Becoming a parent is a time of great change and as well as the obvious joys there are many challenges.  The role of the Cuidiú Parent Supporter is to provide support to parents as they find their feet and deal with the many ups and downs along this journey.  
 
Becoming a Cuidiú Parent Supporter offers you an opportunity to become part of a 400 strong community of Cuidiú volunteers who have been helping parents throughout Ireland and beyond for 40 years.  You will learn how to actively listen, communicate effectively and much more.  The basic Parent Support Training is all about listening and counselling skills.  
 
Your key responsibilities as a Cuidiú Parent Support are:
 
Listen to parents who express a need to be heard.
Offer evidence-based information and support.
Host, organise or otherwise support Parenting Support Groups within your branch / community.
Liaise with other volunteers at branch and sector level to ensure you are aware and can therefore share information about Cuidiú activities and support available.
Attend on-going training to upskill and to keep yourself well-practised in the Parent Support activities  required.
Following training you agree (where possible) to volunteer as a Parent Supporter on behalf of Cuidiú for a  minimum of three years.
During your tenure as a Parent Supporter you agree to keep a simple record of your support interactions which will feed into our annual audit (this is for Cuidiú records and is not an internal assessment)
Ensure that you have valid, paid up Cuidiú membership at all times.
 
There is also a personal development side to this course which could be invaluable to you in raising your family and nurturing your own personal relationships as well as giving you the skills to support others.  
 
The role of Parent Supporter is as varied and diverse as you wish it to be, and with the support of the sector and your branch, you can develop the role to include welcoming new members at toddler groups, taking phone calls, writing parent-support related articles for your Branch / National newsletters, setting up a designated Parent Support Morning or Evening, or whatever may be envisaged as being helpful in supporting parents in your branch/community.
 
You may find the training challenging - perhaps intellectually, emotionally and / or professionally.  But this course is well worth doing and you will be embraced into a wonderful community supporting Parents.

1 - Firstly a completed application form must be submitted.

2 - Ideally, the individual will have held Cuidiú membership for a minimum of six months.  Candidates who have been involved in their branch or group activities for at least six months will be favourably considered.

3 - Applicants will need to provide the name of a Cuidiú person for us to contact for a reference - we will also seek approval from their local branch committee / chairperson.

4 - The Cuidiú Parent Supporter Tutors will make the final decision on your acceptance into the training once the above criteria have been met.
Once accepted onto the course the individual will be asked to pay the initial €50, the remaining €250 will be covered by branch or grant funding where possible.

5 - The course is monitored by continuous assessment and the individual must attend all the training days to be considered a trained Parent Supporter.  They will have an opportunity to catch up on any missed training days on a later training programme at no additional cost.

6 - The applicant should be available (where possible) following the completion of the training, to commit to a three year voluntary period to Cuidiú, this can take a variety of formats as mentioned above.

7 - All Cuidiú volunteers are asked to complete TUSLA’s E-Learning Programme and to email their certificate of completion to parentsupportpanel@cuidiu.ie.  Details can be found at  www.tusla.ie/children-first/children-first-e-learning-programme