Training and Technical Assistance
The project provides on and offsite training and technical assistance.
3rd National Multidisciplinary Parent Representation Conference
The Center and the Institute to Transform Child Protection are pleased to be holding the third National Multidisciplinary Parent Representation Conference in St. Paul, Minnesota, on May 1-2, 2025. Registration for this event will begin in January. Priority registration opens first for non-attorney advocates including social workers and parent mentors/advocates working on parent defense teams, with the second wave of registration being open to parent defense team members, including attorneys, supervisors, managers, and supporters. Anticipated registration cost is $175.
Learn more - Conference Details2nd National Interdisciplinary Parent Representation Conference
May 11, 2023 – May 12, 2023: The conference focused on the importance of interdisciplinary representation recognizing that parents with lived experience and social workers are important members of the family defense team and are necessary components of strong legal defense.
2021 National Parent Representation Conference
The National Alliance for Parent Representation hosted a virtual convening on May 20-21, 2021. Two half-day sessions were dedicated to advocating for parents in the child welfare system. Videotaped presentations are available at the link.
Building Partnerships Between Parents and Caregivers
In this December 1, 2020 webinar, Birth Parent National Network leaders and lawyers who work as part of interdisciplinary legal representation teams share new Birth and Foster Parent Partnership Tools, the importance of parents and caregivers working together to achieve positive outcomes for children, and how the legal team can support the relationships between parents and caregivers.
White Supremacy in the Institution of Child Welfare
The National Alliance on Parent Representation, responding to national attention on racial justice issues, hosted two virtual events designed to engage the legal and child welfare communities in a conversation about white supremacy in the institution of child welfare. This page shares video recordings and related resources from those events.
Join the - conversation
High Quality Family Defense in the Time of COVID
In this webinar for New Jersey parent advocates, Kathleen Creamer, April Lee, and Saadiqa Kumanyika from Community Legal Services in Philadelphia share advocacy challenges during the pandemic and strategies for addressing them on a systemic level and in individual client cases.
Watch the - webinar
Interdisciplinary Parent Representation Webinar
On May 21, 2020, the National Alliance for Parent Representation hosted the webinar "Interdisciplinary Parent Representation: Bringing Hope to Families During the Pandemic and Beyond." A recording of the webinar is now available.
Watch the - webinarResources
Practical information for parent attorneys
For Your Bookshelf
Family Unification Month
As part of the ABA Center on Children and the Law's focus on family unity, we celebrate not just the families who have been able to reunify, but also the importance of preventing removals and separations whenever possible and keeping families intact through advocacy, supports and services. Celebrating family unification means honoring parents and their communities of support who fight tirelessly every day to keep their families intact.
Meet the National Alliance Team
ABA staff and a National Steering Committee bring extensive knowledge and expertise to the National Alliance's parent representation work.