Introduction
The Children and Families Act 2014 highlights the importance of listening to “the views, wishes and feelings of the child and his or her parent, or the young person” and “the importance of the child and his or her parent, or the young person, participating as fully as possible in decisions relating to the exercise of the function concerned.”
Somerset, as an area, has signed up for the SEND Engagement and Participation Strategy, which outlines our vision to ensure this happens.
‘We want every child and young person to have the greatest possible opportunity to be the best they can be, to be happy and have choice and control over their lives.’
As users of the services children, young people and their families have first-hand experience with those services and can help pinpoint problems that are often experienced by families with disabled children. This knowledge is useful to professionals to help them improve how services are delivered, so they better meet a family’s needs.
By listening to them, we can identify what works well, what needs improving and what’s missing – usually known as ‘gaps in provision.’
When parents and professionals work together, recognising each other’s expert knowledge, informed decisions are made which make the best use of people’s time and money.
Participation takes various forms.
Consultation
Service providers in the area consult with children, young people and parents about existing services, seeking their views about how services can be improved, and good practices shared from other areas. Consultation would also be undertaken when changes to services are planned then children, young people and parents should be told about proposed changes to a service and invited to give their ideas and raise any concerns about the proposals before final decisions are made.
There is a list of consultations on Somerset Council’s website.
Participation
Participation happens when children, young people and their families work together with professionals to improve services and the delivery of services.
The purpose of participation is so that users of services can get involved in service planning and decision making, so that services meet the needs of families with disabled children. This way, resources are not wasted on services that parents and families do not take up. Working together and sharing knowledge means that we can find solutions that work.
The SEND Participation and Engagement Team host the county’s Participation Workers Network to help share the Somerset Participation Toolkit. It gives professionals useful tools and resources to capture children’s and young people’s views across all services.
Co-production
Co-production is a solution-focused way of working to find the best possible outcomes and solutions for local families, with the resources that are available. It is when people come together to shape services, starting with a blank sheet of paper – it’s a coming together of ideas.
Co-production includes people who commission the service, service providers, and people who use the service.
Co-production is an equal and reciprocal relationship where everyone’s knowledge and skills are used to create better outcomes.
Good quality co-production and participation are required by the Children and Families Act 2014 and subsequent SEND legislation. It is based on the principles of Inclusion, a universal human right that embraces all people, irrespective of race, gender, disability or other attributes which can be perceived as different.
Somerset’s Participation Network has developed opportunities to get involved or support young people to get involved at Somerset Young People’s Voice or by using the engagement opportunity filter on the Local Offer events calendar.
Resources to support co-production
Education – NASEN have good resources about how to do co-production in schools, which can be adapted and used. Find out more on SEND Gateway
Health – UCL have provided useful resources for health practitioners. Coalition for collaborative care
Social care – Social Care institute of Excellence has provided a range of useful information. Community Care