This Iriss Insight uses the evidence base to help explore how we can learn from parents whose children have been referred.

Key points

• Research points to parents’ experiences of child protection investigations
and associated processes as often being unpleasant and disrespectful
• Learning from parents’ experiences needs to be incorporated
into everyday work if practice is to be improved
• Family group conferencing, advocacy and other person-centred
and strengths-based initiatives offer opportunities for less
adversarial and more constructive approaches
• Engagement with new forms of parent self-organisation, including online,
and the incorporation of peer advocacy in training and in improving
practice, offer opportunities to encourage positive changes at all levels.

Read the report