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Coventry Parent Carer Forum
Membership Policy

1.0 Introduction

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Welcome to Coventry Parent Carer Forum thank up for reading our policy.

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We hope very much that you will join the Forum and support us in our task of ensuring that parents voices are heard and listened to and that our views contribute positively to the continuous development and improvement of SEND children services in the Coventry Local Authority Area.

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Entrust Care Partnership, a not for profit Organisation, is currently supporting Coventry Parent Carer Forum to develop and grow, strengthening participation and engaging with families in the Local Authority Area. Entrust provide a dedicated Parent Participation Worker to undertake this role and support parent carers as the Forum matures. The post is funded by a Government Grant administered by Contact, a national charity for families with disabled children.

 

To be a member of the Coventry Parent Carer Forum you must :

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  • Be a parent of a child or young person with additional needs or disabilities aged 0-25 years.

  • You must live or access services in the Coventry Local Authority area.

  • Declare your employment status if you work for a statutory agency in the Coventry Local Authority Area.

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2.0 What is a Parent Carer Forum

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The aim of the Forum is: To ensure that services in the Coventry Local Authority area meet the needs of disabled children, young people and their families.

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A Parent Carer Forum is a group of parents and carers of disabled children who work together with the aim of making sure that the services in their local area meet the needs of disabled children and their families.

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A Parent Carer Forum does this by gathering the views of local families and then working in partnership with Local Authorities, Education settings, NHS Health and other providers to highlight where local services, processes and commissioners are working well, or challenge these when changes or improvements need to be made.

 

Parent carers can often pinpoint problems frequently experienced by families with disabled children. This knowledge is useful to professionals as they plan services to meet disabled children’s needs.

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Parent carer participation is when parents and professionals work together, recognising each other’s expert knowledge, to design, develop and improve services for disabled children in the local area.

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Forums usually have a core group of parent carers who lead this work and listen to the views of other parents in the local area to make sure they know what is important to them.

 

Forums are always keen to hear from as many parent carers as possible. The Forum is not able to advocate on behalf of individual families.

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There are many roles you can undertake as part of the Forum and we recognise how busy everyone is but every engagement is helpful, every piece of information, every voice heard adds positively to the collective Coventry voice. You can decide how involved you want to become and at your own pace (Ref: Contact 2023). Please refer to the Leaflet about the difference roles or email the Forum at : covpf@entrustcarepartnership.org.uk

 

3.0 Our commitment

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All members of Coventry Parent Carer Forum agree to:

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  • Be respectful to other parents, carers, professionals, organisations and individual staff at all times, acting in a courteous manner

  • Glean the views of others in a non-judgmental way

  • Represent the views of parents in an open and transparent manner to achieve the best outcome for families

  • Endeavour to understand the parameters that other Organisations must adhere to including those of the Local Authority

  • Work in tandem with the Local Authority area of Coventry fully agreeing to the principle of co-production.

 

Coventry Parent Carer Forum understands co-production to be our Forum playing an integral and equal part in the decision-making process, being engaged in shaping, developing, implementing, and evaluating services and systems. Our joint knowledge and skills will be helpful in creating better

outcomes for children and young people.

 

4.0 National Network of Parent Carer Forums (NNPCF)

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Coventry Parent Carer Forum is a member of The National Network of Parent Carer Forums (NNPCF) which is made up of all of the Parent Carer Forums from across England. The NNPCF ensures that local Parent Carer Forums are aware of national developments. It promotes opportunities for the voice of parent carers to influence at a national level. 

 

The NNPCF works closely with the Department for Education, the Department of Health, and other partner organisations to improve outcomes for children and young people with disabilities or additional needs and their families.

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If you would like to know more we would love to hear from you please telephone Helen Britton Participation Worker on 07842 416955 or email  covpf@entrustcarepartnership.org.uk

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Coventry Parent Carer Forum November 2023

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