Bridging the Gap: How Parent Advocates with Lived Experience Enhance Child Protective Services Practice

Background and Purpose
Child Protective Services (CPS) agencies often face significant challenges engaging families due to systemic distrust, power imbalances, and the regulatory nature of child welfare systems. Parents frequently perceive CPS involvement as intrusive or punitive, which can hinder communication, reduce engagement with services, and complicate collaborative decision-making. In response, many jurisdictions have begun integrating Parent Advocates (PAs)—individuals with lived experience navigating the child welfare system—into CPS practice to strengthen relationships between agencies and families and support more responsive service delivery. Although a growing body of research has examined parent advocacy from the perspectives of parents receiving services and from advocates themselves, far less attention has been given to how CPS professionals perceive and incorporate these roles within their work. This study examines CPS staff perspectives on how PAs influence communication, collaboration, and decision-making within New York City’s Enhanced Family Conferencing Initiative (EFCI). By documenting these perspectives, the study contributes to understanding how integrating lived experience into public service systems can strengthen participatory decision-making, improve relationships between families and government institutions, and advance more equitable and family-centered child welfare practice.

Methods
Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 49 CPS staff members from the New York City Administration for Children’s Services who were involved in the EFCI initiative. Participants included caseworkers, supervisors, managers, and conference facilitators. Interviews explored staff experiences working with PAs and their perceptions of how advocacy services influence engagement with families, service planning, and decision-making processes. Interviews were and analyzed using thematic analysis informed by grounded theory techniques.

Results
Three interrelated roles of PAs emerged from the analysis. First, PAs functioned as bridge-builders, fostering trust and improving communication between CPS staff and families who might otherwise disengage from the system. Through shared lived experience and a non-authoritative role, PAs helped explain CPS processes, reduce misunderstandings, and encourage parents’ participation in conferences and service planning. Second, PAs supported collaborative decision-making by contributing insights grounded in lived experience and community knowledge. Their involvement helped CPS teams consider alternative perspectives, identify family strengths, and connect families with relevant community resources. Third, PAs helped alleviate workforce pressures by maintaining ongoing contact with families, monitoring service engagement, and sharing updates with CPS staff. These activities enhanced coordination and allowed caseworkers to focus on core responsibilities while ensuring families received continued support.

Conclusions and Implications
Findings highlight the value of integrating lived-experience roles within child welfare systems. From the perspective of CPS staff, PAs strengthen engagement with families, facilitate collaborative decision-making, and improve coordination of services. These findings suggest that peer advocacy models may help shift child welfare systems toward more participatory and relationship-based approaches that elevate the voices of families involved in the system. Expanding parent advocacy programs may therefore represent an important strategy for strengthening trust in public institutions and promoting more equitable child welfare practices. Future research should examine the long-term impacts of these roles across diverse implementation contexts and how integrating lived experience into service systems can support more inclusive decision-making.