Lived experience, sometimes called lived expertise, refers to the knowledge and perspectives of those who have firsthand involvement with child welfare. These individuals have valuable insights about the system’s impact, so it is crucial that family-serving organizations collaborate with them to develop, implement, and improve policies, practices, and programs. Those who have lived experience, such as parents, youth, and kinship caregivers, have unique perspectives and wisdom that can drive overall system improvement.
Meaningfully engaging those with lived experience requires equal partnership throughout the process, not as an afterthought. Professionals should involve lived experience partners in all aspects of the project and compensate them fairly for their work. When seeking lived experience partners, it is important to recruit individuals from diverse backgrounds because race, ethnicity, culture, and other characteristics directly impact one’s child welfare experience.
It can be difficult to share stories that involve past trauma. Authentic engagement of people who have lived experience requires safe spaces where insights are valued and prioritized, not tokenized. In addition, the purpose of these partnerships should be to drive change and identify solutions rather than collect stories.
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Methods and Emerging Strategies to Engage People With Lived Experience: Improving Federal Research, Policy, and Practice
Presents a definition of lived experience and discusses roles of those with lived experience, impacts of engagement, and approaches for effective engagement.
Incorporating Lived Experience Into Child Welfare Capacity Building
Presents a brief that identifies approaches the Child Welfare Capacity Building Collaborative uses to support child welfare jurisdictions in incorporating lived experience into child welfare practice and evaluation.
A Starter Kit on Engaging People With Lived Experience in Child Support Programs
Explore guidance for child support programs, grant recipients, and other organizations on engaging lived experience partners to improve programs and practices.
Episode 82: Creating the Space for People With Lived Experience to Thrive
This podcast provides strategies and examples of how child welfare agencies should respectfully engage individuals with lived experience for assistance.
Voices of Lived Experience in Child Welfare: A Digital Story Library
View stories from people involved with the child welfare system as well as a guide on how to use the stories to cultivate empathy and connection.
So You Want to Include a Lived Experience Expert: A Tipsheet for Authentically and Intentionally Engaging People With Lived Experience in the Foster Care System
Offers a tip sheet on how to engage people who have lived experience with the child welfare system in an authentic way including questions to ask and answer before engaging others and emphasizes the importance of reaching out to diverse individuals.