Purpose of the seminar
The number of learning disabled people who are choosing to have children is rising, and this has significant implications for a range of mainstream, as well as specialist, service providers who work with both the parents and the children. There are few accurate statistics on the number of parents with learning disabilities and difficulties (one source suggests 250,000 parents in the UK have learning disabilities), but the observed increase has meant that more professionals now need to work with these parents.
Communication between parents and support services is essential. Where families come to the attention of child protection services, the parents have expressed concerns that they are not always listened to early on in the process. They may struggle to cope with information which is not presented in a user-friendly format, and may not fully understand the implications of procedures. In some cases this has meant that proceedings to have children removed from parental care have progressed further than they really needed to. This fear of having their children removed may be a significant barrier to parents accessing the services they really need to support them.
A number of initiatives now seek to intervene earlier and very positively to support parents with learning disabilities and difficulties. The Good Practice Guidance on Supporting Parents with Learning Disabilities was published in 2007 and states that adults with learning disabilities should be provided with the support they need to look after their children appropriately. The Good Practice Guidance is relevant to professionals working in all fields and specifically focuses on safeguarding the children of parents with learning difficulties while enabling all services to fulfil their Disability Equality Duty.
This seminar aims to consider the guidance and resources available to professionals who work with parents who have learning disabilities and difficulties. It will also feature three very different local service initiatives which support such parents.
The seminar will feature:
- The Valuing People Now Team within the Department of Health, which produced the Good Practice Guidance, and will address both the Good Practice and subsequent developments
- The Norah Fry Research Centre (Bristol University) which also co-ordinates the Working Together with Parents Network. This is a free network for professionals supporting parents with learning difficulties, and provides access to numerous resources and support from other members. It has recently published a booklet ‘Supporting parents with learning disabilities and difficulties - stories of positive practice’ which is available to download free at www.right-support.org.uk.
- CHANGE is a well-established service user-led organisation where learning disabled parents train and advise on the development of services. It produces user-friendly information and runs a network for parents.
- Norfolk County Council’s Disabled Parents Protocol which particularly addresses the joining up of adult and children’s Social Services and budget-sharing issues
- KeyRing (Wrexham) which provides supported housing and a range of additional services for parents
- Leicestershire Family Action’s Valuing Families Service which offers shorter term intervention tailored to parents’ needs in their own home
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