PFAN - Parent, Family and Allies Network

PFAN carried out a consultation with parents in England and Wales involved in remote family court hearings due to coronavirus for the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory.
PFAN found parents had poor legal representation and unjust and unfair hearings
See our press release and PFAN report Also see the NFJO Report
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IPAN, International Parents and Allies Network have published their Toolkit for Transformation an online resource created for parent advocates and their allies wishing to start a parent-led movement for change and the International Review of Parent Advocacy in Child Welfare.
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PAR, Parents Advocacy and Rights, did an on-line survey of parents’ experiences of the care and protection system. Read Uncovering the Pain by Gary Clapton that tells the stories of parents involved in the child protection system and hear their voices More…

Coming together to promote change

Coming together to promote change:
developing parent advocacy in the UK

By Yuval Saar-Heiman, Marie skłodowska Curie fellow, Royal Holloway University of London and PFAN

On the 6^th of July 2022, Parents, Families and Allies Network (PFAN) and the Department of Social Work (of Royal Holloway, University of London) hosted a conference to bring together parent advocates and their allies from across the UK to present different forms of parent advocacy. The idea behind the conference was to create a space for people committed to promoting parent advocacy to learn from, and connect with, each other. In this blog, I hope to provide an overview of the day, to present the main themes that arose from the presentations and to share my reflections and experiences from what was an inspirational day.

Overview of the day

40 people attended the ... Read More

Our Birmingham Conference

On 25 February 2020, an exciting event launched a new and innovative parent partnership project for families involved with West Midlands.Read more

Open Nest Conference

See details of the conference where PFAN was launched

Coronavirus

Help us to learn about how covid-19 affects you. Fill in the parent and family survey or send us information and good practice examples.
Find information and help with coronavirus in child protection systems.

The Government’s response to COVID-19: Impact on human rights

PFAN's submission to the UK Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights

The Parents, Families and Allies Network (PFAN) is a new UK wide group aiming to promote natural justice and procedural fairness in children’s social care including the right of ... Read More

PFAN Parent and Family survey

Coronavirus and social distancing are putting stress on families and communities, and are tough on parents with child welfare involvement. PFAN is dedicated to building the power of parents affected by the child protection system. We need your help ... Read More

Covid and CP Conferences

The Nuffield Family Justice Observatory has announced a survey to assess the impact of COVID-19 on child protection conferences. The research team is calling for parents and professionals with experience of child protection conferences during the pandemic to take part ... Read More

Severance is a feminist issue – Sue Robson

Sue is a feminist activist and campaigner with over 35 years practical experience in community development work with women and girls. She is kinship carer for her 11 year old grandson and was awarded a PhD in Applied Social Science ... Read More

Remote Court Hearings trauma

Remote court hearings putting vulnerable women in traumatic situations ‘which place them at unjust disadvantage’ This article in the Independent outlines some of the issues raised by remote court hearings. It starts: Remote court hearings introduced to cope with the ... Read More

PAR Advice to parents of children in care during corona virus

PAR, Parents Advocacy and Rights, has published guidance for parents in Scotland on concerning practices where children's social work has made blanket decisions to end contact between children and their parents. It argues that these decisions are breach of legal ... Read More

Open Letter to First Minister of Scotland

In Scotland, according to PAR (Parents Advocacy and Rights), many councils are cancelling direct contact between children in care and their parents and siblings. Many councils are ceasing all contact with immediate effect, indefinitely. PAR has sent an open letter ... Read More

Equal Chance – FIN SEQ

This is the 10th April 2020 newsletter of FIN SEQ (the Family Inclusion Network of SE Queensland) written by and with parents involved in the Queensland child protection system. It includes a great article by Bobbi about contact and the ... Read More

Tips for remote family contact

This paper Things to do when you cannot be with your child. Ways to supplement Face-to-Face visits or when those are not possible. was written by Rose Marie Wentz gives useful tips for parents who are having to contact their ... Read More

Supportive Remote Visitation

This video aims to address foster parents concerns about remote visits which include fear of inviting someone into their home, albeit remotely, confusion on how the visit will be structured, and needing to know how much or little they are ... Read More

Advocacy and contact during the pandemic

In this video Heather Cantamessa, Chair of the board of the International Parent Advocacy Network, is interviewed about her work as an advocate with parents particularly focusing on family contact. View video ... Read More

FISH’s covid-19 info page

Family Inclusion Strategies in the Hunter in Australia has created an info page for parents with children in care in New South Wales. Whilst the information is of particular use to those in Australia the ideas are relevant around the ... Read More

Inclusive justice: a system designed for all

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has published an interim report which covers:

the use of video-links in the criminal justice system
how the use of video-links impacts disabled people
recommendations to the UK Government

