The Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center (Resource Center) in partnership with the Department of Human Services, Office of Children, Youth, and Families (OCYF) is happy to announce that Parent Listening Sessions will continue to be hosted in 2025. The purpose of Parent Listening Sessions is to support parents with lived experience in Pennsylvania’s child welfare system as leaders and strategic partners in the system. Participants will have the opportunity to contribute their insights, expertise, and perspectives based on their experiences. The Resource Center is specifically recruiting birth parents who meet the following criteria:
- Past involvement with a Pennsylvania County Children and Youth agency including in-home and out-of-home placement;
- The family’s case must be closed with the County Children and Youth agency at the time of application; and
- The family cannot have connection to an open case with the County Children and Youth agency through a family member.
To support recruitment efforts, the Resource Center has created a Parent Leadership website. This site serves as a one-stop shop for parent engagement and parent leadership within the child welfare system. Through the site, parents will learn about the mission and purpose of the parent listening sessions, identify the current recruitment regions, and be directed to the online registration portal. Parent Applications will be accepted from now until December 31, 2024.
We are asking professionals with direct contact or connections to birth parents with lived experience, to please share this new website and resource with parents. You can also request marketing materials for the listening sessions through the site.
The parent leadership website can be accessed directly at www.parentleadership.pitt.edu or through the link provided under the “Parent Leadership” section of the Pennsylvania Meaningful Family Engagement Toolkit at www.engagepa.pitt.edu.