ParentAssess

ParentAssess ParentAssess is a leading training provider dedicated to equipping social work and family law professionals with practical skills and essential knowledge.

Our specialist parenting assessment model is the most widely recognised framework in the UK.

27/08/2026

📢 Join Our Upcoming FREE ParentAssess Legal Workshops

ParentAssess is the most widely recognised and accepted specialist parenting assessment framework in the UK, and we're delighted to be offering FREE one-hour online workshops for professionals working across the legal sphere this autumn.

📅 Tuesday 9th September at 9:30am
📅 Tuesday 21st October at 5:00pm

During these sessions, we will:
✅ Provide an overview of the ParentAssess framework
✅ Explain the approach that underpins our assessments
✅ Explore how case law and the Good Practice Guidance (2021) are applied in practice
✅ Share practical tips on what to look for to ensure both parent and child receive appropriate consideration

These free workshops are open to professionals working within Family Law and related disciplines, including:
• Solicitors
• Barristers
• Family Court Advisors
• Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs)
• Psychologists
• Advocates
• Anyone involved in commissioning, reviewing, or relying on parenting assessments within Family Law proceedings

Whether you're new to ParentAssess or looking to enhance your understanding of high-quality parenting assessments, these sessions will provide valuable insight, practical guidance, and the opportunity to learn more about our evidence-based approach.

🔗 Book your free place now via our website: https://parentassess.com/home/courses/ |2

26/08/2026

📢 Assessing Child Sexual Abuse Using the ParentAssess Framework 📢

Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) is one of the most challenging areas for assessors to explore within parenting assessments. Professionals often tell us they feel uncertain about how to approach these conversations, while families understandably find this an incredibly difficult subject to discuss.

That’s why Claire Connors wanted to help develop our Assessing Child Sexual Abuse Using the ParentAssess Framework Workshop.

This practical and supportive course is designed to help assessors work confidently and sensitively with families where CSA is a concern. Together, we explore:

✅ The worries and challenges professionals face when assessing CSA
✅ The barriers families experience when talking about these concerns
✅ How to navigate difficult conversations with confidence and empathy
✅ Practical approaches using the ParentAssess Framework
✅ Resources and tools to support your assessment work

📅 Next workshop: 12th October

If you’re currently struggling with an assessment, or would like to build your confidence in assessing child sexual abuse within a ParentAssess assessment, join Claire for this important conversation.

Book online here: https://lnkd.in/efAkkddE or email [email protected]

25/08/2026

ParentAssess was developed with parent feedback at its heart. 💜

One piece of feedback that really stayed with us was about the use of cartoons and stick figures in some parenting assessment materials, including PAMS-style resources. Some parents shared that these images made them feel as though they were being spoken down to, or treated like a child. For some, they felt patronising rather than supportive.

That feedback matters.

At ParentAssess, we believe parents should feel respected, understood and valued throughout the assessment process. Visual resources can be incredibly helpful, but they need to feel meaningful, realistic and relatable.

This is why, wherever possible, we avoid using cartoons or stick figures to represent parents. Instead, we use real-life images that reflect everyday parenting situations and experiences. Images should help parents connect with the information, not make them feel judged or diminished.

Parent voice has directly influenced the way ParentAssess has been designed, and it continues to shape how we work.

Because assessment should be accessible, but never patronising.

24/08/2026

🍂 Exciting Updates Coming to the ParentAssess Software This Autumn

At ParentAssess, we’re committed to continuously improving our platform to support assessors in delivering the best possible outcomes for families and children.

As part of our ongoing development programme, we're delighted to share that new features will be launching this Autumn to make collaboration and case management even easier.

🤝 Assessment Sharing Within the System
One of our most anticipated new features will allow assessors to securely share assessments directly within the software, helping to improve collaboration, streamline workflows, and reduce the need for external document transfers.

⚡ Work Smarter, Not Harder
Our upcoming enhancements are designed to save even more time, improve communication, and make managing assessments more efficient than ever.

🔒 Built with Security in Mind
As always, all new features are being developed with security and confidentiality at their core, ensuring sensitive information remains protected.

🌟 Driven by Your Feedback
Many of our improvements come directly from the valuable feedback we receive from assessors using the platform every day. Your insights continue to help shape the future of ParentAssess.

📅 Watch This Space
We'll be sharing more details over the coming months as we get closer to launch. We’re excited about what’s ahead and look forward to bringing even more powerful tools to the ParentAssess community.

📩 To learn more or start your 7-day free trial, contact: [email protected]

19/08/2026

🚥 How the traffic light system works in ParentAssess 🚥

ParentAssess uses a traffic light system to help make the assessment clear, visual and easier for parents to understand. It is used throughout the assessment to show where there are strengths, concerns and areas that need change or support.

The traffic light system helps make risk factors measurable and makes the outcome easier to understand.

The colours help break down the assessment in a simple and accessible way:

🟢 Green means this is an area of strength or an area where the parent is meeting the child’s needs well. It shows what is working and what can be built on.

🟠 Amber means there are some concerns or gaps. This may be an area where the parent needs extra guidance, repetition, modelling, support or time to show whether they can make and sustain change.

🔴 Red means there are significant concerns or risks. This may be an area where the child’s needs are not being met safely or consistently, or where the parent is not currently able to make the changes needed without substantial support.

The traffic light system is not about labelling parents. It is about helping everyone understand the assessment more clearly. It supports parents to see what is going well, what professionals are worried about, and what needs to change.

ParentAssess also gives parents an Outcome Table using the traffic light gradings, as well as a Short Parent Report, so the outcome is explained in a clear and easy-to-understand way rather than relying only on a long professional report.

