Parental Advocacy in England and Wales: Considering the perceived impact of parental advocacy on child protection practice

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Ms Evan's project is important, as Wales seeks to roll-out parental advocacy projects across a number of local authorities. The international evidence for the effectiveness of parental advocacy as a means to reduce the need for children to enter care is well established, but there is only limited evidence about how such services can be adapted to meet the needs of Welsh citizens and communities. Ms Evan's project would seek to understand how these services are being established, what adaptations are being made, and to explore the impact of being a parental advocate on the advocates themselves (something that is under-explored currently). Ms Evans would use a mixture of methods, including interviews and observations of practice, to understand what advocates do and how it influences what happens. Ms Evans talked in her interview about the ethical complexities involved, for example about the sensitivity of family circumstances. Ms Evans has experience working in this field, and of the ethical approval process at Cardiff University for her work with CASCADE.