Encountering Refugee Families and Parenting Support: Wonderful Usra – a guide for professionals

Families with a refugee background often have many stress factors that affect parenting and fulfilling the task of raising children; such factors and the particular needs arising from them must be recognised by those working with families with a refugee background. This guide is aimed at professionals and experts who work with families with a refugee background and need more information and tips to support working with children and parents. The guide includes a background theory section that provides information about parenting as refugees and positive parenting. In addition, the guide has a practical section that offers tips for reaching out to and encountering families. This section is strongly based on the practical work carried out in Save the Children’s Usra – Family in Finland (Usra – Perheenä Suomessa) project (2021– 2024), the experiences gathered from it and the expertise of the project employees. The aim of the work is to reduce violence against children in particular, such as neglect and disciplinary violence.

The Wonderful Usra (Ihana Usra) group activity model and the family club model that were developed in the project are described at the end of this guide and thereby are offered for other actors to use. Following the principles of participation and inclusion, children and families with a refugee background were involved in developing this model. The goal of the parents’ group is to increase the knowledge related to positive parenting, thereby strengthening the well-being of the whole family and the children’s right to a good and safe life. The goal of the children’s group is to offer children activities that promote well-being, where children have the opportunity to learn about their own strengths, the rights of the child as well as emotions and well-being.