Understanding the effects of an interdisciplinary approach to parental representation in child welfare

Gerber, Lucas A.; Guggenheim, Martin; Pang, Yuk C.; Ross, Timothy; Mayevskaya, Yana; Jacobs, Susan; Pecora, Peter J.

doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105163

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The second type of program identified in our review was “court-based programs” ( n = 5), where PAs were part of an interdisciplinary team alongside attorneys and social workers, representing parents with CPS involvement, including open dependency or family court cases (e.g., Gerber et al, 2020 ). In addition, within the judicial context, PA programs supported parents alongside more traditional court systems as part of family or dependency court programs ( n = 2).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parent Peer Advocacy, Mentoring, and Support in Child Protection: A Scoping Review of Programs and Services

Saar-Heiman,

Damman,

Lalayants

et al. 2024

Psychosocial Intervention

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: Parent peer advocacy, mentoring, and support programs, delivered by parents with lived child protection (CP) experience to parents receiving CP intervention, are increasingly recognized internationally as inclusive practices that promote positive outcomes, but little is known about what shared characteristics exist across these types of programs and what variations may exist in service delivery or impact. This scoping review examines 25 years (1996–2021) of empirical literature on these programs to develop a systematic mapping of existing models and practices as context for program benefits and outcome achievement. Method: Studies were selected using a systematic search process. The final sample comprised 45 publications that addressed research on 24 CP-related parent peer advocacy and support programs. Data analysis explored how programs were studied and conceptualized and examined their impact on parents, professionals, and the CP system. Results: Substantial variation in program settings, target populations, aims, advocate roles, and underlying theoretical frameworks were identified. Across program settings, existing empirical evidence on impact and outcomes also varied, though positive impacts and outcomes were evident across most settings. Conclusions: Findings from this review highlight the need to account better for parent peer advocacy and support program variations in future practice development to ensure alignment with inclusive and participatory principles and goals. Future research is also needed to address current knowledge gaps and shed light on the impact of these differences on individual, case, and system outcomes.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parent Peer Advocacy, Mentoring, and Support in Child Protection: A Scoping Review of Programs and Services

Saar-Heiman,

Damman,

Lalayants

et al. 2024

Psychosocial Intervention

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Parent advocates use their personal knowledge of what works to translate the court’s terminology and process to ensure that parents’ rights are respected (Lee, 2016). Their work within multidisciplinary parent representation teams, wherein lawyers, social workers, and parent advocates work together with court-involved families, is correlated with reduced length of stay for children in foster care (Gerber et al, 2020).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Space, Place, and Time: The Family Court Experiences of Child Welfare–Involved Parents

Washington

Stephens

Pisciotta

2022

Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Service

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There is no Family Court (FC) without families. However, historically and presently, families have not been centered in child welfare (CW) and family unification practices. This article aims to increase knowledge of parents’ experiences with CW and FC to illustrate how these institutions operate in the lives of the families they were built to serve. Data collected from in-depth interviews with parents ( n = 4) and parent advocates ( n = 6) illustrate how space, place, and time were recreated once parents engaged with CW and FC. These emergent findings show the FC’s replication of racial and social inequities among poor mothers of color and how the FC facilitated punitive pathways to reunification. This article ends with a call for institutional reforms to align FC practices with their stated purpose of supporting and centering families.

show abstract

“…Over the past 15 years, bright spots have emerged around the country where strong representation for parents (Sankaran, 2017) as well as their children is being prioritized and studied (Courtney & Hook, 2012; Gerber et al., 2020). Nonetheless, law school education, professional training, and organizational support of attorneys for parents continues to be a struggle nationwide (Sankaran, 2017; Guggenheim, 2007).…”

Section: Providing Context: Challenges To High Quality Legal Represen...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These advocates partner with clients outside of court, attending case planning meetings and assisting families with removing barriers to reunification. “ The interdisciplinary law office approach to representing parents places a premium on paying careful attention to what is happening in the parents' lives throughout the life of the court case ” (Gerber et al., 2020, at 10). Most important, perhaps, is that an interdisciplinary approach recognizes the emotionally fraught journey that parents and their children go through in the system, providing them with team members to help them navigate an overwhelming, daunting, and sometimes terrifying process.…”

Section: Providing Context: Challenges To High Quality Legal Represen...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Doing right by families: Presenting dynamic performance metrics for legal excellence in child welfare law

Aleguire,

Gatowski

2024

Juvenile Family Court J

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To meet the challenge of advancing child welfare law, a field affecting millions of families a year, practicing attorneys have developed a wealth of guidance for best practices. The Judicial, Court, and Attorney Measures of Performance (JCAMP) provide a way to determine whether legal programs are following these recommended practices and to assess the strength of attorney–client relationships. After providing context around challenges to high quality legal representation, best practice guidance, and evaluation research findings, this article reviews the JCAMP measures of attorney practice. JCAMP may be used by legal programs to both assess their own practice and to elicit feedback from affected families to ensure consistent high quality representation. Boldly assessing attorney interactions, and the experiences of clients in the court process, is critical to guiding and empowering lawyers to achieve excellence.

show abstract

Understanding the effects of an interdisciplinary approach to parental representation in child welfare

Cited by 7 publications

References 8 publications

Parent Peer Advocacy, Mentoring, and Support in Child Protection: A Scoping Review of Programs and Services

Parent Peer Advocacy, Mentoring, and Support in Child Protection: A Scoping Review of Programs and Services

Space, Place, and Time: The Family Court Experiences of Child Welfare–Involved Parents

Doing right by families: Presenting dynamic performance metrics for legal excellence in child welfare law

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About