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Abstract

Abstract

This study highlighted the unique elements of the role played by parent advocates (PAs) with lived child welfare experience in supporting families affected by the child welfare system. These elements set PAs apart from other professionals and included non-professionalized peer support, experiential expertise, a strong sense of identification, authenticity, legitimized empathy and understanding, and critical consciousness. As parent peer support programs gain popularity in child welfare services, it is imperative to understand and define these distinctive elements that underpin the PA role, as they serve as the foundation for novel approaches to working with, supporting, and empathizing with parents navigating the complexities of the child welfare system.

The implications of this study emphasize the importance of PAs in engaging stigmatized and marginalized parents. PA experiential expertise, coupled with training in child welfare policies, positioned them as trusted sources of information and system navigators for parents. Shared experiences and cultural backgrounds helped create a strong bond and a sense of relatability. Through their authentic and legitimized empathy and understanding, PAs provided reassurance and fostered a sense of validation and acceptance. Finally, PAs exhibited critical consciousness, challenging power dynamics and inequalities within the child welfare system. Through empowerment and advocacy, PAs helped amplify parents’ voices, countering stigma, discrimination, and bias. These unique elements of PA role can be invaluable and transformative to child welfare agencies. Integrating the voices of parent advocates could lead to a better understanding of the challenges families face and improve the child welfare system and services.

As a growing workforce in the field of child welfare, efforts to build, nurture, and advance the PA role are needed. Balancing between professionalization and maintaining the unique characteristics and authenticity of PA role is a critical consideration for the future of parent peer support in child welfare.

Key Take Away Points

  • Parent advocates with lived experience possess unique qualities that set them apart from other child welfare professionals.
  • Parent advocates offer non-professionalized peer support, apply experiential expertise, and utilize a strong sense of identification, authenticity, legitimized empathy and understanding, and critical consciousness.
  • The role of parent advocates in engaging stigmatized and marginalized parents is crucial.
  • Parent advocates with lived child welfare experience could add value to child welfare agencies by providing personal input and insights into important issues and challenges that families may be experiencing.
  • Integrating the voices of parent advocates could lead to a better understanding of the challenges families face and improve the child welfare system and services.
  • As a growing workforce in the field of child welfare, efforts to build, nurture, and advance the parent advocates' role are needed.

Author Biography

Marina Lalayants, PhD, is a Professor and Chair of Child Welfare: Children, Youth and Families field of practice at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, The City University of New York. Throughout her professional career, her interests have been in examining and responding to the needs of child welfare-involved, low-income families, children, and youth through direct practice in child welfare preventive and protective settings, as well as research related to program development, implementation, and evaluation in collaboration with the local child welfare authorities and nonprofit child welfare organizations. Her latest research has focused on building evidence for peer-delivered models in child protection and prevention. Dr. Lalayants studies family-centered and collaborative approaches and peer-delivered practices that promote family engagement and participation in case decision-making and child welfare services to ultimately improve child welfare outcomes. Jovonna Frieson is a licensed child welfare clinician and researcher whose professional expertise is underpinned by her lived experience as a mother and advocate. As a 9th generation African American whose grandparents emigrated from the South during the Jim Crow era to New York City, she is fueled with passion to further social justice efforts through a trauma-informed lens; especially in the milieu that offered her family a sanctuary. After successfully navigating through her own mandated system intervention, Jovonna trained as a Parent Leader with the Child Welfare Organizing Project (CWOP) where she helped spearhead grassroots reform projects and served as its Board Chair. For over a decade, she counseled and advocated for vulnerable families experiencing mandated intervention from the New York City Family Court system. Through roles ranging from peer advocate to crisis interventionist, Jovonna has used her finely tuned skill set to counsel, support, and mentor parents and youth while amplifying their perspective in service programming. After earning her Master of Social Work degree from Fordham University, she coordinated parent programming in NYC child welfare before transitioning to her current role as a Policy and Planning Manager with the Administration for Children’s Services.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank the leadership of the New York City Administration for Children’s Services for facilitating this study. The input and guidance of the study Advisory Committee members was invaluable in designing the study and interpreting the findings. The authors are grateful to Sharon Jeon, the research assistant, for rigorous work on the project. Finally, the authors would like to extend the deepest gratitude to parent advocates, their leadership, child welfare staff, and family members for participating in the study and sharing their experiences. Funding: This study was funded by the New York City Administration for Children’s Services to the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College at the City University of New York.

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