Positive parenting support during family reunification

ABSTRACT This article presents the results of a qualitative study that explores parenting skills when a child returns home after a period of foster care in the child protection system. There were a total of 135 participants, including 63 child protection professionals, 42 parents and 30 children and adolescents. The data were analysed using content analysis submitted to peer review. Triangulating the voices of children with the input of parents and professionals rendered it possible to identify needs for the consolidation of family reunification in five dimensions: adjustment of parenting skills, adaptation to the needs of the child, social support, more accurate perception of one’s role, and parental self-efficacy. These findings suggest particular characteristics in the development of both generally applicable skills and skills specific to positive parenting that can improve the chances of a successful reunification process. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

In the Child Protection System, family reunification refers to the process by which children who have experienced abandonment, neglect or abuse return to the home of their birth families after a mandated separation period. The reunification process begins the moment the child is separated from his or her parents. Removal and reunification decisions are particularly relevant to children because of the short-and long-term influences on their lives (Farmer, 2014). When the child returns home, research emphasizes the importance of understanding the reasons behind and the process of family reunification (Balsells et al., 2014), consolidating the changes made by the entire family and ultimately, providing the support necessary to ensure the success of the child's return home. Emerging data indicate that including in-home supports post-reunification may reduce re-entry risk (Cheng, 2010).
According to official statistics, in 2015, there were 628 cases of children in the child protection services in Spain, and approximately 16% of these left the child protection system to return to their families of origin (Ministerio de Sanidad, 2017). In other countries, the percentages are higher, with as many as 51% of the children leaving the child protection service to return to their parents or primary caregivers (Mainey, Ellis, & Lewis, 2009).
However, the return is not always successful. In Spain, there are no statistics on how many children 're-enter' the child protection system; however, the international statistics available indicate that the numbers vary depending on the place and the year examined (Kimberlin, Anthony, & Austin, 2009). Wulczyn (2004) observed that although failed reunifications are declining, 25% of the children who begin the process of family reunification return to the child protection system within a year. With regard to the United Kingdom, Farmer and Wijedasa (2013) indicated that between 37% and 65% of the children reunited with their families eventually re-entered the child protection system.
Working with the family of origin to ensure good parenting is a key element in consolidating the process of reunification. Positive parenting provides us with a new framework to highlight the substantive elements that interact to allow reunited families to acquire the skills necessary to ensure success. The Child Welfare Information Gateway (2011) recommends post-reunification follow-up and training programmes offered by the child protection services as a key element and recommends training programmes to empower these families. Various authors endorse this recommendation, calling for the implementation of socio-educational programmes to teach parenting skills (Arranz Freijo et al., 2017;Balsells et al., 2013;Gobierno de España, 1996;Rodrigo, Máiquez, Martin, & Byrne, 2008). Other authors broadened this view to support training not only in parenting skills but also in specific educational needs for each stage of the reunification process (Balsells, Amorós, Fuentes-Peláez, & Mateos, 2011;López & Del Valle, 2013;Palacios & Amorós, 2005). An analysis of the scientific literature suggested five topics relevant to families' specific needs during reunification to consolidate appropriate parenting: (a) an accurate perception of the parental role, (b) parental selfefficacy, (c) ability to adapt to the needs of the children, (d) social support, and (e) adjustment to exercising parenting skills.
Parental agency, understood to be the set of skills that reflect how parents perceive and experience their parental role, allows parents to feel like active, capable actors who are satisfied with their parental role (Máiquez, Rodrigo, Capote, & Vermaes, 2000). Upon family reunification, two of the skills that compose parental agency are relevant: accurate perception of the parental role and parental selfefficacy.
