Evaluating the BUGK parenting program: second time around

‘Evaluating the BUGK program: second time around’ blog article was written by Hanif Reza Jaberipour, Acting Program Manager, Parenting and Early Years Program at Australian Childhood Foundation.

In 2005, Australian Childhood Foundation developed an evaluated group work program with a focus on the parent-child relationship called Great Kids. In 2010, this work evolved into what is now called the Bringing Up Great Kids program (BUGK).

Over the last 14 years, the Foundation’s Parenting and Early Years team has trained thousands of BUGK facilitators across Australia and internationally.

BUGK started off as a group work model but has now developed into a framework of resources and materials that support all professionals working with families in one-to-one counselling to work with adults and children, as well as group work.

BUGK is reflective, mindful, respectful, nurturing, kind and supportive of parents, carers and their relationships with the children in their lives.

A national evaluation of BUGK was undertaken in 2011-12 by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS). It found that BUGK increased parents’ reflective capacity and enhanced their understanding of how the quality of relationships affects children’s brain development. Since then, BUGK has been recognised as an evidence-based program.

Ten years after the first BUGK evaluation, the Foundation approached the Parenting Research Centre (PRC) in early 2022 to conduct a 3-year collaborative, formative national evaluation of BUGK. This evaluation aims to identify key inputs, activities, and outcomes associated with the program.

PRC works with the Foundation to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of the BUGK parenting program. The evaluation includes a process evaluation to examine program implementation and an impact evaluation to assess its effects.

Additionally, it will benchmark BUGK against similar parenting programs targeting comparable outcomes.

If you are facilitating a BUGK group between May and July 2024 and wish to participate in the national evaluation, please express your interest through the project’s webpage. Your involvement is crucial for the success of the evaluation project.

We’re also seeking participation from comparison groups comprised of parents who haven’t attended any BUGK sessions. If you have access to such a cohort, please let us know using the same link. Your assistance in identifying potential comparison groups will enhance the comprehensiveness and credibility of our research.

Thank you for your ongoing support. Together, we can make a meaningful difference in the lives of parents, carers and their children across Australia.

Learn more about the Bringing Up Great Kids (BUGK) Program

Bringing Up Great Kids (BUGK) is an integrated suite of activities and tools that are unique and offer all parents and carers a fresh way to understand and enact relationships with their children. It focuses on building positive and nurturing relationships between parents and their children, while also aiming to support parents to review and enhance their patterns of communication with their children to promote more respectful interactions and encourage the development of children’s positive self-identity.