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What are Parent / Carer forums and how do they campaign?

Parent / Carer Forums are participation groups which have been set up or are led by parents and carers of a disabled child or young person. Over the past few years groups have sprung up all over the country with the aim to ensure that parents and carers are actively involved in strategic planning and decision making within their local authority. Groups can be run on a voluntary basis, as a small charity or as a community interest company. Their success depends on the support of parents and carers of disabled children and young people giving getting involved in giving feedback on the services they access and by participating in consultations both at local authority and / or national level. They also need the support and interest of professionals working with families who have a disabled child or young person.

Many groups also offer services and support for families. This work has evolved from the needs identified by their members and developed in conjunction with them. Parents and carers of disabled children and young people are experts in caring for their children and as such have many good ideas about services and fun events that families would like to access.

A National Network of Parent Carer Forum has recently been set up by the Department of Education. This allows parent / carer groups to share good practise, knowledge and expertise. It also ensures that local and regional forum groups are kept up to date with what is happening nationally and that information gathered at regional and forum levels is fed back to the government and national bodies.

If you would like more information about a parent / carer forum operating in you area you can download contact details for parent forums in England by visiting the Together for Disabled Children website at www.togetherfdc.org. More information on the National Network of Parent Carer Forums can also be found on this website.

Please click on the sub menus at the top of this web page to access more information about campaigns at national and local level that you can get involved in.