An accurate perception of the parental role enhances understanding of the reasons that led to the separation and the changes that occurred to achieve reunification. A factor contributing to success is that the family perceive the changes that have led to reunification with regard to three distinct areas: (a) changes in the family context, the social support it receives and environmental factors; (b) changes in parenting skills to respond appropriately to the children's needs; and (c) changes related to improvement in the children's quality of life and well-being. Balsells et al. (2013), determined that this role perception is acquired gradually throughout the process of foster care and reunification. At first, families blame contextual aspects for the separation; in the reunification stage, however, they begin to realize how their improved parenting skills are among the factors that render reunification possible. This provides a glimpse into how a progressive awareness of the problem occurs (López & Del Valle, 2013;Palacios & Amorós, 2005). Lietz and Strength (2011) believed that during the reunification stage, parental self-efficacy implies that the parents have a clear awareness of the progress that has enabled their children to return home. Those authors posited that families recognize the changes that have rendered reunification possible and that they have feelings of positive reinforcement regarding those changes (a positive view of the situation). In this sense, Osterling and Han (2011) spoke of the families' perseverance throughout the process as a factor that strengthens the reunification as well as their self-assessment and personal determination to preserve the gains once they are reunited. Similarly, according to Rodrigo and Byrne (2011) on the factors that develop positive parenting, enhancing certain factors such as the level of internal control and self-efficacy helps families acquire a greater awareness of progress and a sense that these factors rely, in part, on their own efforts. According to Lietz and Strength (2011), the meanings families attribute to their experiences strengthen them and give them confidence in themselves. To this end, families must transform their initial fear and view their experience as positive and as an opportunity to improve the situation. Self-confidence and the recognition of their own worth and the worth of other family members add a sense of identity to the family and help preserve the family unit as it strives to remain together (Del Valle & Fuertes, 2007;Del Valle, Bravo, & López, 2009;Osterling & Han, 2011;Thomas, Chenot, & Reifel, 2005).
Another factor identified in the literature as key to the success of reunification is that parents must become re-acquainted with their children again to adapt to their changing needs. Stephens et al. (2017) observed that returning children were described as being 'new people' whom the parents needed to learn about. This newness was sometimes connected to the length of time their children spent in foster care; at times, their children returned to the home at a different developmental stage from when they left, with new standards and daily routines. Actively involving the children in this process is another need identified by research: giving sons and daughters a greater voice and a more prominent role in the process of family reunification engenders better adjustment and adaptability in their parents (Balsells et al., 2013).
Social support is another key element in the process of reunification, particularly during this phase of the child's return home. The amount of support different family members receive to positively address this new period of becoming re-acquainted and re-establishing family life is associated with lower rates of return to the child protection system (Farmer & Wijedasa, 2013). Kimberlin et al. (2009) observed that lack of social support is a risk factor for successful reunification (Barth, Weigensberg, Fisher, Fetrow, & Green, 2008). Lin (2014) reinforced these ideas, demonstrating that a lack of different types of support hinders caregivers' ability to care for the children and prevents the children from achieving permanency outcomes. Thomas et al. (2005) noted the importance of support because negative effects may present a risk to family stability, particularly for children.
Finally, the literature described differing aspects of parenting skills among parents at the time their sons and daughters return home. Festinger (1996) observed that there is a relation between the success of family reunification and parents' skill at managing communication with their sons and daughters, understanding the developmental stage they are negotiating, and establishing balanced discipline. Because inadequate communication between parents and children can create conflict, it is essential that the various family members learn and adjust their communication skills. Both mothers and fathers acquiring and having parenting skills to meet the needs of their children during the reunification process and other characteristics related to the child (young age, need for protection, etc.), to the biological family (psychosocial characteristics, parenting skills), or to the foster care or protective services (type of foster care, economic aid, duration of foster care, etc.) help guarantee long-term family stability (Kimberlin et al., 2009).
The academic literature has highlighted the key role of certain elements in strengthening parenting in the reunited family; parents' and children's voices and perspectives are rarely observed during the reunification. Although they compose one-half of this vital caretaking equation, their needs, concerns, and expertise from their perspective surrounding reunification remain largely unheard. Effectively silenced, parents and children lose the opportunity to participate in an area that concerns those most important to them (Stephens et al., 2017).
This article presents the results of a study that explores parenting skills at the time of family reunification through the voices of the protagonists. To hear the voices of those directly involved, an effort has been made to include the input of adolescents and young people because of their ability to discuss these topics, to inquire about their childhood and foster care experiences, and to triangulate these data with the input of parents and professionals.

