Introduction
Many men and women in the Federal government serve in a dual role as a worker and as a parent.
But the roles of fatherhood and motherhood, unlike being an employee, are roles most adults
assume without the benefit of training, education, or practical experience.
The challenges of such an enormous undertaking leave many employees drained and distracted.
The workplace is frequently a further extension of the home, complete with the worries and
problems often associated with fatherhood and motherhood.
One effective and useful way to strengthen
families and help mothers and fathers to balance
the demands of work and caring for children is
to establish a work-site support group. With
supervisory approval and union involvement, a
work-site support group can play a significant
role in the enhancement of agency work/life
programs.
Support groups bring together men and women
who have similar concerns or difficulties and
enable participants to share personal stories
and helpful information. Members often find it
reassuring to learn that their problems and
concerns are not unique
Establishing a support group is inexpensive
and relatively simple. The following information
explains how to start a support group in your
agency. These suggestions can be modified to
suit the needs of your employees.
Employee Needs Assessment
Establishing a support group should be based
on a sufficient employee need and desire for one.
One way to determine that is to conduct an
employee survey to assess the extent to which
men and women have parenting responsibilities
or concerns and would like help addressing them.
A survey should include questions about
anticipated parenting concerns and employee
interest in participating in a support group. If
the survey results reveal an interest in
starting one, consider the remainder of these
steps
Keep in mind that a support group can be as
small as five people and may grow as employees
learn of its existence.
What A Support Group Can Provide
A support group can offer group members
parenting and/or child care resource and referral
information and explain personnel flexibilities
available in their agencies that may help
employees balance work and caregiving
demands.
There also may be interest in starting a
support group newsletter that could include
newspaper and magazine articles on parenting,
child care and children's issues, resource and
referral information, and the date and time of
the next support group meeting. A newsletter
is especially helpful to members who temporarily
lose contact with the group.
Support Group Leader
Because attendance at support group meetings
may be sporadic at times, the consistent
attendance of the group leader at the meetings
can help to maintain the group. The group
leader can be responsible for advertising
future group meetings, arranging meeting space,
and maintaining a current list of group members
and their telephone numbers (see section on
Meeting Time and Place.
If an employee assistance counselor or work
and family specialist is not available to attend
meetings on a regular basis, a leader may emerge
from the group. This individual could be
responsible for arranging the meetings or
writing a newsletter, or these tasks could be
shared by members on a rotating basis. Keep in
mind that these are merely suggestions for a
potential group leader. Each group will
conduct itself differently.
Meeting Time and Place
Establish the time, place, and frequency of
the support group meetings. Generally,
employees like to meet at lunch time and will
bring their lunches. Participants will decide
how often they want to meet. Usually, a
meeting room must be reserved in advance.
Contact the agency building services office to
find out how to reserve a room. Once a meeting
time has been established, advertise the
meeting at least two weeks in advance by placing
announcements in a location where employees are
certain to see them (bulletin boards or employee
newsletters, for instance).
Goals/Purposes/Expectations
It is important to explore what members wish
to accomplish at the meetings. Members should
discuss the goals of the support group at the
first gathering. The goals may change as new
members are added or as problems or concerns
change. These goals and purposes should be
considered each time the group meets. Members
also may wish to explain what they hope to gain
from attending the meetings.
Confidentiality
Support group members must agree not to
discuss the personal aspects of the meetings
they attend. Certainly it is appropriate to
share resource information outside the group,
but the personal problems and concerns of
members should remain private. This agreement
of confidentiality should be stated at the
first meeting and whenever newcomers attend a
meeting.
Open or Closed Ended Group
Support groups can be open-ended or closed-ended.
An open group accepts new members at any time
while a closed group establishes a group but
does not add new members for a specified period
of time. The person that establishes the
support group may make this decision or the
members present at the first meeting may decide.
An agency parenting support group may be better
suited to an open-ended format since many
employees experience parenting difficulties
suddenly.
Resource and Referral Information
Mothers and fathers, whether they have small
children, teenagers, or adult children,
sometimes need assistance with the parenting
problems they encounter. From finding quality
child care to locating a math tutor for a ninth
grader, parenting resources are available in
the community. An employee assistance counselor
or work and family specialist can often provide
such information. However, these professionals
may not be readily available to the group on a
regular basis or may have limited access to
such information.
Employees can call Child Care Aware, a
toll-free telephone number (1-800-424-2246)
operated by the National Association of Child
Care Resource and Referral Agencies, to locate
a nearby child care resource and referral
agency.
Employees also can contact their county
government human services office or a local
hospital. Both organizations have extensive
knowledge of available parenting resources.
The Office of Work/Life Programs can provide parenting support groups with
copies of the Child Care Resources Handbook for
Federal Employees. This publication is written
for employers and mothers and fathers of small
children and includes information on selecting
day care and lists national organizations and
resources that can be of assistance to mothers
and fathers.
Suggested Discussion Topics
- Daycare
- How to Establish or Enforce Child Support
- Latchkey Children
- Care of School Age Children
- Child and Animal Abuse
- Chemical Dependency in Adolescent Children
- Gangs
- Living with a Teenager
- Violence
- Adoption
- Tips for Fathers
Some topics may require the input of subject matter
experts. The group can decide to bring in expert
speakers such as the agency nurse or community
organizations.
Further Assistance
The Office of Work/Life Programs is available to provide technical
assistance and advice to agencies to help them
develop or enhance work/life policies and
programs, including support groups.
If you have additional questions
about creating and running a support group or
would like a copy of the Child Care Resources
Handbook for Federal Employees, please call us
at (202) 606-5520, fax (202) 606-2091, or email
workandfamily@opm.gov
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