SNAP is a pro-active group of parent carers who all have children or young people with Special Education Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND). We have come together as a group of parent carers to work with other individuals and organisations to help influence and improve the local services that are provided for our children and young people within Central Bedfordshire. We focus on helping to raise the standard of social care, education and health services within the county, to ensure that these services are provided in a way that meets the needs of children and young people and their families.
What does SNAP PCF do?
As parents of children and young people with SEND, we bring a real-life perspective and experience to the planning and development of the services that our families use. We constructively challenge decisions that are taken by the Local Authority and Health Authority about the future planning of services.
What is co-production?
As we work in partnership with our Local Authority and Health Authorities to make decisions about services, we call this ‘Co-production’. Co-production happens when those providing services and those that use them, work together from the start to make sure that the services provided are what children and families actually need. SNAP PCF recognises the benefits of working in partnership with the Local Authority when planning, developing, implementing or reviewing a service. Through the work of SNAP PCF, parents of children and young people with SEND are part of the decision-making process from the very beginning of an idea.
How does it work?
Parent carers are involved as equal partners with the Local Authority to:
- Design and develop the new services that families need.
- Review existing services and recommend improvements.
- Work with the local authority and health authority right from the start of any new program of change, providing a strong parent and family voice at all levels of decision-making throughout the process.
What is the difference between co-production and consultation?
SNAP strongly believes that ‘consultation’ is not the same thing as ‘co-production’. The traditional model of canvassing parents and families for their opinions in one-off surveys or forums before Local Authorities then go away and make the decisions themselves, often does not produce the necessary change in services that children and families actually need. By continuously working closely with the Local Authority and ‘co-producing’ any change, parent carers are much more successful at securing the changes that are needed to benefit all children and young people with SEND in the county. Local Authorities can also be more confident from the outset that the services that they are designing or providing services which are actually needed.
Read more about:
Our aims & values >>
Our organisational structure >>
How are we funded >>
To become a member of SNAP you must be a parent of a child or young person with SEND aged 0-25 and live in Central Bedfordshire. Fill out a SNAP Membership Form to join.