Supporting families

No child is an island. That's why CHILDREN 1ST believes that the best way to help a child is often by helping their family.

Much of the practical work we do with children is far more effective when it is carried out in partnership with their parents.

But families across Scotland are often left isolated and without support. Many parents struggling with the challenges of bringing up young children or teenagers don't know where to access help or support, or feel stigmatised in needing to do so. You can read here parents' own views about the difficulties that they face: "The Best and the Worst Job in the World: a report into parenting".

We believe that all families should be able to access support before things reach crisis point, and our free helpline ParentLine Scotland (0800 028 2233) is an invaluable resource for parents, who tell us that being able to talk to someone and get things off their chest makes them feel better and more able to cope. If you prefer to write things down, you can contact us for confidential email support through our email service.

We also strongly believe that families should be supported to find the best way forward for their child when important decisions need to be made about their future.

We call for:

  1. Family Group Conferencing to be mainstreamed across Scotland.
    Factsheet on Family Group Conferencing
  2. Kinship Care to be promoted and supported as an alternative to public care.
    Briefing on Kinship Care
  3. More support available for the parents of teenagers.
    Briefing on the challenges of parenting teenagers
  4. Continued/long-term work to tackle the problems caused by parental substance misuse.
    Briefing on Parental Substance Misuse
CHILDREN 1ST