Support for parents and families

Are you a new parent or parent-to-be?
Are you a single parent?
Are you finding it hard to care for your children? Or do you just need to talk things through with someone from time to time?

Support and advice for parents

Hampshire County Council's Parent Support Team co-ordinates parent education and support across the county. Visit their web pages for details of parenting courses, useful links and other information
Home-Start is the UK's leading family support charity. Through a network of nearly 16,000 trained parent volunteers, they support thousands of families with children under 5 whose parents are struggling to cope. Families need support for many reasons including post-natal illness, disability, bereavement, the illness of a parent or child, or social isolation. Parents supporting other parents: it's a simple idea that really works.
Parentline Plus (tel. 0808 800 2222) gives a wide range of advice to parents over the phone and via their website.
Children's Centres are places where children under 5 years old and their families can receive seamless holistic integrated services and information, and where they can access help from multi-disciplinary teams of professionals.
Behaviour Support Teams work proactively to support children of primary school age (5-11) with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties in school.
Parent Know How - list of organisations helping parents via telephone help-lines, SMS text messaging and websites.
There are several organisations which can provide counselling for families with relationship difficulties.

The National Childbirth Trust (tel. 0870 444 8707) gives advice and support to pregnant women and new parents.

One Parent Families | Gingerbread is a support network for single parents.
Holiday Endeavours for Lone Parents (HELP) arranges low-cost families for single-parent families.

The Wessex Youth Offending Team works to prevent youth offending across Hampshire.
Youth Inclusion and Support Panels (YISPs) aim to prevent anti-social behaviour and offending by 8 to 13-year-olds who are considered to be at high risk of offending. They have been designed to help the YJB meet its target of putting in place, in each YOT in England and Wales, programmes that will identify and reduce the likelihood of young people committing offences.

Hampshire County Council does not get involved in arrangements for parental contact in cases of separation or divorce, unless the child or children have been taken into care or there is a child protection issue. For legal advice on parental contact issues, please contact your local Citizen's Advice Bureau.
There are several parental contact centres around the county, mainly run by voluntary organisations, that can provide venues for parental contact.
Click here for more information on contact arrangements for parents whose children are being adopted