Coram evaluation of violence reduction programmes highlights the value of support services for parents and carers in communities affected by violence

Two pilot programmes, Strengthening Families and the Midaye Hope project, were commissioned by the Mayor of London’s Violence Reduction Unit following a consultation which identified a gap in the provision of culturally competent and community-based mental health support services for parents and carers in underserved communities.

Strengthening Families, delivered by Groundwork in Southwark, supported parents and carers from African Caribbean and mixed backgrounds to understand their own and their young person’s emotional wellbeing, as well as manage their young person’s challenging behaviour and feel empowered to deal with the risk of school exclusion. The Midaye Hope project, delivered by Midaye in Kensington and Chelsea, supported parents and carers from primarily Somali and Arabic backgrounds with their families’ emotional and mental wellbeing, as well as to engage and build trust with external services. Both services combined peer support groups with one-to-one sessions from specialists, including therapists. They supported a combined 374 parents/carers in and around the two boroughs between January 2022 and December 2023.

The evaluation suggests that both services positively impacted parental mental health and emotional wellbeing – reducing feelings of anxiety, isolation and stress. The services also appeared to improve communication between parents and carers and their young people, helping parents to better understand and meet their child’s needs.

The pilot programmes also worked directly with schools, and the evaluation finds that in some cases this was reported to shift schools from a punitive mindset into a more supportive mindset that better recognised and met children’s needs. This may have helped reduce school exclusions or managed moves for some children.

One parent who received support from Strengthening Families said: “They were thinking about moving my son to a different school. They were very persistent with that idea… So when [project staff] was explaining how my son is behaving… how he’s struggling with certain things I think the school started understanding that.”

The evaluation finds an increase in the number of parents in the pilot programmes who felt that schools were trying to meet their child’s needs. Parents and carers reported increased confidence in making suggestions to schools about meeting their child’s needs, as well as an increased awareness of school behaviour policies and the school exclusion process.

Richard Ollerearnshaw, Research and Evaluation officer at Coram and an author of the report, said: “These innovative support services were highly valued by parents and carers, who were from marginalised and minoritised communities. Parents and carers also told us about their experiences of disempowerment and discrimination in mainstream state services. 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.”

The evaluation is published today alongside a briefing report for practitioners and services that support service users with emotional well-being and mental health – particularly service users from marginalised and minoritised communities. Coram is also publishing a rapid evidence review of the academic literature relating to the mental well-being of parents and carers from these communities.