For the purposes of this article we will refer to the parent as the person who is pregnant and births the child. Like any family undergoing assessment these factors should be considered given the individual circumstances of that parent including the safety of that...
I completed my training in ParentAssess in 2021 and I was struck by a story Sarah Lowe relayed about why she had created the framework. She had been working with a parent who did not understand the outcome of her parenting assessment and somehow this hadn’t been...
By Sarah Lowe ParentAssess is based on the DOH Assessment Framework but the tools and tables used ensure parents are able to engage more easily and understand the outcomes. All assessors are trained to use the framework tools and adopt an approach which helps...
Being assessed to see if you can continue to care for your child can be a very stressful time for any parent. It's hard to be open with a social worker and talk about your life and the difficulties you have faced. There are things which can make it easier for the...
What is it? It is an easy read version of the ParentAssess Main Report which explains the outcome of the assessment. This has been an important part of the ParentAssess Framework since it was created in 2016. The Short Parent Report has received considerable praise in...
By Sarah Lowe, creator of ParentAssess and awarded the Social Worker of the Year 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award It is often frustrating for professionals when parents ‘fail to engage’ with a parenting assessment. This might be overtly, with an adamant refusal to meet...
By Sarah Lowe, creator of ParentAssess and awarded the Social Worker of the Year 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award One of the questions I get asked most frequently is how long does it take to complete a ParentAssess assessment. The answer is not simple. The first thing...
Cat Rowe of AdvoCATe Services is an advocate for people with learning disabilities. Here she outlines the role of the Lay Advocate and the positive difference this can make for vulnerable parents who are in proceedings. The purpose of Advocacy is to provide a voice...
The avoidance of jargon is essential if parents with literacy difficulties are going to be able to access their parenting assessments - many of these parents will have a learning disability. Have you ever been in a meeting and heard an acronym you didn’t understand...