Parent Advocates provide peer-to-peer support. They come together to help each other and to find a collective voice. Parent Advocates are also working with their allies to bring about policy, programme, and system reform. Many other groups of parents and allies are considering whether to create projects, programmes or organisations to amplify the influence and power of parents in the child welfare system in the UK. This Practice Guide is designed to help parents and their allies in the UK who have created or are in the process of creating a Parent Advocacy programme. 

This study delves into how parents with lived experience of the child protection system imagine peer-parent advocacy services; focusing on empathy, support, and empowerment.

In 2022, Barnardos Ireland launched an ambitious pilot: the Parental Advocacy and Information Service (PAIS). Designed to support parents involved in child-care proceedings, the service offers one-to-one advocacy, information sessions, a helpline and workshops — all grounded in the principles of empowerment, rights-based practice and meaningful participation.

Rapid realist review identifying three key mechanisms in shared decision-making (e.g. family group conferences) that can safely reduce children's entry into care by enhancing engagement, trust, and involvement.

This scoping review aimed to map the extent of evidence on parental advocacy programmes supporting participation in child welfare decision-making.

Parental advocacy is an emerging area of research and policy interest in Wales and across the UK. Although there is little research in the UK context to date, international research has indicated that parental advocacy can improve the relationship between parent and professional in the field of child protection social work. This paper aims to ascertain how the implementation of a parental advocacy programme supports parents to play a meaningful role in decision-making when children’s services are working with them and their families.

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the current state of literature on peer parental advocacy, offering practical insights and ideas for researchers and practitioners interested in this evolving field.

This realist-informed study considered how a newly implemented PPA programme supported parents in two English Local Authorities. Our findings highlight the unique role peer advocates can play as a resource to influence decision-making, power relations and working relationships between professionals and parents. This article presents our final programme theory, which identifies four key mechanisms that support perceived effectiveness in PPA implementation…

Peer parental advocacy (PPA) is a form of peer advocacy whereby parents with lived experience of the child protection system support other parents to navigate and engage with it (Tobis, Bilson & Katugampala, 2020). Proponents of PPA suggest that it has the potential to promote more shared decision-making, improved relationships between social service professionals and families, and enable increased participation by parents…