Empowering parents of children with special needs

ENGLAND – Children’s Secretary Ed Balls has announced a package of measures to empower parents with children with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities.

As part of the Aiming High for Disabled Children Programme, the government has committed £5 million (NZ$14.9 million) over the next three years to support parent involvement in the planning and strategic development of local services for disabled children.

Over the period 2008 to 2010, £3 million (NZ$8.9 million) of this is available through a programme of grants and support from Together for Disabled Children to help groups develop parent participation activities in each local area across England.

Mr Balls also welcomed the work done by Brian Lamb, Chair of the Special Educational Consortium, for his inquiry into improving parental confidence in services for children with SEN. He gave the green light for pilot projects in eight areas to look at how confidence can be increased.

The projects will look at a range of approaches including:

•    the development of the ‘Team around the Child’ approach, where a group of professionals are assigned to a child with SEN and a key worker makes a personal link with the family;

•    improvements in parental engagement in the school-based stages of assessment and provision, with better information for parents;

•    closer involvement of parents in the decision-making process.

The pilots will involve the parents in evaluating the impact of the local project.

“It’s clear that parents with disabled children and those with SEN can have a tough time getting the support and services they need. This is another step towards changing that for the better,” said Mr Balls.

“It’s crucial that parents of disabled children get the opportunity to shape services in their area. I strongly urge parents of disabled children in every area, whether they are already part of a parent forum group or are thinking about setting one up, to approach Together Disabled Children about these grants to see how they can help to improve services for disabled children.

“We’ve identified eight local authorities with creative ideas about working with parents much more closely in their child’s education. These projects will form a crucial part of the evidence for the Inquiry. Parental confidence will only improve as we ensure better outcomes for children with SEN. I’m delighted to be working with these authorities, schools and parents who are at the cutting edge of working to improve confidence,” said Mr Lamb.