Rastimo Zajedno: Advancing Evidence-Based Parenting and Family Support

“Small steps lead to big changes,” said Maja Kutnjak Vrtarić, encapsulating the event’s central theme. The conference, titled Towards Evidence-Based Parenting and Family Support: Presentation of the External Evaluation Results, brought together experts, stakeholders, and policymakers to celebrate the project’s achievements and explore its future trajectory.

Project Overview

The Expanding Access to Children Through Effective Parenting Support project was designed to enhance the availability and quality of parenting and family support programmes within Croatia’s social welfare system. Spanning from September 2021 to December 2024, the initiative was led by the Center for Parenting Support Growing up Together, in partnership with the Ministry of Labor, Pension System, Family, and Social Policy, with financial support from The Human Safety Net.

Key activities included:
•    Training new facilitators for Growing up Together and Family Center programmes.
•    Offering professional and material support for programme implementation.
•    Conducting evaluations to ensure quality.
•    Organizing additional family-focused activities, supported by Generali volunteers.

The project has already delivered notable outcomes:
•    248 new facilitators trained.
•    644 parents and 333 children supported across Croatia.

Conference Highlights

The conference welcomed key figures from the social welfare sector, including representatives from the Ministry of Labor, Pension System, Family, and Social Policy, the Institute for Social Work, the Academy for Social Work, and other Croatian institutions.
Margareta Mađerić, State Secretary of the Ministry, opened the event with a warm welcome, while Damir Vukić, Marketing and Communications Manager at Generali Insurance and Head of The Human Safety Net in Croatia, delivered remarks on behalf of the project’s donor.
Prof. Dr. Nina Pečnik, President of Growing up Together, outlined the project’s objectives and activities. Independent evaluators then shared their findings on its impact. Prof. Dr. Ivana Dobrotić (University of Zagreb and University of Oxford) discussed insights from focus groups and interviews with social welfare professionals, shedding light on the outcomes, challenges, and future potential of the Growing up Together programmes, Prof. Dr. Patty Leiten and Merlin Nieterau MSc (University of Amsterdam) highlighted the positive impact of the Growing up Together – Count Us In programme on parents facing challenging circumstances and their preschool children, Prof. Dr. Ana Catarina Canario (University of Porto) presented the results of an economic evaluation of the Growing up Together – Count Us In programme, conducted with Filipe Sampaio (Uppsala University), Maja Kutnjak Vrtarić (Public Open University in Čakovec) shared long-term outcomes of the Growing up Together – Count Us In Plus, focusing on mothers from Roma settlements, Prof. Dr. Koraljka Modić Stanke (University of Zagreb) explored the programme’s benefits for adoptive families through the Growing up Together in a New Family initiative.

Looking Ahead

This initiative demonstrates the transformative power of evidence-based, collaborative efforts in improving family and parenting support systems. By building on the programme’s successes, we continue to take small but meaningful steps toward creating lasting change for families and children in Croatia.

The journey continues—one step at a time.