Qualitative research
The design of the investigation is qualitative with descriptive and explanatory purposes. The perspective focused on parents, children and professionals as experts in (Stolz, Brandon, Wallace, & Roberson, 2013) the reunification process and essential to its improvement. This methodological design was deemed necessary to deepen and better understand the role of social support in the processes of families in the child protection system (Lin, 2014). The design is based on conducting focus groups and semi-structured interviews to multi-informants: professionals, parents and children.

Participants
The total sample included 135 people and comprised 42 parents in child welfare plans or recently reunited (for less than one year), 63 childcare professionals and 30 children and adolescents who had undergone a foster process, whether kinship or residential.
Focus group participants were selected according to different criteria. For parents, the criteria were (a) families who were already reunited with their children or expecting a return in one or two months, (b) families who fulfilled or were fulfilling a reunification plan, (c) willingness and collaboration with professionals, and (d) different characteristics of age and family structure. For professionals, the criteria were (a) working in child protection services, (b) representing different disciplines that composed the professional teams: psychologists, teachers, social workers, educators, and (c) experience in residential foster care or kinship care. For children and adolescents, the criteria were (a) being between 12 and 20 years and belonging to selected biological families, (b) spending at least a year in care (foster care or residential care) or in kinship care, and (c) having no physical, mental or sensory disability and to be able to follow the focus group.
Of the final sample, 76.2% of the parents were women and 23.8% men. Thirty-four of them represented reunited families, and four were not reunited. Of the childcare professionals, 20 were social educators, 10 were pedagogues, 20 were psychologists and 13 were social workers. Of the professionals, 74.6% were women and 25.4% men; 25.80% were between 25 and 35 years old, 45.16% between 36 and 45, and 29.04% over 46 years old. Of these, 33 worked in biological family intervention, 16 in residential foster care intervention, and 5 in kinship care intervention. Of the children and teenagers, 21 were reunified, and 9 were not reunified; 53.3% were girls, and 46.7% were boys; and 17% were between 6 and 12 years old, 56% were between 12 and 18 years old, and 27% were adults.

Focus group procedure
To gather the data, the focus group technique and semi-structured interviews were used according to written criteria. This technique has been considered appropriate for use with vulnerable population groups (Ayón & Quiroz Villa, 2013), particularly families in the child protection system (Balsells et al., 2011) as well as with professionals who work with families (Stolz et al., 2013). Three tools were used to gather the data: (1) identification card with the participant's basic data, (2) guidelines for questions for the development of the discussion group or semi-structured interview, and (3) a summary card for the discussion group in which aspects related to the development of the group were registered: date, duration of foster care, place, motivation, cohesion, atmosphere, group dynamics and how the questions worked.
Eighteen interviews and 22 discussion groups were conducted. Two researchers from the team travelled to each office of the social services experts; one researcher was the moderator, and the other was in charge of logistics and recording the discussion according to the written criteria. Each discussion group and interview was recorded with the agreement of those present and included a confidentiality agreement.

Data analysis
The analysis focused on five dimensions: (1) adjustment of parenting skills, (2) adapting to the child's needs, (3) social support, (4) accurate perception of the parental role, and (5) parental self-efficacy that are considered important for a successful reunification process as their children return to the home. Content analysis was used to analyse the information by the preparation of codes to be evaluated by different judges.
Bottom-up content analysis was applied: the first stage of analysis was textual, selecting paragraphs, fragments and significant quotes from the transcription papers. The second stage was conceptual, identifying categories and subcategories that could be inter-related. Both stages were subjected to peer review, and categories and subcategories were defined when data reached saturation. The categories are considered saturated when: (1) no new data that emerge in a category, (2) the category is well developed and shows variation and (3) the relationship between the categories are established and are validated.
The software Atlas.ti 6.0 was used for the qualitative data processing. A Hermeneutic Unit Editor was created in which the literal transcriptions of the focus group and interviews (primary documents) were included. Each category was assigned a code (code), and textual notes were included (memos). A conceptual network (network) was created to analyse the data as a basis for the connections established between the codes of the hermeneutic unit.

Results
The richness of the results stems from the ability to record the direct voices of adolescents and young people recounting their childhood experiences with foster care and triangulating their input with that of parents and professionals. The results of the research are around the five dimensions that favour the process of family reunification. We can observe the relationship between the specific dimensions (adjustment of parenting skills, ability to adapt to the child's needs and social support) and the crosscutting skills (accurate perception on the parental role and parental self-efficacy) represented in the Figure 1.

Adjusting parenting and educational skills to the new family circumstances
Upon the child's return home, there is a need to adjust parenting skills to achieve optimum development for the child, primarily with regard to education, establishing rules and boundaries, and coexistence based on communication and affection among family members. These are specific parenting and educational skills that render it possible to re-establish daily life.
Family accounts relate how after a period of separation, parents have a greater awareness that the reunification will require knowing how to establish rules, speak in a more relaxed tone, adjust their parental roles, spend more time with their children, communicate and play with them more, be more understanding, be less reliant on them, and have better communication with their schools.
Of all of these skills, communication between parents and children is the most indispensable element to generate positive responses to potential conflicts that may arise.
For parents, that they be more understanding and know how to listen, and when there's a situation to discuss, that they let us talk. (Children's discussion group)

