The Perceived Impact of Peer Parental Advocacy on Child Protection Practice
Clive Diaz, Samantha Fitz-Symonds, Lilly Evans, David Westlake, Richard Devine, Diletta Mauri and Bethan Davies
Summary
Research evidence suggests that parents find the child protection system to be difficult and at times stigmatising and authoritarian (Diaz, 2020; Gibson, 2015). Parents often perceive child and family social workers as being critical of them and can find child protection conferences (CPCs) in particular to be disempowering and oppressive (Corby, Millar & Young, 1996; Muench, Diaz & Wright, 2017; Gibson, 2015; Diaz, 2020).
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 (Rockhill, Furrer & Duong, 2015; Bohannan, Gonzalez & Summers, 2016; Damman, 2018; Trescher & Summers, 2020; Berrick, Cohen & Anthony, 2011; Lalayants, 2013, 2017). However, there is limited research regarding PPA in the United Kingdom, not least because there are still relatively few PPA services in the UK and most of those that do exist have only recently been established. Much of the research undertaken on PPA has been in the US, and this has documented the efficacy of peer parental advocates in supporting parents to have a meaningful voice in decision-making. This, in turn, has been shown to reduce the need for children to enter state care (Tobis, 2013; Tobis, Bilson & Katugampala, 2020; MerkelHolguin et al., 2020).
This report presents the findings from a mixed-methods evaluation of PPA in the London Borough of Camden, aiming to understand the perceived impact of PPA on child protection practice. The use of PPA in Camden was recently highlighted by the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care (MacAlister, 2022) as an example of innovative practice. Therefore, this evaluation focuses on a programme theory for the key ingredients for a successful PPA service.
