Amplifying the Voices of Parents with Care Experience
Over the last year, Jade Kieft (YPBMF’s Participation Officer) has been working to better understand, share, and amplify the experiences of parents with care experience. This has included bringing together parents, local authorities, and partners to explore what support is already working well, where the gaps are, and what learning needs to be shared more widely.
“Language That Cares means seeing us as parents first, not our past. Talk about us as parents and families, listen with empathy, and challenge stereotypes so our parenting is not defined by our care experience.” — YPBMF Parent Rep Group
Partnering with Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
We were delighted to be involved in conversations with the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation for their new scoping paper, which brings together crucial learning about parents with care experience. The report feels especially important because it gives space to parents’ voices alongside research and practice learning, asking us all to think carefully about how services can better understand and support families.
Most importantly, we want to celebrate the involvement of the YPBMF Parent Rep Group, who have helped shape learning in this area alongside other parents working on the report. Their insight has supported conversations with professionals, helped identify priority areas, and reminded us why it is so important that parents are involved in shaping the resources, support, and messaging that affect them.
Key Takeaways: Trust, Respect, and Early Action
One of the strongest messages from the report is that support for parents with care experience must be built on trust, understanding, and respect. Parents can face stigma, judgment, and isolation, as well as practical challenges around housing, mental health, childcare, pregnancy, and early parenthood.
The report highlights the difference that early, consistent, and compassionate support can make when it recognizes parents’ strengths alongside their needs.
The recommendations paper builds on this by setting out clear priorities for action, shaped by Esmée Fairbairn’s Parents with Care Experience Steering Group. It calls for:
- Investment in support that helps both parents and children thrive.
- Sector-wide collaboration that strengthens shared evidence and practice.
What This Means for Sector Leaders and Practitioners
For leaving care teams, children’s services, voluntary sector partners, and funders, this is a valuable set of resources to read and reflect on. It encourages us to move beyond assumptions, to listen closely to what parents are telling us, and to think about both daily wins and longer-term systemic changes. It also connects strongly with the learning we have been promoting in our co-produced Online Network sessions.
We hope members and partners will take time to explore the reports and consider what the learning could mean for parents in their own local area.