Now & Next Partners
An established parent peer-led program for families of young children
with disability or developmental delay
Now & Next™ is an Australian evidence-informed, co-designed parent peer-led program to build family capacity, hope, empowerment and wellbeing.
Developed by Plumtree, Now & Next has supported more than 2,000 parents and carers since 2015 in seven countries. It is delivered by trained parent peer facilitators and supported by an established parent peer workforce, program infrastructure, published research, independent evaluation, and ongoing university research partnerships.
Organisations can work with Now & Next to make this program available to the families they support.
Interested in offering Now & Next to families?
Talk to us about becoming a Program Partner.
Why Now & Next?
Parent peer support complements therapeutic expertise
Specialist therapy and education support play an important role in helping children and families achieve their goals. Parent peer support offers something complementary — the opportunity for families to learn with and from other families with lived experience, build confidence and hope, and strengthen their capacity to shape the life they want for their child and family.
Now & Next creates opportunities for families to:
- Develop a positive vision for their child, family and themselves;
- Set meaningful goals and take practical steps towards them;
- Build confidence, hope and agency;
- Strengthen partnerships with professionals;
- Build supportive networks and connections with other families.
Through structured learning, practical goal setting and parent peer connection, Now & Next strengthens families’ capacity to make decisions and work in partnership with the professionals in their lives.
Add established parent peer support to your services
Now & Next offers organisations access to an established parent peer-led program, backed by parent peer practice and workforce development since 2015.
Now & Next brings together trained parent peer facilitators, an established program and delivery model, ongoing workforce support, quality systems and a growing evidence base.
This means organisations can include parent peer support within their Thriving Kids pathway now, while building on their own expertise and trusted relationships with families and communities.
Become a Now & Next Program Partner
We welcome conversations with organisations interested in making Now & Next part of their offer to families. As a Now & Next Program Partner, your organisation can work with our team to explore arrangements that suit your families, services and community.
This might include:
- Connecting families with existing Now & Next programs;
- Arranging places for families within upcoming programs;
- Planning dedicated cohorts for your organisation or community; or
- Exploring other partnership approaches together.
The Now & Next team delivers the program, while your organisation maintains its relationship with families.
Interested in becoming a Program Partner? Contact us to explore how Now & Next could work with your organisation.
The evidence and experience behind Now & Next
Developed through practice. Strengthened through research.
Now & Next draws on more than a decade of parent peer practice, program development and evaluation.
Its foundations include:
- An established workforce of trained parent peer facilitators;
- Specialist training, supervision and quality systems;
- Published research and independent evaluation;
- Ongoing university research partnerships; and
- A randomised controlled trial currently underway to further investigate program outcomes.
This combination of lived experience, workforce capability and research supports the continued development of Now & Next. Explore our research and evidence
Let’s work together
Organisations working with Now & Next have access to this experience, workforce infrastructure and expertise as part of the program.
Whether you are interested in connecting families with Now & Next, planning a program for your community or exploring another partnership arrangement, we’d welcome a conversation.
Contact us to discuss becoming a Program Partner.