In the early 1990s, almost 50,000 children were in New York City’s foster care system. By 2012 there were fewer than 14,000 and by 2019, fewer than 8,000.

Such radical change was driven largely by a movement of parents whose children had been placed into foster care working with their allies. Parents were trained as advocates and organizers. They fought to push government and private agencies to meet their needs and protect their rights in a system that had previously viewed them as pariahs. This is parent advocacy.

Who are Parent Advocates?

Parent Advocates are people who have had children placed in foster care, changed their lives, reunited their families, and then taken the next step to be trained as parent advocates. Their experience uniquely positions them to help other parents in their pursuit to change their lives, reunite with their children and force the system to improve.

Impact

The example of parents in New York City pushing the child welfare system to include them in decision making has spread to cities and states in other high income countries. As of 2020, there are at least 100 parent advocacy programs in child welfare worldwide. David has been working with the International Parent Advocacy Network (IPAN) to support and expand parent advocacy throughout the world.

David has given keynote addresses about parent advocacy and his experiences in the US, Germany, Ireland, England, Finland, Scotland, Wales, Chile and Australia. These presentations have been at the invitation of governments, foundations, universities, service providers and parent advocacy organizations. During these visits he meets with local NGOs and parent groups to support their work.

Want to learn more about parent advocacy?

David co-wrote a free report that delves into the effects of parent advocacy in child welfare systems, including how it can reduce the number of children placed into care, reduce the duration of their stay, and also improve the experience of parents and professionals within the child welfare system.