cedoc
Parents Who Have 'Been There' Help Parents There Now
Real-Life Stories
Child Welfare Information Gateway
National Foster Care Month: 2019
2 p.
Public Domain
Download: https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/rls19_beenthere.pdf
Describes the Parent Engagement Education and Resource (PEER) support unit in Washington, DC, a new approach being used by the city's Child and Family Services agency to assist birth parents working toward reunification. PEER is staffed by parents with personal experience with the child welfare system who can empathize with birth parents and what they are going through. PEER provides parenting support, advocacy, and coaching to birth parents as they navigate the family court and child welfare systems and work to reunite with their children. Sometimes these parents are struggling with trauma, poverty, substance use, mental illness, or domestic violence, but their partners at PEER can help to facilitate healing.
Keywords:
PEER GROUPS; FAMILY SUPPORT SYSTEMS; PARENT SUPPORT; PARENT SUPPORT GROUPS