The key findings related to the existing widespread use ... Read More

Article on using video messaging in contact

The journal of Irish Social Work has published this article talking about how to develop contact with children in care using video messaging: The Role of the Children in Care Social Worker during the Covid-19 Crisis and exploring the Utilisation ... Read More

Coronavirus and children in poverty

The Global Coalition to End Child Poverty has created a knowledge hub on poverty and covid-19. Find it here ... Read More

Nuffield Family Justice Observatory newsletter

This newsletter includes:

details of and links to the Nuffield FJO consultation on remote hearings in family courts
information on the number of remote hearings taking place in England
research on how contact is being managed under covid-19
other resources

Birth parents fight to visit kids in foster system during pandemic

This article tells of the fight that is taking place in Washington State to reinstate rights to parenta child visits. It says "The emergency measures are raising the issue of whether Washington officials and judges have the authority to limit ... Read More

Technical Note

The aim of this Technical Note from the Better Care Network is to support child protection practitioners and government officials in their immediate response to the child protection concerns faced by children who are at risk of separation or in ... Read More

Making the Most of Virtual Visits in a Time of Separation and Uncertainty

In this Rise tip read about how a parent and his family contacts have become virtual and how he deals with it. I've been doing treasure hunts with my grandson hiding clues around the house and taking him on ... Read More

Tips for autistic people and families

This unprecedented period of change and disruption is very difficult for many autistic people and families. We have created some tips that we hope will help you. Remember it’s not forever and there are lots of things you can do ... Read More

Grandparents plus advice for kinship carers

Grandparents plus advice service is open as usual and their pages give details of guidance and resources relevant to kinship carers and tips for families see https://www.grandparentsplus.org.uk/for-kinship-carers/advice-and-support/covid-19-information-for-kinship-families/ ... Read More

Martin Barrow’s comments on DfE Guidance

This twitter thread provides critical commentary on the English guidance on Coronavirus and children's social work Nor is there any reference of need to protect families from social workers who may be asymptomatic. 2/— Martin Barrow (@MartinBarrow) April 4, 2020 ... Read More

ADCS Guidance spreadsheet

Published Covid-19 guidance and resources for children’s services The Association of Directors of Children's Services is keeping track of published guidance and new announcements from key government departments and agencies, such as the Department for Education, PHE, Ofsted and HMCTS, ... Read More

Info for Children and Young People

The Family Justice Young People’s Board (FJYPB) has published a new COVID-19 information booklet for children and young people which is packed full of great advice. The booklet includes ‘top tips’ for keeping in touch with family and friends (see ... Read More

Advice on Child Arrangement Orders

Guidance from the President of the Family Division and Head of Family Justice on what happens during the Coronavirus crisis where there is a child arrangement order. These orders are a legal agreement between the court and the parents ... Read More

FRG advice for Kinship carers

Top tips from the Family Rights Group for kinship carers to help children to maintain relationships during the Coronavirus outbreak ... Read More

Rise Parents Survey

Rise Magazine is undertaking an on-line survey to find how parents involved in child protective services have been affected by Coronavirus.
More details here ... Read More

Tips for family contact by video

This resource from the University of Sydney's Research Centre for Children and Families giving tips for using video chat for family time is very useful ... Read More

DfE Covid-19 Guidance on children’s homes

The Department for Education has issued guidance on managing isolation in children’s homes and other residential education settings in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The advice, released over the weekend, makes specific provision for social workers being admitted to ... Read More

DfE Guidance on school attendance

The Guidance from the Department for Education in England defines vulnerable children as those with a social worker. These children will be able to continue to attend the following:

registered childcare providers (including nurseries and childminders)
local-authority-maintained schools and academies ... Read More

Rise tips email

Here's the first newsletter from Rise magazine about Covid-19. Topic covered include

Legal representation in NYC
Visiting by Video or Phone
Resources for Families under stress
and much more

Coronavirus puts vulnerable UK children at greater risk, campaigners warn

Louise Tickle in The Guardian raises a number of issues for parents and children in the child protection system raised by the response to coronavirus. She starts by stating that: "Care-leavers across the country are already repeatedly failed by ... Read More

TPPF, Coalition Makes 9 Recommendations for Families During COVID-19 to Texas DFPS

A group of more than one dozen family rights activists submitted a letter to the commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services with nine recommendations for protecting the rights of parents and children during the COVID-19 pandemic ... Read More

COVID-19 Creates Deep Uncertainty in NYC’s Child-Welfare System

New York has been hit hard by COVID-19 and parents involved in the child protection system are badly affected. Rachel Blustain describes how, as the US struggles to catch up with the ever-growing Coronavirus crisis, child-welfare systems are racing to ... Read More

Coming together to promote change:developing parent advocacy in the UK

Coming together to promote change:
developing parent advocacy in the UK