Creating and Managing a Parent Advocacy Programme

Abstract:

Parents who have experienced the child welfare system are working as peer-to-peer advocates, helping other parents negotiate child welfare. Parents are also working as activists to change child welfare policies, progammes and systems.

This presentation focuses on how to create and manage a parent advocacy programme that supports parents, helps families and improves child welfare systems. These programmes operate within governmental agencies and as independent organizations.

The presentation is based on the Practice Guide: Creating and Managing a Parent Advocacy Programme. It is designed to help parents and their allies who have created or are in the process of creating a Parent Advocacy Programme. The Guide was developed under the auspices of Cardiff University’s CASCADE Centre, written by David Tobis and Clive Diaz, with input from two parent advisory groups.

Kar Man Au will speak from the perspective of both a parent advocate and someone supporting a local authority in setting up and delivering a parental advocacy service. She will reflect on what effective advocacy looks like in practice, how it feels from a parent’s point of view, and what it takes for local authorities to create conditions that genuinely support parent-led advocacy.

Topics covered include: What is Parent Advocacy and Why it is Important; the Role of Parent Leadership; Preparing an Agency; What Parents Want Peer Advocates to Know and Do; Support and Training Parent Advocates Need; Training Staff Need to Work with Parent Advocates; and Developing a Strategy to Promote Parent Advocacy. The presentation includes many resources available free on-line. Everyone who attends will receive a free copy of the Practice Guide.

Biography – David Tobis:

David Tobis, Ph.D. David is one of the world leaders supporting and promoting parent advocacy in child welfare. He was the executive director of the Child Welfare Fund in New York City which helped launch parent activism in child welfare. He is now Ambassador-at-Large for the International Parent Advocacy Network (IPAN) which builds a parent-led movement to reform child welfare. His book, From Pariahs to Partners: How Parents and their Allies Changed New York City’s Child Welfare System (Oxford University Press, 2013) has helped promote parent advocacy in child welfare globally. For four decades he worked to assess and reform child welfare systems in the United States and internationally as a consultant to UNICEF, the World Bank, NGOs, foundations and governments in over 30 countries. He now publishes a weekly Substack Connecting Local Actions to Big Picture Changes about the need to resist authoritarianism.

Biography – Kar-Man Au:

Kar-Man Au is a Research Assistant and Peer Researcher at CASCADE, Cardiff University, Royal Holloway, University of London and collaborates with the University of Birmingham. She works on national research projects funded by the NIHR and the Nuffield Foundation, focusing on Family Group Conferencing, Parental Advocacy, and Serious Case Reviews.

As a lived-experience parent advocate and Coordinator of the Camden Family Advisory Board, Kar-Man brings both personal experience and professional expertise to her work. She also works independently with local authorities and other organisations to promote relationship-based, rights-based, and strengths-based approaches through co-design and meaningful participation.

Kar-Man is co-author of Lived Experience Perspectives in Strengths-Based Practice in Adult Social Work and Social Care (Routledge, 2024)