The Parents for Parents (P4P) program is a promising practice that provides peer outreach, engagement and education to parents who are new to dependency court by Parent Allies, parents who have successfully navigated the child welfare system. P4P supports safe and timely reunification of children with their parents, or an alternative permanency outcome when reunification is not a viable goal and supports the preservation of families with in-home dependency cases.
Program Components
- Early parent engagement – P4P engages parents through court outreach at Shelter Care and other dependency hearings.
- Education and empowerment – A key component of P4P is Dependency 101, a class designed to educate parents about the child welfare system to help them reunify with their children. The class provides tools and resources that help empower parents to be successful during their case. The class is peer-led by Parent Allies with participation by other system partners. Some programs also offer ongoing Dependency 201 classes.
- Ongoing peer mentoring – Parent Allies provide support and mentoring that encourages positive thinking and engagement with services, gives parents someone they can relate to, and offers them hope that reunification is possible.
Evidence and Evaluation
Parents for Parents has been identified as a Promising Practice by the University of Washington Evidence Based Practice Institute. Process and outcome evaluations of the King County P4P program, conducted by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges in 2011 and 2012, found P4P to be an effective tool for engaging parents in the dependency process. Parents who attended Dependency 101 reported decreased anxiety about the dependency process, increased trust in CPS, and increased understanding of the system compared to before they attended Dependency 101. Parents who attended Dependency 101 were more likely to comply with services and more likely to reunify with their children compared to parents who did not attend Dependency 101.
The 2019 P4P program evaluation, Parents for Parents Phase II Evaluation, provides supporting data for the overall findings that suggest a positive relationship between P4P and parental engagement and case outcomes. Here are a few findings listed in the evaluation:
Parent Engagement:
- A positive relationship between Dependency 101 attendance and service compliance at the first review hearing and permanency planning hearing for mothers and fathers.
- A positive relationship between Dependency 101 attendance and visitation compliance at review and permanency planning hearings for mothers; a relationship between Dependency 101 and visitation compliance at the permanency planning hearing for fathers.
Case Outcomes:
- A relationship between parent participation in Dependency 101 and increased reunification rates
- 70% of parents who participated in Dependency 101 reunified with their children.
- 53% of parents who did not participate in Dependency 101 reunified with their children.
- A relationship between parent participation in Dependency 101 decreased TPR rates
- 26% of parents who participated in Dependency 101 had their parental rights terminated.
- 39% of parents who did not participate in Dependency 101 had their parental rights terminated.
- When parents participated in Dependency 101 and received additional mentoring from Parent Allies
- 79% of parents reunified with their children.
Funding
During the 2015 state legislative session, the Legislature recognized the benefits of P4P and legislation passed to provide funding to support existing P4P programs, expand three of the programs, and evaluate the program to be considered research-based. The legislation placed the P4P program under the direction of the Office of Public Defense, which contracts with the Children’s Home Society of Washington (CHSW) to provide oversight and coordination for the statewide programs. In 2017, additional funding was allocated by the Legislature to support four additional P4P programs in the state and to allow for expansion of additional county sites. In 2019, the Legislature provided more funding, with the ultimate goal of operating the P4P program statewide by the end of 2020.
Implementation
Children’s Home Society of Washington provides training and technical assistance to P4P programs and supports the P4P Advisory Committee and Parent Ally leaders across the state. The CHSW Parents for Parents Replication Process includes an assessment of community readiness, support for hiring and training Parent Allies, on-going technical assistance and monitoring for fidelity to the model. In addition, the P4P Startup Info Sheet – Statewide can help sites get ready for P4P. The P4P Infrastructure, includes:
- Local host organization that administers the program and provides for the necessary infrastructure and support, including program and clinical supervision.
- Parents for Parents Advisory Committee, a group of child welfare stakeholders who collaborate to initiate, champion, support and provide oversight to the county’s
Parents for Parents program. Members include representatives of the organizations that participate in the Dependency 101 class. - Parent Ally P4P Coordinator, employed by the host organization.
- Parent Ally Program Supports, depending upon local need and funding availability, Parent Allies who receive stipends to support the Parents for Parents work.
As of June 2021, the Parents for Parents program is supported in all 39 counties in Washington:
- Benton, Franklin, Asotin, Whitman, Garfield, Walla Walla and Columbia Counties, hosted by Safe Harbor
- Clallam County, hosted by Clallam County Superior Court
- Clark and Skamania Counties, hosted by Xchange Recovery
- Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties, hosted by Grays Harbor Court Appointed Special Advocate agency
- Grant, Adams, Kittitas, Klickitat and Yakima Counties, hosted by Reunified Services
- King County, hosted by King County Superior Court
- Kitsap County, hosted by Kitsap County Juvenile Court
- Pierce County, hosted by Multicultural Child and Family Hope Center
- Snohomish County, hosted by YWCA
- Spokane and Lincoln Counties, hosted by Catholic Charites
- Thurston, Mason, Lewis Counties, hosted by Family Education and Support Services
- Whatcom County, hosted by Whatcom County Superior Court
- Skagit, San Juan and Island Counties, hosted by Brigid Collins
- Cowlitz and Wahkiakum Counties, hosted by Community House
- Chelan & Douglas Counties, hosted by Chelan County Superior Court
- Okanogan, Pend Oreille, Stevens and Ferry Counties, hosted by Hope Transportation Services
- Jefferson County, hosted by Jefferson County Juvenile Court
For more information about P4P please contact the Parent Allies at Children’s Home Society of Washington:
For jurisdictions outside of Washington State and Tribes, contact Heather Cantamessa, national family impact program manager at Children’s Home Society of Washington: heather.cantamessa@chs-wa.org
For assistance with Washington State programs, contact Ambrosia Eberhardt, statewide family impact manager at Children’s Home Society of Washington: Ambrosia.Eberhardt@chs-wa.org
For information about the overall P4P program, contact Heather Cantamessa, director of family impact at Children’s Home Society of Washington: Heather.Cantamessa@chs-wa.org
