groups and Wacky Races car mornings.
The dads meet regularly to plan and organise the sessions themselves and these are promoted widely to encourage as many dads and children to attend as possible.
One dad said "The events are fun for both me and my children" and another said "we've learned that there are all sorts of learning opportunities when you can give your children a positive message."
This additional funding will align the Parenting Fund grant cycle with the financial year, making it easier for third sector organisations to participate in local authority commissioning and to help local authorities embed these excellent services in their local parenting strategies. It will also help third sector organisations build their skills so that they are ready when Local Authorities think about services they will fund from April 09.
The Parenting Fund will continue until 2011 and there will be a new bidding cycle for the third round to cover the financial years 2009-10 and 2010-11
NOTES TO EDITORS
The Parenting Fund was established in 2004 by the Department for Education and Skills, now the Department for Children, Schools and Families. It enabled the voluntary and community sector to develop parenting support in England.
The Parenting Fund is managed by the Family and Parenting Institute.
The first round ran from 2004-2006 and funded 140 projects around the country with nearly 1 million children, parents and practitioners benefiting. A report on round one is available to download from http://www.familyandparenting.org/information,publications
The second round of the Parenting Fund started in July 2006 and awarded £14 million to 131 projects. A full list is available from the Parenting Fund website.
Furthermore, the Government is also investing an additional £110m over three years 2008-11 through The Parenting Support Strategy Grant to provide 15 Family Pathfinders to work with the most disadvantaged families, to provide two parenting advisers in every local authority and expand the Parenting Early Intervention Programme to reach the majority of LAs in England. For further information on the PSSG, please contact Rosalia Borgese on 020 7273 1197 or email Rosalia.Borgese@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk
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