Parental involvement in the KIDS Family Centre: who does it work for?

Although parental involvement has been a major development in the field of disability and handicap, there has been relatively little systematic investigation of the value and appreciation of parental involvement from the parent's point of view. This study addresses the use and appraisal of services by parents at the KIDS Family Centre, Camden, London, which offers a variety of family-focused services with differing degrees of parental involvement. The evidence showed that the overall appraisal of the Centre was high but, given the choice, individual parents selected and appreciated different kinds of parental involvement services. Certain family background variables were associated with the pattern of selection and rating.