This matters because being assessed can feel stressful and overwhelming.

The traffic light system helps make the process more transparent, accessible and meaningful for parents, while still keeping the child’s needs and safety at the centre.

18/08/2026

🌟 ParentAssess Observation Skills Workshop 🌟

Helping Family Time Supervisors to:
☑️ See More
☑️ Record Better
☑️ Support Parents More Effectively

At ParentAssess, we know that Family Time Supervisors play a vital role in noticing, understanding, and recording what happens during contact sessions. Our Observation Workshop is designed to strengthen those skills by helping supervisors understand the subtle but important cues used by pre-verbal children.

The workshop is a 3-hour online introduction focused on recognising how babies and very young children communicate through behaviour, expression, and interaction.

This training is particularly helpful for Family Time Supervisors, giving them greater confidence in observing family interactions and offering more effective feedback.

By attending, participants will:
✅ develop a better understanding of how pre-verbal children communicate their feelings
✅ gain insight into parenting patterns and how these may be experienced by young children
✅ improve the quality of recording during family time sessions

If your role involves observing contact and capturing meaningful, child-focused information, this workshop offers practical insight that can enhance both your observations and your written records.

☑️ Support better observation.
☑️ Strengthen feedback.
☑️ Improve recording

That’s the aim of the ParentAssess Observation Skills Workshop.

📧 To find out more about contact [email protected]

17/08/2026

ParentAssess is based of the Department of Health Assessment Triangle (2000), a well-established framework used in children’s social care to understand the child’s needs, parenting capacity, and wider family and environmental factors.

🔺 The triangle is important because it reminds us that parenting should never be assessed in isolation. To understand what life is really like for a child, we need to look at the whole picture: the child’s experience, the parent’s ability to meet their needs, and the wider circumstances around the family.

ParentAssess takes this holistic approach and breaks the assessment down into five key areas:

1. The child’s experience of being parented
This looks at how the parent meets the child’s physical and emotional needs, including whether they are able to understand, respond to and be emotionally attuned to their child.

2. Parental functioning
This explores the parent’s own history and how this may impact their parenting. It considers areas such as decision-making, ability to change, managing risk, multi-tasking and how the parent functions in everyday situations.

3. Specific issues
This area considers any additional factors that may affect parenting, such as domestic abuse, alcohol or drug use, offending, gambling or risks that may have a cultural context.

4. The parent’s daily living skills
This looks at how the parent manages everyday life, including cooking, keeping the home clean and safe, organising routines and managing money.

5. Support
Where gaps or concerns are identified, ParentAssess also considers the parent’s support network and their ability to access, accept and use support in a way that helps meet the child’s needs.

ParentAssess is designed to be:
☑️ clear
☑️ accessible
☑️ meaningful for parents, particularly parents with learning disabilities, learning difficulties or additional needs.

🚥 It uses interactive tools, visual aids and a traffic light system to help parents understand the assessment process, their strengths, any concerns and what may need to change.

Most importantly, ParentAssess keeps the child at the centre while also making sure parents are assessed in a fair, respectful and understandable way.

Good assessment should not just ask, “Can this parent cope?”

It should ask, “What is the child experiencing, what are the parent’s strengths and needs, what support is available, and what needs to change to keep the child safe and well?”

We are absolutely delighted to have been named a finalist in the Social Worker of the Year Awards 2026.Being recognised ...
14/08/2026

We are absolutely delighted to have been named a finalist in the Social Worker of the Year Awards 2026.

Being recognised amongst so many outstanding social work professionals and organisations across the UK is a tremendous honour, especially in the Awards' 20th anniversary year.

This nomination reflects the dedication, passion and commitment of our incredible team, who work tirelessly every day to support children, families, adults and communities.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us on this journey. We are immensely proud to be recognised alongside so many inspiring finalists.

13/08/2026

💡 You may have seen on our social media channels that we've been piloting a new assessment type for Connected Carers. Following fantastic feedback from practitioners, we're delighted to announce that we're now ready to fully launch both the Connected Carers Assessment Framework and the accompanying Connected Carers Workshop.

Research consistently highlights the benefits of children remaining within their family network wherever it is safe to do so. Connected and kinship carers can help children maintain important relationships, strengthen their sense of identity, and provide stability during difficult times.

Designed to support social workers in assessing family members and friends who may be able to care for children, the framework provides a clear, robust and family-focused approach to exploring strengths, support networks, family dynamics and safeguarding considerations.

Access to the Connected Carers Assessment Framework is provided through completion of the Connected Carers Workshop, ensuring practitioners have the knowledge, confidence and consistency needed to undertake these important assessments.

We're especially encouraged by the feedback we've received during the pilot phase, including this anonymous comment from one attendee:

💬 "I really enjoyed this workshop and am so looking forward to completing carers' assessments using ParentAssess. I had stopped taking instructions on SGOs etc. as I hated the templates so much! I am now motivated to start again."

We're proud to be expanding the ParentAssess suite to help services better support children to remain connected to the people who matter most.

To book a course for your team please contact [email protected]

12/08/2026

🌟 Exciting News from ParentAssess 🌟

We are pleased to announce that from September 2026, ParentAssess will be offering an Independent Assessment Service for Expert Witness Assessments including specialist assessments for parents and connected carers.

This new service has been developed to provide high-quality, independent, and evidence-based assessments to support professionals, families, and decision-makers in achieving the best outcomes for children.

We look forward to sharing further details about the service, including referral processes, timescales, and service specifications, in the coming weeks.

More information will be shared soon. Watch this space!

Comment below if you would like to be among the first to receive further information.

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Unit 26 Interchange Business Centre, Howard Way
Newport Pagnell
MK169PY

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