Early Intervention Service Delivery 

Topics

Family Statistics and Trends

• Work life and family balance – ABS, (2009). This article covers issues such as working arrangements and care, time pressures on parents, types of paid leave and job flexibility for those parents in a combination of either full or part time employment.
• The sources of time pressure: Work, family and more, Dr Jennifer Baxter, AIFS (2009). This article highlights that time pressure can occur at various stages of life, with particular pressures, such as full-time study or family demands, being more prominent among some groups than others.
• More marriages and less divorces in 2008 - Australian Bureau of Statistics. There was an increase of 2.1% in 2008 registered marriages and a 1.6% drop in divorces compared to 2007. Further breakdown of these figures is available by clicking on the link.
• The OECD Family Database (2009) presents a good compairson to the Australian experience and features family outcomes and policies with indicators categorised under four headings; the structure of families, the labour market position of families, public policies for families and children, and child outcomes.
• Snapshots of family relationships (2008), by Lixia Qu and Ruth Weston, Australian Institute of Family Studies. Prepared to support the 2008 National Families Week, this report looks at trends in couple partnering and childbearing; relationships between partners; relationships between parents and children and other family issues.
• Attitudes towards marriage and cohabitation, Lixia Qu and Ruth Weston, Family Relationships Quarterly 8 (2008), Australian Family Relationships Clearinghouse.
• Relationship Indicators Survey 2006 by Relationships Australia.  It is the fifth Relationships Indicators Survey completed since 1994. The survey provides information regarding the main issues and concerns that Australians have in their relationships today drawing on 1,200 interviews of randomly selected respondents.
• Diversity and change in Australian families (2008), by David de Vaus. Melbourne, Vic: AIFS, 335p.
• A snapshot of contemporary attitudes to child support (2005), by Bruce Smyth and Ruth Weston. Melbourne, Vic: AIFS, (Research report no.13).
• Babies and Bosses: Reconciling Work and Family Life, by Adema et al, OECD. This volume provides a synthesis of the analyses and policy recommendations contained in four previous volumes of the OECD 'Babies and Bosses' reviews.
• Factors associated with relationship dissolution of Australian families with children, by Peter Butterworth,  Tamar Oz, Bryan Rodgers and Helen Berry/Social Policy Research Paper 37.  This project used Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey data to investigate the context in which relationship instability occurs, by examining the factors that precede relationship dissolution within Australian families with children. 
• Attitudes towards divorce (2009), Ruth Weston and Lixia Qu / Australian Family Relationships Clearinghouse. This paper examines the attitudes of Australians regarding divorce through analysis of data from the 2005 wave of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey.
• Children Are Still Close To Their Grandparents (2009), Australian Institute of Family Studies journal Family Matters Issue No 81. Most Australian grandparents experience close bonds with their grandchildren, according to research published in the Australian Institute of Family Studies’ journal Family Matters. A survey of 5,000 parents – with a child under the age of 18 – overwhelmingly described their child’s relationship with grandparents as either “close” or “very close.”
• AFRC Bibliographies

• Marriage
• Cohabitation
• Indigenous families
• Living arrangements
• Relationship formation
• Retirement

