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.

Family Group Conferencing is a family-led decision-making process used in children’s social care in the UK. Unlike traditional meetings between families and professionals when there is a safeguarding concern, Family Group Conferences are often held outside children’s services’ premises in a ‘neutral’ venue. In this article, we critique the idea that a meeting location can be neutral as spaces may be experienced differently, and hold multiple meanings, for the family, their network and professionals who take part.

In a world where political and social divisions can leave us feeling powerless, relational activism offers a hopeful alternative. It’s about making change happen through personal connections, informal relationships, and small acts of compassion.

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.