Working with families as part of early childhood intervention services: family-centred practice in an individualised funding landscape

Australia has long put family-centred practice at the policy centre of early childhood intervention (Brock et al., 1996; Johnston, 2003). However, its implementation has been less assured with researchers such as Summers et al. (2005), and later Fordham, Gibson, and Bowes (2011), stating that whilst most service providers would characterise their practice as family-centred, that is frequently not the experience reported by families. Indeed, Fordham et al. (2011) reported that approximately half of the 130 family participants in their study stated that they were not experiencing family-centred care. Nor is this an isolated finding. For example, Turnbull, Turbiville and Turnbull (2000) and more recently, Arney and Scott (2013), have pointed to a continued focus on developing the child’s skills and behaviours, with family involvement most generally confined to the mother. Service providers aspire to and embrace the philosophy but continue to have difficulty working in ways which fully engage the family in the decision-making which is at the heart of family-centred practice.