Evaluation of Parent Support Advisors

The Parent Support Adviser Pilot (PSA) pilot is a government funded initiative to support 20 Local Authorities to introduce PSAs into their workforce. The DCSF commissioned the Centre for Educational Development, Appraisal and Research to evaluate the PSA pilot programme from September 2006- August 2008. A government grant (£40 million) has been made available to fund employment of PSAs over this period. This second Interim Report of the Parent Support Adviser Pilot reports the findings of interviews with 105 parents and 69 PSAs from the 12 case study LAs held between November 2007 and January 2008.

Key findings:
- Parents were generally very positive about the support from their PSAs: 9 out of 10 rated them very helpful;
- The types of support offered in the pilot were very varied, ranging from informal support, through individual and group support such as parenting classes, to intensive support for parents in substantial need;
- PSA characteristics that were associated with high parent satisfaction can be summed up as a balance between empathic professionalism and being seen as a ‘friend’;
- Overall, most PSAs spent more time on 1:1 work with parents and relatively less time with pupils, but the balance of work varied widely; and
- Indicative evidence of PSA effectiveness was provided by both parents and PSAs for engaging and empowering parents, improving parents’ relationships with their children and improving their children’s behavioural, emotional and social development.