Lived experience refers to an individual's experiences in and with the child welfare system that, when engaged, add to the understanding of systemic challenges and can facilitate system change efforts in child welfare. People with lived experience or lived experts in child welfare are individuals impacted by the child welfare system who can bring the resulting insights to inform and enhance systems, research, policies, practices, and programs that address child welfare challenges^[1].

It is important for child welfare agencies to develop authentic partnerships with lived experts and collaborate with them at all levels of agency work to develop timely and relevant community services for children, youth, and families. Engaging lived experts offers child welfare agencies and their partners opportunities to develop a deeper understanding of the conditions affecting underprivileged populations, identify the most appropriate solutions for those impacted by the issues, and assess the potentially harmful unintended consequences of the existing system’s current and past actions^[2].

Collaborating with lived experts has significant benefits for both child welfare agencies and lived experts including:^[3]

• Engaging meaningfully with the communities served by the agency 
• Hearing and learning from those who have been most impacted by the system and elevating their expressed needs as benchmarks for continuous quality improvement 
• Working together to develop the most appropriate solutions in a given context  
• Promoting increased visibility and representation for youth and families (including parents, foster families, kinship families, and others) who have historically been underserved by federal programs  
• Increasing partnerships between agencies and communities to support identified needs and develop prevention strategies to strengthen families and reduce disparate outcomes

Authentically Engaging With Lived Experts at a Child Welfare Agency 

When collaborating with lived experts at a child welfare agency, it is important to know that lived experts are far more than their stories—they are contributors who approach projects with a multifaceted lens that includes professional skills and lived experience. Because lived experts are being asked to provide their expertise, agencies should compensate them equitably compared to agency staff or contractors (if the lived experts are working outside of those roles). It is also important to promote an organizational culture that elevates lived expert voice. The following questions can be used to determine whether an agency is ready for authentic engagement with lived experts: 

• Do we have clear goals and expectations for partnering with lived experts on all projects? 
• Are we planning to ask for input from a number of lived experts on every project or is there a risk of only token engagement?  
• Does the agency have a budget to equitably compensate lived experts for their work and expenses in the way that is most appropriate for them? 
• Did we reach out to lived experts before beginning a project? If yes, have we explained the scope of work and expectations to them at the outset?  
• Are there onboarding and communication plans in place to ensure that lived experts will be provided with all the relevant information before project kickoff and be debriefed about their experiences afterward? Is there an assigned staff member to answer their questions and provide guidance on their work? 
• Has our staff received training from lived experts about best practices in partnering and engagement? Have the agency’s training curricula been codesigned by lived experts to ensure best practice? 
• Are agency team leads prepared to share real decision-making power with the lived experts on their teams? Are team leads prepared to hold discussions about decision-making responsibility at project outset? 
• What activities and roles will we ask lived experts to play on teams at our agency (e.g., lead, co-lead, develop content, train, and review)?  
• Is our agency committed to meaningfully incorporating input from lived experts and have we established a process for sharing how their input was used (or why it was not used)? 
• Have we asked the lived experts on our teams what types of individual or group supports they need for psychological safety? 

Resources

Prioritizing lived expertise at a child welfare agency occurs across a continuum of agency work, from case-level engagement to lived expert involvement in research and evaluation, as well as participation in decision-making and advocacy. These activities are not mutually exclusive and lived experts often participate in them simultaneously.

“Power in Partnerships: Prioritizing Lived Expertise in Child Welfare: Child Welfare Virtual Expo (CWVE) 2022” Learning Experience is a one-stop shop for resources developed by lived experts (in partnership with the Capacity Building Center for States and other partners) that contains information, strategies, and examples for equitably partnering with lived experts in child welfare. It includes videos from the live CWVE 2022 event; a discussion guide with reflection questions, conversation starters, and activities; and links to many additional resources. Watching the following videos from the CWVE 2022 Learning Experience can help you gain foundational knowledge and hear practical strategies for partnering with lived experts:

Methods and Strategies to Engage People With Lived Experience Authentic Youth and Family Engagement: Deploying Individuals With Lived Experience as Advisors Productive Partnerships With Youth and Families: Commitment to Lived Expertise Setting the Stage: Creating the Space for People With Lived Experience to Thrive The following additional resources from can help child welfare agencies build capacity for partnering with lived experts.

Publications

The Evidence for Strengthening Families (brief) The Secret Sauce: A Recipe for Authentic, Honest, and Trusting Relationships With Youth (tip sheet) Strategies for Authentic Integration of Family and Youth Voice in Child Welfare (tip sheet) Strategic Planning in Child Welfare: Strategies for Meaningful Youth, Family, and Other Partner Engagement (brief) Youth Engagement Blueprint (resource series)

Learning Experiences and Archived Webinars

Developing Trusting Partnerships and Collaborating to Strengthen Families – Discover how community-based partnerships strengthen families and see what jurisdictions are doing to build lines of collaboration and trust. Family Empowerment Leadership Academy (FELA) – Learn about family empowerment and engagement, see examples of real-life strategies, and spark conversations about the most effective ways to empower families. A Look Inside Power Sharing: A Podcast – Hear conversations between parents and young adults with lived experience in child welfare and agency leaders as they talk about the power dynamics in their work together to support children and families and share suggestions for improving partnerships. Tools to Support Effective Collaboration for Strengthening Families –  Explore tools and resources that can help states plan for family-strengthening activities aligned with the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) and prevention-oriented

Related Resources

Episode 28: Family Group Decision-Making: Becoming a Family-Centered Agency (podcast) (Children’s Bureau) Family Engagement Inventory (Child Welfare Information Gateway) Family Engagement: Partnering With Families to Improve Child Welfare Outcomes (Child Welfare Information Gateway) Methods and Emerging Strategies to Engage People with Lived Experience (Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation [ASPE]) A Tool for Youth Engagement and Empowerment (Division X Technical Assistance)

Related Organizations

Child Welfare Information Gateway - Child Welfare Information Gateway, a service of the Children’s Bureau, promotes the safety, permanency, and well-being of children, youth, and families by connecting child welfare and related professionals as well as the public to information, resources, and tools covering child welfare topics. Division X Technical Assistance (TA) - Division X TA has developed a collection of evidence-informed resources that highlight program innovations instituted by states and jurisdictions to better serve youth and young adults in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. These resources enhance the services and supports available to young people and can help agencies to address a wide array of common challenges and barriers exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Youth.gov - Youth.gov is the U.S. government website that helps organizations create, maintain, and strengthen effective youth programs. The site includes youth facts, funding information, and tools to help users assess community assets, generate maps of local and federal resources, search for evidence-based youth programs, and learn about the latest, youth-related news.

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[1] Skelton-Wilson, S. Sandoval-Lunn, M. Zhang, X., Stern, F., & Kendall, J. (2022). Methods and emerging strategies to engage people with lived experience [ASPE research brief]. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Children’s Bureau. (2021). 2021/2022 Prevention resource guide. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth & Families, Office on Child Abuse and Neglect.