Exploring Family Centres. Creating Accessible and Integrated Family Support

“We parent together” Co-creating family support Something happens when children and adults are gathered around a kitchen table. Personal differences are erased when food is smeared all over the tabletop by small fingers and spilled juice means everyone has to lift up their plates and lunch boxes. In Family centres around the country children and adults from diverse backgrounds meet around kitchen tables or through playing on the floor and together they create networks that strengthen the environment for all children. This research explores three Norwegian family centres, focusing on how the centres facilitate accessible and integrated family support services. The family centres are inspired by a model aiming to provide coordinated co-located family support services for children and their families. Drawing on participant observation and interviews I documented the interaction taking place within the centres. I participated in work and activities and talked to leaders, staff and families about their understandings of family support work. I sought to understand what is important about integrated services available for families. The family centres I visited had a low threshold for participation; there was no requirement for families to apply or be referred. The services offered were free and the parents chose the activities they participated in. The combination of an open meeting place and the availability of group activities and individual consultations made it possible for family centres to provide support that was adapted to the needs of individual families. The activities provided were intended to help the parents see themselves as capable and not premised on a specific problem. In the centres the families accessed both professional advice and peer support. The co-creation by the professionals and the families is the distinctive characteristic of what is offered in the family centres. This study provides evidence that can inform the establishment and development of family centres and other forms of family support services. In addition, it illustrates how interdisciplinary collaboration, accessibility in services and integration processes can be relevant to other practices.