Parent Peer Advocacy, Mentoring, & Support in Child Protection: Reconceptualizing Support and Outcome Achievement through Empirical Knowledge of Effective Practices

Background:

Addressing experiences of unjust and unequal treatment for parents affected by the child protection (CP) system through innovative practices to promote meaningful participation is of increasing interest worldwide. Parent peer advocacy, mentoring, and support programs, delivered by parents with lived CP experience to parents receiving CP intervention, are examples of more inclusive practices gaining international attention and early evaluations demonstrate positive outcomes. However, little is known about what shared characteristics exist across these types of programs and what variations may exist in both service delivery and outcome achievement. This scoping review of empirical literature on parent peer advocacy, mentoring, and support programs aims to develop a systematic mapping of existing models, program structures, and direct practices by examining 25 years of research that explores the design and delivery of these programs as context for program benefits and outcome achievement. Research questions explore how programs are conceptualized and studied, and the impact of programs on parents, professionals, and the system. This paper addresses conference themes by presenting a reconceptualization of parent peer support and outcome achievement, informed by social work research, to promote practice, policy, and research developments that strengthen empowering and socially just practices for marginalized populations.

Methods:

Study methods were guided by PRISM-P scoping review standards. The review focused on studies published in English between January 1996 and June 2022. A search across a range of electronic databases, grey literature, and peer-reviewed journals, resulted in 3,899 unduplicated citations. Eligible studies examined programs delivered by parents with lived experience to parents in the CP system and involved and addressed program development, delivery and/or outcomes. Studies were independently reviewed by two raters, and discrepancies resolved by a third rater. Data extraction focused on program characteristics, study methods and findings.

Results:

Results are based on 51 studies representing 27 programs across four countries. Qualitative studies were most represented in the sample, followed by quantitative and mixed methods with interviews being the most common type of data collection. Findings reveal an emergent evidence-base addressing a range of parent peer advocacy, mentoring, and support programs distinguished by both program and parent characteristics. Program variations existed in theoretical framing and aims with important differences in the task, frequency, and context of parent peer roles. Findings highlight an array of support perceived as valued and effective across nine key support type domains (expressed, affinity, tangible, communication, informational, attitudinal, empowerment, emotional, spiritual) with lived experience featuring as central to the change process. Program outcome measures attend to established child and family outcomes with an increasing focus on peer, system, and community level outcomes and emergent evidence.

Conclusions:

Results highlight the importance of contextualizing the parent peer advocacy and support practice and research with greater consideration to program types and characteristics. A program typology is presented to establish key theoretical and practice characteristics reflective of inclusive, participatory, and empowering peer support practices. The presentation will discuss future research direction and the need for a greater focus on equality- and rights-based measures in establishing program value and effectiveness.