"I try to get the best out of my students, but there are parents who have a hard time supporting their child. And when the child has ADHD, I find it difficult. What is my responsibility as a teacher, and what is the responsibility of other support services? I tend to take it on myself anyway and to direct the parents” (teacher).  

It is of great social importance to optimize the developmental opportunities of children in vulnerable families. When home, school, and care are well connected, this has a positive effect on children's well-being, learning performance and behaviour (De Greef, 2019), and leads to more self-efficacy within parents who feel insecure about parenting (Hoover-Dempsey et al.,2005; Waanders et al.,2007). Parental self-efficacy is strongly correlated with positive parent and child psychological functioning, child adjustment, parenting competence and parenting satisfaction (Jones & Prinz, 2005). For those families living in difficult situations, enhancing parenting self-efficacy may serve as a potential mechanism by which to improve the well-being of parents and children (Ibid, 2005).

Therefore, professionals should consider parents as competent and knowledgeable caregivers regarding their children's needs (Minjarez et al.,2013), and as equal and capable decision-making partners in determining the best support for themselves and their children (Damen et al.,2018). It is part of the professional ethical standard of teachers and youth care professionals to recognize the importance of the role of parents as educators, regardless of how problematic parenting might be and how insecure parents might feel. It also is important to incorporate the views of children through an active participation agenda, in the fulfilment of children’s rights under the obligations of the UN Convention for the Rights of the Child. 

The purpose of youth care and special education is to reduce children's problems, increase their well-being, ensure that they can return home, or get them on the right track. Ultimately, parents must regain control over the upbringing of their children (Weiss et al.,2012), while children should have a say in how they grow up (Boomkens et al.,2018). Consequently, it is not only the relationship between parents and professionals, their cooperation and joint decision-making (‘alliance’) that matters, but also how competent parents feel about their parenting and how children feel that they are heard and seen. This is why this study focuses on parents’ self-efficacy (regarding parenting competences) and on children's voice, in addition to the usual aspects of the alliance (bond, goal, task). 

We conducted a questionnaire study (N=479) in a wide variety of institutions in the Netherlands to compare perceptions of parents, children, youth care professionals and special education teachers about cooperation within different contexts (outpatient assistance, residential care, and special education). Forty-five interviews were carried out to explore how this cooperation is experienced in practice. The theoretical framework of the study is based on alliance research (Hawley & Garland, 2008; Lamers et al.,2015), with an extra focus on parental self-efficacy and children's voice. The findings suggest that cooperation with parents is going well, but professionals find it difficult to support parents’ self-efficacy concerning parenting competences (both questionnaire and interview study). Also, when children's voice gets enough attention, this influences the relationship positively. The interviews show that parental self-efficacy is insufficiently and inadequately supported by almost all professionals. It is positive to conclude, however, that many professionals are able to ‘see past’ incompetent parenting styles and different values on growing up (children) and bringing up (parents). Each context (outpatient assistance, residential youth care, and special education) has its own challenges, which is outlined in this presentation. 

Participants were parents, children, youth care professionals and teachers from three contexts: outpatient assistance, residential care, and special education. Questionnaire data were analysed from a total of 479 respondents: 174 children (10-18 years old), 114 parents, 132 youth care professionals and 59 teachers. Children and parents within the three contexts reported on their cooperation with youth care professionals. Professionals providing outpatient assistance or residential care and special education teachers reported on their cooperation with parents and children. In addition to the questionnaire study, 45 semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with children, parents and professionals in the same contexts. The interviews focused om how the cooperation between parents, children and professionals is organised and experienced, especially among vulnerable children, parents, families and/or different values about parenting and growing up. We used the Work Alliance Questionnaire (WAV-12-R; Lamers et al., 2015) to assess the quality of the cooperation between children/parents and youth care professionals/teachers. The original questionnaire was adapted to assess the quality of the alliance with children and parents in general, instead of with one specific child/parent, from the perspective of youth care professionals and teachers. The questionnaire consists of three scales. The Bond scale measures children’s and parents’ perceptions of professionals’ friendliness, acceptance, understanding, and support during care. The scale Goal relates to the degree of agreement between children/parents and professionals regarding the goals of care. The Task scale measures the agreement between children/parents and professionals regarding the tasks to work on during care. The questionnaire was supplemented with four self-constructed items relating to the child’s perceived level of voice, and with four self-constructed items about the extent to which parents feel that the support contributes to their self-efficacy regarding parenting competences. Questionnaire data were analysed using SPSS. Statistical differences were evaluated by one-way ANOVA analysis with post-hoc tests. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. The transcripts were analysed by qualitative thematic analysis (Boyatzis, 1998) using AtlasTi. A total of 729 relevant quotations were selected and analysed: Children's voice: 211 citations (100 children; 26 parents; 85 professionals) Parental self efficacy: 178 quotes (9 children; 101 parents; 68 professionals) Parental values and conflicting interests: 120 quotes (15 children; 26 parents; 79 professionals) To ensure validity and reliability, multiple rounds of analysis were conducted by three researchers, as well as peer debriefing sessions with the entire research team.

The results of the questionnaire study show that Parents are positive about the relationship with the professional, the focus on (treatment) goals, and task (working on the right thing), but they score relatively low on the extent to which they feel empowered in their parenting skills. It is difficult for professionals to empower parents to deal better with the upbringing of their children, and to make vulnerable parents feel important as educators. Special education teachers find this the most difficult. Children feel less heard and seen than professionals think they do. The difference is the greatest in the residential setting. Special education teachers find it the most difficult to take childrens's voice into account. The results of the interview study are consistent with the questionnaire survey and illustrate how cooperation is experienced in practice. Clinical implications will be shared in our presentation. A substantial number of quotations show that attention for the voice of vulnerable children is appropriate, e.g., in line with what children can handle, but it is also common for children not to feel heard at all. Parental self-efficacy is not always supported by professionals. Parents feel that 'giving advice' does not help them. It is effective when professionals guide parents, step-by-step, reflecting together about possible alternatives in specific situations. Parents feel annoyed by 'professional language' and 'their child as a problem'. Remarkably, many professionals are able to 'see past' incompetent parenting styles or values and know how to connect with the family's need for help. From a clinical perspective, our findings highlight the importance of an enduring attention to children's perspectives, desires and needs. Also, there is still much to be gained if professionals focus more on supporting parenting skills, especially for at risk families.

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