Parent Carer Blame webinar materials
On the 8th December 2021 Cerebra hosted a webinar that provided an overview of the 2021 Cerebra Legal Entitlements and Problem-Solving (LEaP) research report. The report describes how local authority policies create a culture of ‘parent carer blame’ when parent carers seek help for their disabled child – as well as the action that needs to be taken locally and nationally to change this practice.
The webinar heard from:
- Professor Luke Clements and Dr Ana Laura Aiello who outlined the research findings and Cerebra’s strategy to bring about meaningful change.
- Louise Arnold, a Director of the Parent & Carer Alliance, Mandy Smith and Yvonne Hanson of Liverpool SEND Crisis on action being taken in their localities to bring about a change in policy and practice.
- Renata Blower of Special Needs Jungle who reflected on the challenges faced by families and NGOs in bringing about meaningful change – posing the question “How do you get local authorities to think that change is a good idea”?
The Parent & Carer Alliance can be contacted by Parent Carers who are interested in joint working for change – at info@parentandcareralliance.org.uk.
Links to the PowerPoint used by Luke and Ana and other materials discussed at the webinar are below.
- The webinar PowerPoint (as a PDF Handout) – click here.
- A list of local authority policies concerning the assessment of the needs of disabled children as well as their eligibility and ‘threshold’ criteria. The document is an Excel Spreadsheet with hyperlinks to the policies of each local authority that the Legal Entitlements and Problem-Solving (LEaP) Project has identified. We would be interested to hear if any of the links on the spreadsheet need updating – click here.
- A draft of the ‘Doing it Differently’ list of key changes that families and parent carer groups have identified as necessary to make the social care assessment and support arrangements for disabled children and their families ‘fit for purpose’ – click here.
- A copy of the ‘Institutionalising Parent Carer Blame’ (2021) report – click here.
Posted 9 December 2021