Parenting Support for Former Refugee Families: a Community Development Model Focused on Collaboration, Empowerment and Sustainability.
Refugees as Survivors New Zealand, Auckland, New Zealand
People who take the refugee path often do so for the sake of their children. They must deal with the loss of country, community and in many cases, of key family members. They may be grandparents or other relatives acting as parents. The impact of the multiple traumas families are likely to have experienced are added to the challenge of arriving in a country of settlement with
different language, social norms and legislation. Many of the laws and practices relating to child-rearing may be new and can be accompanied by the threat of sanctions. For many parents this can be confusing and distressing.
This presentation will describe how an initial delivery of an evidence-based programme to Eritrean parents informed the development of a model of intervention that is both led and delivered by the community. Supported by the voices of participating family members,
the presenters will describe the immediate impact of the programme, and explain how conversations about new ways of parenting are reaching into the wider community.
This model is offered as a versatile, empowering and sustainable framework for delivering programmes and interventions to a rich diversity of newly settled community groups.
