Family Information & Support

More information

Most of us, at some stage, need a little help or encouragement in the difficult job of bringing up children. You may already have asked friends or other family members for advice, read books and magazines or spoken to a teacher, health visitor or other practitioner.

If, however, you feel you need a little more help or would just like to brush up your parenting skills and enjoy the company of other parents and carers in a relaxed and friendly setting, you might like to follow the link to the description of the different parenting programmes on offer.

When you look at the details of the parenting programmes, keep in mind the following:

All the programmes offered in Staffordshire have been proved to work: most parents have reported improvements in their children's behaviour and feel that family relationships have been much happier generally
The practitioners running the course may be workers from schools, the health service, voluntary or other organisations. Whoever they are, they will have been carefully trained to deliver the programme either on a 1-1 basis or with a group of parents
It's important to stick with the course to make sure that you get the full benefit. Some sessions run in the daytime, some in the evening and most welcome mums, dads, grandparents and any regular carers for the children.
Courses can be more suited to certain age groups or certain issues that families are experiencing. It is worth checking the programme descriptions at
Not all programmes are on offer all over the county. It may be necessary to wait for your preferred choice to be delivered in your district or travel to another area. Sometimes help can be offered with transport or childcare

For more information or help in choosing and accessing the right course for you, please speak to the Family Information Service or chat with a practitioner who works with children, young people and families e.g. a health visitor, parent support worker at school, your children's centre staff or a youth worker.

If you are a practioner who works with children and families, you can find out more information on this page||||.