Realizing the potential of a strengths-based approach in family support with young people and their parents

This paper on a strengths-based approach (SBA) to practice is based on empirical research with stakeholders involved in an intensive support programme for young people at risk and their parents in Ireland. The Youth Advocate Programme (YAP) model provides wraparound support to respond to their needs by focussing on their competencies, their coping skills, and building networks of community-based supports. The model includes parents or carers in the suite of support offered by Advocates. A strengths-based approach to practice has been discussed for some time in academic literature and practice guidance. However, it tends to be considered primarily in relation to social work practice, and there is ongoing ambiguity as to what it actually involves in day-to-day engagement with individual family members. Insightful, rich accounts of strengths-based approaches as part of routine practice provided by young people, parents, and practitioners form the basis to this paper, and detail how these approaches support the development of hope-inspiring relationships and promote positive change. Relevant literature and research situates the debate on the experience of using SBA, the wider challenges faced by families, the impact of SBA in practice on those receiving the support service, and its potential for use in the wider continuum of children and family services.