Hard to Reach Parents

The statement Hard to Reach Parents could be used to describe parents who are difficult to involve in the setting or the settings activities. There are many reasons why some parents are hard to reach.

There are parents who might be seen as deprived in a certain area, this could include self-esteem, confidence, awareness of their need, power, employment and skills. Milbourne (2002, pp.287), states that this “lack of confidence often arises from isolation - geographical, economic and social” this isolation could be linked with refugees / asylum seekers who have deliberately chosen to live a quiet life to avoid being moved. “Engagement with this group is understood to be difficult because the families may not be aware of their need” (Barnes et al, 2006, pp.110).

 There are also parents who have problems due to their life choices, either through socially unacceptable behaviour - such as those taking part in criminal activity, drug and alcohol abusers, or families where there is domestic violence; or because they belong to communities whose lifestyle might place them toward the boundaries of society, such as Travellers. Doherty et al (2004) argue that “some of the reasons why such families are not engaging with services are that providers tend to shape the service to the characteristics of the group rather than to the needs of individuals within the group.”

 Some parents have difficulties relating to communication, such as they have poor reading and writing skills or additional language needs. This can be a barrier for hard to reach parents accessing early years settings. Crozier and Davies, (2007, pp.296) states that

 " In many cases it is the provider who is understood as creating the barrier here, rather than the service user and that too often, providers, especially settings, ‘pathologise’ parents and lay the blame on them for something which is out of their control. This in turn, becomes a reason why settings fail to act to overcome the barrier."

It is important that parents are involved with the setting because  “Parents are children’s first and enduring educators. When parents and practitioners work together in early years settings, the results have a positive impact on children’s development and learning.” (PEAL, 2007).