Adaptability to the children's needs
Changes in the children upon their return home may be observed in two areas: changes in their habits and routines learned in their foster family or centre and developmental changes.
While separated from their parents, the children lived with other people and were exposed to different rules, customs, lifestyles and dynamics of daily life. The results indicate how aspects related to order, meals, the division of tasks, schedules, etc., are part of the daily life to which children have become accustomed and that require realignment and acceptance by all family members to restore a positive dynamic.
In addition, children and adolescents' developmental stages and, consequently, their needs changed since they were separated from their biological families and entered the child protection system.
You're in the centre and you have your schedules, and of course, you get back home (…) and you don't go to bed at 9:30 anymore because you're with your mother who has never been with you and you try to convince her to let you go to bed later (Children's discussion group) The results demonstrate how, depending on the children's age, parents must adjust their parenting skills in the process of consolidating the family reunification. Parents of younger children must make an even greater effort to adapt; older children participate in the adaptation process, gradually taking on a leading role.
Preparation [is needed] because they were seven years old when they left, and when they come back home, they are fourteen, but you still think they are seven. (Parents' discussion group)

Social support
A recurring point in the discussion of all participants was the need for support and monitoring by the formal network of the child protection system and the formal network of community services during the process of family reunification. Several areas of need were identified: formal assistance in developing parenting skills, overcoming personal difficulties, and resolving structural needs.
It has been observed that after a period of separation, readjusting child-raising skills to fit changes in the children and the new family circumstances can pose a challenge during this phase of reunification. All participants believed that there was a need for formal support in responding to these adjustments.
With regard to personal difficulties, parents' addictions and other problems have often been overcome by the time the child returns home although the fragility caused by personal difficulties and the critical moment of the homecoming warrant formal support from the health, psychological, social, educational and employment services.
Finally, the results indicate a need for support to ensure a stable and secure environment for children because families often face ongoing employment, housing and economic difficulties.
Proyecto Hombre is like a home to me; it has helped me in every way, and even now, if I have a problem I can call them for support. (Parents' discussion group) Help from the school has been tremendous. He kept attending the same school while in foster care. I took him out a year early and put him in a school with a family-like environment, and they sure have helped me very, very much. I'm really grateful to them. (Parents' discussion group) It is important to see reunification as a continuum, not as something isolated. The current view is to see it as a rupture. (Professionals' discussion group) For needs of a structural nature, the results indicate how participants also resorted to the informal network, particularly to the extended family.
In the same manner, having a partner provides support in the face of personal and emotional difficulties; it also promotes co-parenting and stability for the return home.
My partner, because if I hadn't had her, they would never have returned the child to me, since I work in the hotel industry more than 12 hours a day. (Parents' discussion group) Accurate perception of parental role to understand the changes that enabled family reunification Perception of the parental role developed gradually; families gradually came to understand and assimilate their responsibility for their child's welfare, the improvements needed in their own skills, and the changes in the psychosocial context. Their perception of their own parenting became clearer throughout the process. The results indicate how parents evolved from focusing on the contextual difficulties to admitting shortcomings in their parenting skills and in their ability to meet their children's specific needs. Notably, the study observed that children tended to remain invisible in some of the parents' accounts, which emphasized their own improvements as parents but not their children's improvements.
My fear is not now because he are 12 years old and I can still handle him as I want, but when he will be older, the situation might be different. So I want to prepare myself psychologically and I want help, to see how I can do it better. (Parents' discussion group) Expectations with regard to family interaction play an important role in shaping that interaction. When parents and children have an accurate perception of their roles, it is easier to pass through the various stages of the homecoming: the honeymoon, the crisis and the stabilization. An accurate perception of roles thus appears to be a specific need during this stage.
My parents changed a lot, I saw that during the weekends, when I was going [at home] and all the things were better than before (Childrens' discussion group) Parental self-efficacy enables a positive experience with awareness of progress The results indicated how families had different levels of parental self-efficacy, understood to be the awareness of progress and the feelings of positive reinforcement that progress provides. A majority of the families were aware of the changes and progress they made throughout the process. They indicated progress in the development of parenting skills as well as changes to contextual aspects that favoured a more stable environment for their children. With regard to parenting skills, parents reported learning a great deal and demonstrated changes related to the establishment and monitoring of child-raising standards, skills of assertive communication, shared responsibility for raising the children, recognition and satisfaction with the parental role, capacity for self-assessment, and shared leisure time with the family. There were contextual factors such as better organization of housework or greater job stability. I've reflected, I've seen my failures, and I've done a lot to fix them. I mean, look, I try a little harder at work, I've focused more on my son, I've shared more with him, I spend more time with him … (Parents' discussion group) However, in some cases this awareness of progress was not valued as a result of family efforts. Sometimes, families were not as aware or did not value their role as protagonists in the changes made, attributing them to external factors such as religion, luck, or even forgetting what occurred.
After the homecoming, it seemed like absolutely nothing had happened. (Parents' discussion group) See … I leave everything in God's hands … and may God prevail. (Parents' discussion group) Another finding was associated with the children's role in the awareness of progress. A common practice in the child protection system is to exclude small children from decisions and information relating to the progress of their families, presumably for their protection. In this sense, a two-way interpretation of parenting questions practices that fail to include children as active participants in this type of process. In the same manner, awareness of family progress requires the involvement of all family members, regardless of their age, rather than only the adults.
One has to take into account that after a certain age, the child also has to be included as a participant. (Professionals' discussion group)

