Find guidance on various areas of policy affecting parents with learning disabilities and learning difficulties.
Good practice guidance on working with parents with a learning disability (England).
The good practice guidance contains useful information for anyone working with a family affected by parental learning disability. It is not just for professionals involved in child protection proceedings. Timely application of the principles of the guidance may prevent the need for some families to reach child protection stages.
Employing the guidance from the outset of work with parents with a learning disability is likely to mean that the legal rights of families under the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Equality Act 2010 are respected in a broad range of contexts.
In April 2018, the then President of the Family Division, Sir James Munby, commended ‘for careful consideration and application by everyone’ the 2016 version of the good practice guidance.
The first good practice guidance on working with parents with a learning disability was published in 2007 by the Department of Health and the Department for Education and Skills. Retaining the structure and substance of that guidance, it has had subsequent updates by the University of Bristol. The most recent update, available on this page, was in July 2021.
The good practice guidance explores:
- The key features of good practice in working with parents with learning disabilities
- Good practice where safeguarding procedures are necessary
- Good practice in commissioning
The guidance sets out five features of good practice:
1. accessible information and communication
2. clear and co-ordinated referral and assessment processes and eligibility criteria
3. meeting needs of parents and children based on assessment of needs and strengths
4. long-term support, if necessary
5. access to independent advocacy
For professionals working with parents with learning disabilities and learning difficulties in Scotland and Wales, use the following links:
- Good Practice Guidelines: Supporting Parents with Learning Disabilities in Scotland: Challenges and Opportunities (Scotland) PDF
This report maps the range of services available now and explores the extent to which parents with learning disabilities in Scotland have access to services based on the principles of supported parenting. It sets out clear thinking and detailed recommendations about providing support which reflects those guidelines, consistent recording across health and social care to ensure early identification and awareness raising. - Guide to Supported Parenting (Scotland) PDF
This guide outlines important issues inherent in developing a supported parenting approach, highlighting key factors of a supported parenting approach and outlining good practice in supported parenting in Scotland. - Guidance for Social Workers for Families Where the Parent has a Learning Disability (Wales) PDF
This document has been commissioned by the Welsh government to address recommendations from the Institute of Public Care on children removed from parents with learning disabilities, including development of national guidance to support social workers to better identify and support families where a parent has a learning disability.
Parents with learning disabilities or learning difficulties are over-represented in the family courts and are more than twice as likely to have their children removed, rather than supported to remain at home.
This policy briefing summarises research into 'substituted parenting' in the family courts - a term used in judgments involving parents with learning disabilities and learning difficulties as the reason for children being removed.
The project’s overall aim was to develop a common understanding of, and clarity about, the meaning and use of the term 'substituted parenting' by legal and social work professionals. It also sought to ensure that parents could understand the term, the associated risks, and how to mitigate them.
*This publication uses the term LD as an umbrella term to include people with a diagnosed learning disability as well as those with a milder impairment with similar parenting needs.
Fathers play a crucial role in a child’s life, but they can be often overlooked, especially when they have learning difficulties.
This policy briefing explores why services working with families should recognise and support all fathers, including those with learning difficulties.
It highlights the need for services working with families to recognise and build on the value of fathers as good male role models, and to support and work with them. This includes fathers who have learning difficulties.
*This publication uses the term learning difficulties as an umbrella term to include people with a diagnosed learning disability as well as those with a milder impairment with similar parenting needs.
Local Policies and Protocols
These resources aim to support local authorities when developing local policies and protocols around working with parents with a learning disability or learning difficulty. The example protocol should be read in alongside the other supporting documents - Underlying Core Concepts and Key Contextual issues - and with the statutory guidance - Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023.
Read the key contextual issues briefing (PDF)