BACKGROUND: In March 2012, the United Kingdom government launched ‘CANparent’ for parents and carers of children aged 0-5 years. CANparent provided all parents of such children living in three English areas with the opportunity to access parenting courses from June, 2012-March, 2014. CANparent was based on a model of universal provision, offering a range of government-approved parenting programmes, with parents choosing which programme suited their needs best and ‘buying’ classes using government-funded vouchers. METHOD: The evaluation of CANparent generated data including qualitative and quantitative data on parents’ perceptions of their needs in relation to parenting programmes, and data relating to parents’ choices between different parenting classes offered through CANparent. This data forms the evidence base for this paper. Fifty (50) in-depth interviews were conducted with participating parents, and the qualitative data from these interviews reveal individual motivations for attending CANparent classes and choosing between different programmes – the focus of the paper. The data from the 50 interviews are set in the context provided by quantitative data captured in three evaluation surveys: a population parent survey, carried out twice during the trial (n=1510 and n=1603); a participating parent survey, carried out at the end of the trial (n=2956); and an online satisfaction survey (n=192). These surveys provide demographic data, parental self-perceptions of the impact of the classes, and findings from standardised questionnaires measuring parental well-being, confidence, self-efficacy, and children’s behaviour. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS: Some key finding were that parents were attracted to a particular course because: 1) the provider professional and personal characteristics, 2) interesting course content was known to the parent and/or had a good reputation; that the provider was responsive to parent enquiries and questions; that the particular course content was of interest; or that the course was promoted by known and trusted people or organisations. Parents were also attracted to a particular course because the venue was local and convenient; the timing of the course was convenient; childcare was offered; and/or the course facilitator spoke the same language as the parent. In addition, there were individual motivators to choosing a course, with, for example, parents being interested in child development; parents experiencing problems in relation to parenting; a desire to learn about being a parent; previous experience of parenting courses; and, having an interest in learning about being a parent.

Cullen, M-A; Cullen, S.; Strand, S.; Bakopoulou, I.; Lindsay, G.; Brind, R.; Pickering, E.; Bryson, C.; Purdon, S.; (March, 2013), CANparent Trial Evaluation: First Interim Report (Department for Education, London, DFE-RR280) Lindsay, G.; Cullen, M-A.; Cullen, S.; Totsika, V.; Bakopoulou, I.; Goodlad, S.; Brind, R.; Pickering, E.; Bryson, C.; Purdon, S.; Conlon, G.; Mantovani, I.; (June, 2014), CANparent Trial Evaluation: Final Report (Department for Education, London, DFE-RR357).