Discussion
Parenting skills are an essential element of family reunification. Authors such as Delfabbro, Fernandez, McCormick, and Kettler (2013) cited these skills as a predictor of family reunification. However, this study contributes to the literature in different ways: the parenting approach highlights a broader view of skills. This approach underscores the influence of children on parenting and the influence of social and contextual support as well as integrating the ecosystem levels of the family with parental practices. This is particularly relevant because it demonstrates that 'the situation of vulnerability is not an anomaly for some parents, but the result of improper parenting practices' (Rodrigo, 2015).
This study includes the perspectives of all those involved in the process of family reunification (parents, children and professionals). This triangulated view contributes to broadening knowledge and sharpening the focus on the specific needs identified, particularly the importance of giving children a voice both in the processes of protection and in studies that affect them. Children must be able to express themselves and convey their points of view (Goodyer, 2014;Mateos, Vaquero, Balsells, & Ponce, 2017;Nybell, 2013).
Although the positive parenting approach remains nascent in the child protection system, the results of this study enable an examination of situations of abuse, neglect and abandonment from a less 'pathological' perspective and an understanding that situations of distress are also the result of improper parenting practices. The findings demonstrated a series of general or training skills, such as caring for and interacting with sons and daughters (Budd & Holdsworth, 1996) as parenting skills that are required for mothers and fathers to render homecoming and reunification possible (Austin, Anthony, & Kimberlin, 2008;Maluccio & Ainsworth, 2003).
In this manner, the need to acquire parenting skills to provide affection, control or stimulation for one's children is associated with the prevention of abuse and neglect but also with teaching parents the skills required to raise their children well. According to Festinger (1996), there is a relation between the success of family reunification and parents' skills in managing communication with their children, understanding the developmental stage the children are undergoing, and establishing balanced discipline. Communication between parents and children is essential. The needs associated with communication can increase at the moment of homecoming because a long time has elapsed during which the family has not lived together.
With regard to parental agency, the findings suggest substantive and differing aspects in the development of skills for the consolidation of the family, the restoration of family life, and the natural balance of relations. The findings have demonstrated that in the final state of family reunification (Balsells, Pastor, Mateos, Vaquero, & Urrea, 2015), the accurate perception of the parental role and parental self-efficacy were associated with awareness of the changes that rendered the homecoming possible. Concurring with the contributions of Lietz and Strength (2011), Schofield andWard (2011) andEllingsen, Shemmings, Størksen, andStorksen (2011) underscored the importance of all family members understanding the family situation so that as each member perceives his or her role more accurately, the likelihood of successful reunification increases.
The significant commitment of the family also emerged as a key element in the process of reunification. Thomas et al. (2005) observed how the positivity, adaptability, confidence, security, and autonomy of the parents related to positive processes of reunification. All of this suggests adjustments in how parents perceive their role, and this factor must be considered for its practical implications in family interventions. Intervention with these families should focus on improving and consolidating this awareness of change. It follows from this that it is necessary to focus on self-efficacy, internal control, and parents' awareness of their skills (Arranz Freijo et al., 2017;Rodrigo & Byrne, 2011). This is key to exercising positive parenting in contexts of risk and severe risk. In short, perception of the parental role is a crucial aspect in parenting and includes the perception that changes depend on oneself (internal control) and a perception that one is capable of making these changes (Rodrigo & Byrne, 2011) as well as personal determination to preserve the changes following reunification (Osterling & Han, 2011).
One of the factors cited by Kimberlin et al. (2009) to consolidate family reunification is parents' acquisition of parenting skills to meet the specific needs of their children. This coincides with findings that suggested that educational practices can be adapted to the new needs of the children, closely related to the developmental changes that the child has undergone during the period of foster care. In addition to adapting to these changes, there is a need to adjust to the new customs and routines that the children adopted in the foster family or residential facility (Balsells et al., 2013). These processes of adjusting and adapting educational competencies to the children's new needs require new types of support. Rock, Michelson, Thomson, and Day (2015) indicated the diversity of social support and the benefits of integrating formal and informal support as strategies necessary to respond to the needs of parents and children during this stage. Giallo, Treyvaud, Cooklin, and Wade (2013) observed that parents in poor quality relationships and with greater social support needs may have fewer personal resources available to engage in play and learning activities with their children. In turn, Coyl, Newland, and Freeman (2010) previously noted that parents who sought social support, particularly family support, were more likely to be involved with their children and were less likely to use physical punishment as a discipline strategy with their children. Families require support and monitoring during reunification (Balsells, Pastor, Molina, Fuentes-Pelaez, & Vázquez, 2016;Berrick, Cohen, & Anthony, 2011;Lee, Hwang, Socha, Pau, & Shaw, 2013) because they require assistance developing parenting skills and overcoming the personal difficulties and structural challenges posed by the new stage. Ongoing formal and informal support is an important element of assistance during the family reunification and homecoming stage to ensure its success and prevent cases of re-entry into the child protection system (Lietz, Lacasse, & Cacciatore, 2011). In this sense, there is an obvious need to change the perception that reunification marks a closure or a break in the view of the participants. Connection to social support networks is one of the elements that promotes success in reunification; the networks are a safety system that works to prevent relapses and strengthens the capabilities of the family system (Lee et al., 2013).

