"Our vision is to champion equality, fairness and support. Empowering families with children and young people living with additional needs."
Who we are
Lancashire Parent Carer Forum (LPCF) exists to empower families of children and young people who are living with additional needs and/or disabilities, whether diagnosed or not, from 0 to 25 years and are living in, or receiving services from providers, in the County of Lancashire. The Forum will champion equality, fairness and support for all.
Purpose
It aims to be a voice to inform service providers of the needs of children and young people with additional needs and disabilities and their families.
LPCF will facilitate two–way communication between parents and carers, young people and children and the services provided for children and young people with additional needs and disabilities. The Forum will work to provide feedback on services, offer constructive challenge to current services and input into decision making and planning for future service provision.
The LPCF believes that, by working co-operatively with local service providers, parents and carers can contribute to improvements in the services delivered for children and young people with additional needs and disabilities and their families:
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Through regular communication with parents and carers ensuring they are able to decide whether to be involved in a piece of work/consultation;
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Ensuring a diverse Forum membership and representation of diverse views from children and young people with additional needs and disabilities and parents and carers from all backgrounds and sectors of the community;
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Promoting a reputation and image of the LPCF which reflects its aims and values.
Aims and Objectives
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To be the strategic, consultative body within the County of Lancashire which represents families of children and young people from 0 to 25 years with additional needs and disabilities, providing a liaison point for Statutory and Voluntary Agencies within the County.
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To consult with, and inform our membership, with a view to ensuring that all children and young people in our County with additional needs and disabilities have the best possible outcomes. The expectations and guidelines for these intended outcomes may be updated from time to time in the light of changes to Government policy.
How we can help
The forum brings together parents and carers from across Lancashire with an aim to ensure the needs of our children and young people are met.The Lancashire Parent Carer forum provides mutual support. We fully welcome all parents/carers and grandparents and run coffee mornings to provide an opportunity to get together and meet new like minded people. Members of the forum help by gathering and sharing the collective voice of parent/cares to influence change in policy and practice.This enables the forum to work to achieve positive outcomes, influence change and help make a difference. The forum also helps to provide relative local information through our website, social media accounts, the FIND newsletter, face to face events and training days to parent carers.
Meet the team
Sam Jones
Chair
I am a parent carer from West Lancashire and I have been involved in the Forum since the beginning (2018). As the chair, I lead the steering group and we work towards making sure the services across Lancashire meet the needs of children and young people with SEND and their families. We do this by using external reports such as Ofsted inspections, collecting views on services from families and working in partnership with local authorities, education settings, health providers and other providers to highlight where local services, processes and commissioners are working well, or challenge when changes or improvements need to be made.