Parent Advocacy – Development Action

Parents Families and Allies Network (PFAN) is a national UK organisation dedicated to promoting social justice for parents and families affected by the child protection system in the UK. Outcomes for children and parents can be significantly improved through a more supportive, collective and compassionate approach to protecting children. Research shows that parent advocacy can play a key part in this. Parent advocacy means bringing parents with lived experience to support parents and professionals in navigate the child protection and care processes, informing practice, policy and research.

The webinar will share experiences of parents and their allies in the United States and the UK, showing how parent advocacy creates better co-operation and understanding between parents and social workers, reduces the need for compulsory statutory interventions and for children to be looked after by local authorities. The webinar will help parents, professionals and their allies to learn from the experience of others and consider how to engage with and support parents to become advocates and to promote a genuine partnership based on parents’ voices and experiences. It will act as a launch pad for the development of parent advocacy within Wales and beyond.

Social workers and family practitioners are encouraged to support parents they currently work with, or have previously worked with, to attend and participate in the event.

Programme

The programme will include local, national and international perspectives and contributions from:

• Hope Newton, Parent Advocate for Center for Family Representation (CFR)NY, Chair Rise Board and child welfare-affected parent.

• Taliah Drayak, parent advocate, founder of Scots Mums Guide to Safeguarding and Child Protection, Administrator of International Parent Advocacy Network and parent with child protection experience.

• Sana Malik , a parent with lived experience of the child protection system in Wales, a mental health support worker and one of the founding members of PAN (Parent Advocacy Network) - West Glamorgan.

• David Tobis, Ph.D, Visiting Professor at the University of Lancashire, author of ‘ From Pariahs to Partners : How parents and their allies changed New York City's child welfare system’ David is an activist for child welfare reform and the strengthening of child welfare systems with parent involvement.

• Andy Bilson, Emeritus Professor of Social Work, University of Lancashire. Andy was a founder of PFAN and researches risk in the child protection system and the increasing separation of children from parents through adoption and care.

Andy and David promote parental advocacy and activism in child protection reform internationally with the development of the International Parent Advocacy Network (IPAN) and the publication, on 31st October 2020, of their International Review of Parent Advocacy in Child Welfare.