Strengthening Families

• AFRC Briefing No. 7, 2008, Strengthening Aboriginal family functioning: What works and why? by Roz Walker and Carrington Shepherd, Kulunga Research Network, Telethon Institute for Child Health Research. This paper discusses the contemporary evidence base, including case studies of programs that work, to provide insights into the protective effects and risks that influence forms of functioning among Aboriginal families.
• What’s love got to do with it? Homogamy and dyadic approaches to understanding marital instability, Kippen et al (2009). This study investigated individual and couple characteristics associated with marital instability and identified factors associated with couples who remained together compared with those who divorced or separated.
• AFRC Issues No. 2, 2008, Prevention and early intervention in strengthening families and relationships: Challenges and implications by Elly Robinson and Robyn Parker, Australian Family Relationships Clearinghouse.  This paper examines challenges and strategies associated with encouraging individuals to engage in prevention and early-intervention activities focusing on healthy relationships.  - see also Resource Sheet No. 2 based on information contained in AFRC Issues No. 2 which provides a concise and informative summary of the Issues paper.
• Marital disaffection – pathways to relationship dissolution, Review by Robyn Parker (2007), Family Relationships Quarterly Newsletter No. 6, Australian Family Relationships Clearinghouse.
• The Resilience Doughnut (2007), Lyn Worsley, Family Relationships Quarterly Newsletter No. 4, Australian Family Relationships Clearinghouse. 
• Report on the inquiry into Balancing Work and Family (2006) covers social change since the 1960s, the tax system, the benefits system, fertility, workplace relations, child care and care of the disabled, and examines how each of these changes interact with one another.
• Snapshots of family relationships, by Lixia Qu and Ruth Weston, Australian Institute of Family Studies. Prepared to support the 2008 National Families Week, this report looks at trends in couple partnering and childbearing, relationships between partners, relationships between parents and children, and other family issues.
• Early Years Framework - Evidence Briefing, The Scottish Government, 2008. Briefing papers provided for the 'Early Years Framework' task groups on the themes of; parenting, services, community and workforce.

Family Relationships Education & Skills Training

• Beyond risk factors: Towards a more holistic prevention paradigm for children and young people, Frieberg et al, Griffith and Loughborough University (2009). This paper argues for a more holistic approach to prevention policy and social work practice, one that recognises risk but does not allow it to dominate.
• AFRC Briefing No. 3, 2007, Recent progress in marriage and relationship education in Australia by Robyn Parker, Australian Family Relationships Clearinghouse.
• Couple Relationship Education at Home: Evaluating the RELATE with Couple CARE Program, W. Kim Halford, Bronwyn Watson, Keithia Wilson, Tony Verner, Jeffery Larson, Dean Busby, & Thomas Holman, Family Relationships Quarterly Newsletter (2007), No. 4, Australian Family Relationships Clearinghouse.
•  AFRC bibliography on Marriage and relationship education.
• Why marriages last; a discussion of the literature Research Paper No. 28, July 2002 by Robyn Parker, Australian Institute of Family Studies
• Capacity challenges for service delivey of marriage and relationship education by Elizabeth Van Acker, Australian Family Relationships Clearinghouse.  This article outlines some of the challenges for governments and service providers in delivering marriage and relationship education (MRE) and provides a sketch of a proposed research project regarding these issues. Source: Australian Policy Online.
• Family Relationships Quarterly Issue 9, (2008) Australian Family Relationships Clearinghouse. Presents articles focussed on agency-based research addressing client dropout and the capacity challenges for service delivery of marriage and relationship education. 

Parent Support

• AFRC bibliographies:
  • Early intervention programs for parents 
  • Resources for parents
  • Adolescents and family relationships
  • Siblings
  • Stepfamilies
  • Having children
  • Parenting (17 subcategories)
• Parents and workers can access the comprehensive Early Childhood Association's website for parenting resources, intervention programs, tips and handy hints on early child development.
• P5 (a Participatory Program Promoting Pleasurable Parenting) (2009), Robyn Parker / Australian Family Relationships Clearinghouse. This article describes the P5 Program which focuses on supporting parents in dealing with family issues, with the broad objective of providing greater depth, connection and meaning to all family and social relationships, and promoting a pro-social, universal skill-based approach to parenting.
• kidscount Website, Australian Childhood Foundation.  This is a website for parents that is all about childhood. It has information that can help parents raise happy and confident children. This practical, supportive site acknowledges that being a parent is the most important job one can do. It can last a lifetime. You don’t have to know everything all the time. In fact, children and parents learn from each other. The more we can understand children, the more we can help them grow and develop. 

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