Supporting Home Start volunteers to reduce parental conflict

Family & Health Services Commissioning were proud to be invited to Home Start Watford & Three Rivers volunteer signposting event in October to present on Hertfordshire’s Relationship Support offer. In addition to raising awareness of the offer for parents and carers, resources were shared with volunteers to support dialogue around parental conflict and build confidence in identifying and supporting parents in conflict.

The relationship support offer aligned so well with the other presentations at the event including those on the Family Centre Service, Herts Mind Network, Citizens Advice Watford, Watford Women’s Centre and the SEND local offer. The networks across the Families First Partnership are integral for supporting this offer to reach those parents and carers in need. We want to ensure all partners feel confident to identify and support parents and carers in conflict and we can flex training and resources to meet the needs of all organisations.

We know that conflict between parents can affect multiple outcomes for children, including emotional, behavioural, social and academic development. Conflict within relationships is a result of how we manage stress and communicate with our support network. Often, we work with families to support the “stress” whether that be due to worklessness, housing or debt as examples but it is so important to ensure parents and carers have the skills and resilience to manage stress and communicate this effectively strengthening their support networks.

If you think you or someone you are working with would benefit from the Relationship Support offer take a look at the support available: Relationship support for parents | Hertfordshire County Council

If you would like to get in touch about how we can help your organisation to identify and support parents and carers in conflict contact Nicola Wilder at EHCommissioning@hertfordshire.gov.uk