Implications for practice
The complexity and uniqueness observed in parenting skills during a child's return home after a period of foster care suggests important implications for practice. First, it is apparent that in addition to specific parenting skills at each stage of this process (Balsells, Pastor, Amorós, et al., 2015), it is advisable to combine this intervention with programmes of more general parenting skills to address child-raising skills and include families in general support (Amorós, Fuentes-Peláez, Mateos, & Pastor, 2011;Álvarez, Padilla, Byrne, Máiquez, & Rodrigo, 2015;Martín-Quintana et al., 2009;Oliva et al., 2007;Rodríguez, Martín-Quintana, & Rodrigo, 2015). A second implication for practice is the use of group methodologies to teach skills. This methodology helps develop parental agency (Rodrigo, 2012) and offers a space for strengthening the formal and informal networks through which the family shares experiences and spaces with others undergoing similar situations .

Limitations
One limitation of the study was the difficulty for children to talk about their experiences. First of all because children do not always have enough maturity or verbal skills to talk about complex ideas, especially if it is about their process of fostering and family reunification. Second, because sometimes it is emotionally hard experiences. Therefore, when children talk about these experiences with people they do not know, it can lead to blockages when they have to explain certain personal circumstances during an interview or discussion group. In this sense, methodological data collection strategies such as arts-based participatory research can help children's participation.
Despite this fact, the voices of children, parents and professionals allow us to identify needs during foster care and reunification process in five dimensions (adjustment of parenting skills, adaptation to the needs of the child, social support, more accurate perception of one's role, and parental selfefficacy) to favour the consolidation of family. Findings suggest this dimensions are on two different levels cross-cutting skills and specific skills. However, future research should analyse deeply the relationship among this dimensions, in order to know better parenting skills involved in reunification processes.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. A. Urrea Monclús, Ph.D., Postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Systematic and Social Pedagogy of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Spain. She is member of the GRISIJ group and the Chair Education and Adolescence of the University of Lleida. She participates in researches partnership with the UNICEF Spanish Committee since 2011. Also she collaborates with the research group Childhood and Adolescence in Social Risk (IARS). Her research is related to children's rights, especially with regard to child participation and from the perspective of child rights-based approach as a mechanism of self-protection. Her publications include contributions about the promotion of resilience through the child rights-based approach and about child participation.
E. Vaquero Tió, Ph.D., Lecturer professor at Department of Pedagogy, Faculty of Education, Social Work and Psychology University of Lleida, Spain. He is member of the Research Group for Social and Educational Interventions in Child and Youth and also member of the Chair Education and Adolescence. His research activity is focused on child and adolescence at social risk and vulnerability situations, resilience and educational technology. Nowadays he participates and contributes on projects about Family Reunification on the Child Protection System among others.