Taking Parenting Programs to Scale: Lessons From Studying Parenting for Lifelong Health for Young Children in South-Eastern Europe

Over one billion children globally are exposed to violence each year and 55 million European children experience violence in their lifetime. Parenting interventions are a key strategy to reduce child maltreatment and promote child outcomes. Parenting for Lifelong Health for Young Children (PLH-YC) is an in-person parenting program, tested for use in Romania, Moldova, and North Macedonia. Implementation experiences across these settings highlighted key barriers and facilitators to scale-up, including (a) program factors: program length, session duration, home visits, incentives, online delivery; (b) political factors: political will, decision-maker turnover, international politics; and (c) service environment factors: facilitators, human resources, travel infrastructure, recruitment, referral pathways, and scale-up avenues. Drawing on these lessons, this practice note shares practical recommendations for others working to scale parenting interventions in South-East Europe and similar contexts.