Parent Participation and Involvement
Is when parent carers and professionals work together, recognising each other’s knowledge, to make informed decisions about services that make the best use of resources.
This means that services can better meet the needs of families with children & young people with disabilities and additional needs so resources are not wasted on services which parents and families do not take up.
Effective parent participation happens when parents have conversations with and work alongside professionals, in order to co-design, develop and improve services.
Working with parents carers and families helps professionals to understand what needs to happen to develop services that meet families’ needs and also helps parents carers understand the complexity involved and the challenges faced by the professionals who have to bring about that change. Working together and sharing knowledge enables parent carers and professionals to find solutions that work.
This process leads to improved outcomes for parent carers and families.
Volunteering for the Parent Carer Forum
We know how much our families are committed and passionate about the SEND world and for those of us who wish to share their knowledge and help us in a more formal way we would like to invite you to be part of our team.
This team is led by our Strategic Co-ordinator, and makes up our formal ‘Strategic Representative Board’ that meets on a monthly basis, to which all reps are invited.
We have various roles within the remit of a Parent Rep:
Parent Reps
As a parent rep you may have specific experience of a certain area but you will also be representing our wider community of families and gathering their views and thoughts.
Views of families can be gathered in a number of ways and these may be led by parent reps eg. focus groups, or through social media, community networks or specific topic meetings.
Staff Reps
The PODS Charity employs a number of staff. Their roles and experience also feed into the Parent Carer Forum – sharing those experiences from families and their own lived experiences.
Champions
We also want to work with parent carers who feel they can represent us within the local communities – by sharing our information at schools, doctors, colleges, hospitals etc to ensure we can reach as many families as possible.
Training and support is available for all these roles.
Out of pocket expenses are made for these roles and full support is given.
If you would like to find out more or discuss what this might involve, please contact
