Parents who work in policing face a \u201cmassive challenge\u201d, but officers must talk to their managers and push for the support they need, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.<\/p>\n
Chair Steve Kent was talking about the unique issues facing police parents, following Parent Mental Health Day.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cIt\u2019s a massive challenge. There\u2019s got to be a big accommodation by parents and by the organisation. My wife\u2019s a police officer too, and when my children were young we had to hand the kids over in the car park on a weekly basis. It wasn\u2019t ideal.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the problem is that, even though the force absolutely has\u00a0 a legal obligation to consider people\u2019s flexible working patterns, our organisation is at the red line so there can be a real challenge to accommodate that.<\/p>\n
\u201cOfficers can rarely afford the astronomical costs of childcare, so sometimes they have to sacrifice their relationships by providing that handover culture with kids.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not saying it is the organisation\u2019s role to provide childcare, but there needs to be flexible understanding to help balance it. I was fortunate that I had that when I was with young children, but it was hard. It was hard not seeing your partner and almost doing opposite shifts to maintain that parent cover.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got some good parenting networks in this force, some really good support out there, but it is still a challenge for people to strike that balance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve\u2019s message to members who were struggling with balancing work and parenting was: \u201cEngage with your managers, and work with the force to find the best fit for you and the organisation, because it can be achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n