Independent supporters

[2tirednot2fight]

I think I may be behind the times but does anyone know if CDC have decided to award the contracts for Indeoendent support organisations without even consulting local parents about potential providers?

Isn't this just the opposite of empowering parents ?

we are yet to have any in place at all...... contracts awarded but none have been employed yet

It's pretty opaque, from what I can tell. I think inappropriately employed has been trying to get some proper information, with limited success. Another benefit of the big society approach - you can't easily get FOI requests accepted by the third sector.

Round our way, it's the local contractor for the Parent Partnership who've picked up the IS gig, with a token e-mail based consultation with the usual useful idiots on the parent carer forums.

Ours has been awarded to core assets without local parents being consulted so kinda going against enabling parents right from the start. Our local parent forum is as challenging as wilted lettuce into opinion.

Core assets appears to me to be the start of privatisation of social care services with independent supporter role being tacked on.

Shocking even after all the backtracking that's already been done!

we have core assets here as well - they couldn't say how many we would get, what hours they would be working or any info really and the training the IS get sounds dire

So far removed from all the promises made eh?

this post from Special Needs Jungle is the best thing I've read on it. No-one seems much the wiser since this was written - which was back in July.

Yeah I have that what a shame local parent forum groups haven't been a little more proactive in keeping parents informed.

I love that term usual useful idiots, we have a number I can think of in parent partnership and parent forums local to us!

Core assets here too. Still advertising for the umpteenth time you can see here. Odd as asking for people with social care background. I'd prefer legal / advice background myself.

Core assets here too.

We have 3 that I know of who are volunteers through parent partnership. They've told me they are only allowed to support a family for 8 hours!

Our LA's document is a bit vague:
"Parents and young people can also access informal support in resolving disagreements through the local impartial Information, Advice and Support Service (formerly known as the Parent Partnership service) and, between 2014 and 2016, with the help of independent supporters."

It then goes on to describe disagreement resolution services, which are provided by UNITE Mediation Ltd. So whether UNITE are also providing the independent supporters, I have no idea.

Completely agree Agnes I assumed they would have legal backgrounds and they are paying a low salary so won't get the level of experience that would be really helpful. Just another broken promise from the government it would seem to me. It's not about supporting families it's about pushing responsibility elsewhere and fails to address the real issues parents have with local authorities acting illegally. I am shocked by the CDC though, l would have hoped they'd put some action where there mouth is!

Surely they aren't meant to say that Independent supporters were formally known as parent partnership!!!!!!

There needs to be a way of objecting to core assets being foisted on parents like this.

Can they say independent supporters were formally parent partnership? I thought they were meant to be totally different, I know some parent partnership schemes were effective but ours was as much use as a chocolate fireguard completely colluding with the LA.

Sorry my iPhones gone a bit Berzerk so I posted again thinking it hadn't done so the first time!