Parent Carer Forums in England
Every Local Authority area in England can access money from the Department For Education to support the development of a local Parent Carer Forum. This means that there are 152 Parent Carer Forums in England representing local SEND Communities.
While all local Parent Carer Forums are individual organisations responding to local needs, they also come together to form regional networks which in turn create a national network. PACC Shropshire is a member of both the West Midlands Regional Parent Carer Network and the National Network of Parent Carer Forums. These networks enable the parent carer voice to influence and inform decision making at a local, regional and national level.
Parent Carer Forums are supported by Contact who are the Department for Education's contracted strategic participation partner overseeing the development of Parent Carer Forums in England and administering the annual DfE parent carer participation grant. Contact explain Parent Carer Participation and the roles of Forum's in their factsheet What is Parent Carer Participation