About the project
Background to the project
When the Federal Child Protection Act (BkiSchG) came into force on December 22, 2011, binding structures for cooperation between the responsible service providers and institutions in child protection were to be established. This also includes cooperation between youth welfare organizations and healthcare services.
Mentally ill parents and their children are families with special stress situations and need support from both systems. To this end, interfaces between the systems must be created and projects with a bridging function implemented. The "ElternSein" project, which was launched in March 2013, aims to make a contribution to this. As an outreach counseling service (of the Child Protection Center) for patients with children, it connects youth welfare services with the psychiatric clinics/departments in Dortmund and provides parents with easier access to possible help.
Project description
The counseling service is aimed at mentally ill parents who are undergoing inpatient, day-care or outpatient treatment in the respective clinics. The project is designed as outreach parent counseling, as it is carried out in the clinics where the parents are receiving psychiatric care. This means that parents in need of support can be reached who, for a variety of reasons, have inhibitions about accessing youth welfare services. The counseling service offers an opportunity to avoid potential crises by providing help at an early stage. The project is carried out in close cooperation with the social services.
The aims are to strengthen parenting skills, avoid endangering the welfare of children, communicate the services provided by youth welfare services and - in individual cases - establish contacts. The counseling sessions are non-binding, voluntary and anonymous.
The counseling settings (group, individual or combined) vary according to the framework conditions for the clinics. Counseling is provided directly in the clinics by an employee of the Child Protection Center - sometimes together with the social services specialists.
The project is scheduled to run for one year and will end on 01.04.2014. If successful, the aim is to continue the counseling service.
The project is funded by the "Help and Hope" foundation.
Research questions
Is the service accepted by parents?
How is the service perceived by parents?
How does the different form (group versus open consultation) affect the acceptance of the service?
How is the service perceived by the clinic/professionals?
What framework conditions must be in place for successful implementation?
What are the limits of the service?
Where is there potential for further development?
Is the counseling service effective and sustainable - i.e. does it make sense?
Methodological approach
Process-accompanying evaluation and reflection meetings
Standardized parent feedback
Expert interviews (medicine, care, therapy)
Documentation of counseling appointments and content
Final evaluation of the examination
Sponsor
Help and Hope Foundation
Funding program / Research program
The project is run by the Dortmund Child Protection Center.
The scientific monitoring and evaluation is carried out by Prof. Dr. Silvia Denner (Fachhochschule Dortmund, Faculty of Applied Social Studies).
The cooperating clinics are:
- The Marien-Hospital Dortmund-Hombruch
- The LWL Clinic Dortmund-Aplerbeck
- The Protestant Hospital Dortmund-Lütgendortmund
All ElternSein project partners are members of the network "Children as relatives of mentally ill parents" (KAP-DO). The aim of the network is to develop support services for children and their mentally ill parents in Dortmund.
