Staffordshire Parent Carer Forum

Survey shows S.E.N.D. families in Staffordshire not feeling positive impact of local authority changes yet

Thank you to the 150 parents, carers and families who filled the 2nd annual Staffordshire Parents and Carer Forum (S.P.C.F.) survey on their experience of S.E.N.D. services in the county! 

• Despite a lot of hard work at local authority level to make changes, we’re still not seeing positive impact for families and children/young people.
• E.C.H.P. Processes (needs assessments, reviews and implementation) are still a massive issue for parents.  Problems include poor timeliness, very limited responsiveness (not reacting to a need or being fast enough when a need has been identified) and a lack of co-production (consultation and collaboration between families and schools or the system).
• Parents/carers still rarely feel listened to or believed. (Some of the on-the-record messages about parent blaming from the political leadership of S.C.C. have created an atmosphere of distrust.)
• Most parents/carers don’t have a relationship with a key worker and feel that they don’t have a clear line into the different services. This means families often get lost in the system.
• Most parents/carers feel that the different services aren’t joined up or coordinated, which makes them even harder to access.  They report that different bits of the same service often give different advice/guidance.
• Parents/carers feel that there is a clear lack of experience, expertise, time and resources in all parts of the system.  This has a direct negative impact on meeting their child’s needs.