New parenting strategy launched for county

An ambitious new five-year strategy aimed at guiding the delivery of supports to local parents and their families has been formally launched by Cathaoirleach of Cavan County Council, Aontú's Sarah O'Reilly.

The virtual launch of the 'Strategy For Parenting Needs In County Cavan' took place last week, an initiative developed by the Parenting Cavan group and its panel of expert advisors - Cavan County Local Development, Tusla, CMETB, CYPSC, HSE, family resource centres and Cavan County Childcare.

Launched in December 2017 through funding from Healthy Ireland, Tusla and charitable sources, Parenting Cavan works on an interagency approach to deliver Parents Plus programmes throughout the county.

In total nine Parents Plus programmes were delivered between 2019 and 2020, with the delivery of the courses moving online due to COVID-19 late last year.

The new strategy, which looks to deliver those supports more formally, was funded by Leader in partnership with Cavan County Council and Cavan Local Action Group.

In a pre-recorded message, Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration Roderic O'Gorman welcomed the progression and impetus of Parenting Cavan.

“We know that all parents will need support at some point in their child's life,” said the minister, noting that the “challenging times” brought about by Covid and lockdown have only shown further the importance of a network of supports being available when required.

He congratulated the progress made by Parenting Cavan in bringing the new strategy to fruition and said his department is already working on a national model for such supports.

The minister concluded that Parenting Cavan was great example of services “working together”.

CCLD Chief Executive Terry Hyland informed the launch that one of the challenges arising was to secure a “sustainable” source of funding to deliver the model of supports envisaged by Parenting Cavan. He said discussions had already taken place with the Department in that regard.

Sinead Archibold is a mum who has availed from several training courses through Parenting Cavan. She too welcomed the development of the strategy, explaining: “When things did get out of control, I found the Parenting Plus programmes really, really good because they gave me the confidence back."

She went on to say the “techniques” learned, as well as the opportunity to share her experiences with the group, gave her a sense of taking back “control”.

Minister Heather Humphreys, Minister for Rural and Community Development; Social Protection; and Acting Minister for Justice told the launch that being a parent is “one of the most rewarding” roles in life, though she accepted it was “not without its challenges”.

Supports, she said, can take many forms, and welcomed the work done by Parenting Cavan to date.

Finbarr Fitzpatrick was contracted by Cavan County Local Development to write the strategy, and through the support of the expert advisory group, engaged in extensive stakeholder engagement in its delivery.

He said one of the “most important” elements of the strategy is that the parenting programmes are “accessible to all”.

A young mum of four, who also went through separation, Cathaoirleach Cllr O'Reilly commended the work done by Parenting Cavan. “I'm fully aware of the strains that parents can be under,” she said, noting how current courses are often fully subscribed. “The demand is there, and the need is real.”

Before officially launching the strategy, Cllr O'Reilly added her hope that funding would be made available for the programme long-term. “This strategy should future-proof the future of parenting Cavan.”