Explaining Parent Carer Forums
A Parent Carer Forum is a group of parents and carers of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) who work together to represent the collective views and experiences of families in their area at a strategic level. The forum collaborates with local authorities, education providers, health services, and social care organisations to influence and shape services, policies, and practices that impact children and young people with SEND and their families.
The History of Parent Carer Forums
In 2008 Parent Carer Forums (PCFs) began to be developed across England through support provided by, ‘Aiming High for Disabled Children’ – a government funded initiative.
However, many PCFs came into being round about a decade ago because, when the Children & Families Act (2014) was passed in parliament, the voice of parents and carers was seen as a fundamental aspect of the 2014 SEND Reforms. Parent Carer Forum were recognised in the SEND Code of Practice (2015) as key partners in shaping, reviewing, and improving services for children and young people with SEND and their families. Parent Carer Forums are therefore mentioned in the SEND Code of Practice, 2015:
‘Parent Carer Forums are representative local groups of parents and carers of children and young people with disabilities who work alongside local authorities, education, health, and other service providers to ensure the services they plan, commission, deliver and monitor meet the needs of children and families. Parent Carer Forums have been established in most local areas and local authorities are actively encouraged to work with them.’
What are Parent Carer Forums like?
- Parent Carer Forums (PCFs) do vary, and they may be charities, limited companies, or another type of organisational set up, but there will only be one forum in each local authority area.
- Almost all local authority areas in England have a parent carer forum – there are over 150 in all.
- The authorised local parent carer forum is given a small Department for Education grant and this scheme is administered by Contact – for Families with Disabled Children who also provide some support to forums.
- Forums must have the commitment from the local authority to work in coproduction together to be able to apply for the annual parent participation grant.
Parent Carer Forums are independent of their local authority and health services.
The network of Parent Carer Forums
Regional
Forums work in their local areas but should also connect regionally. Here in Nottinghamshire, NPCF are active within the East Midlands Regional Parent Carer Forum. Not only does this allow the forum to understand how other areas are working, but it also ensures that local voices are heard regionally and nationally.
National
The work of parent carer forums come together in a national voice coordinated by the National Network of Parent Carer Forums (NNPCF). The NNPCF ensures that local parent carer forums are kept informed about national developments and have direct contact with the Department for Education, the Department of Health and Social Care, and other government organisations like OFSTED and NHS England, ensuring that the voices of parents and carers are heard loud and clear.