Raising Resilient Families: Empowering Parents with Cognitive Challenges

Abstract

This final report summarizes a multi-phase applied research project entitled Raising Resilient Families: Empowering Parents with Cognitive Challenges which aimed to address systemic barriers and improve supports for parents with cognitive challenges (CC). Supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) with funding awarded through the College and Community Social Innovation Fund (CCSIF), project outcomes revealed that significant gaps exist in providing proactive support to address parenting needs, ongoing stigma toward these families, and insufficient training for service providers whose role is to support parents with CC. The project team consisted of academics, service providers and parents with lived experience who collaborated to co-design innovative solutions including a template document for a Post-Birth Plan and a model for Parent Peer Support Groups. The project included use of Parent Educators who taught parenting skills to pregnant parent participants using the evidence-based Step-by-Step Parenting Program (Feldman, 2025) and infant simulators in order to support early intervention and reduce incidents of child custody removal from parents with CC. These initiatives demonstrated valuable positive outcomes including improved and retained parenting skills-building and retention of child custody, underscoring the need for systemic change, early intervention, and collaborative models of support. The report concludes with recommendations for policy reform, enhanced training for service providers, and interagency collaboration to promote equity and family preservation.