About

Parent Action was established in 2014, and is a social enterprise and a human rights organisation.

Parent Action seeks to empower the parent carers of children, young people and adults with additional needs/disabilities to speak up or advocate for their family members needs, in all vital public services in NI.

 

Parent Action is a human rights based organisation, where membership consists of the parent carers of children, young people and adults with disabilities/additional needs and interested organisations and people.

 

As the only parent carer led organisation in Northern Ireland (NI), Parent Action works to promote and protect parent carers advocacy role for their child and their whole families needs in vital public services for them and their children, regardless of their child’s age, i.e. the child can be an adult, through the delivery of our online and face to face services, to parent carers, public service professionals and teams.

The Parent Action Model©

Enables

Parent action enables parent carers to have their voice heard for their child’s human rights in vital public services, enabling all children to access, early and safely, early education and childcare, school, community health care, social care and direct payments, play and leisure opportunities, jobs and training, in their local communities.

Empowers

Parent action empowers parent carers and public service professionals and teams, to advocate effectively for the human rights of children and adults with additional needs/disabilities, into vital public services.

Advocates

Parent action supports parent carers and public service professionals and teams to advocate effectively for safety and continuous quality improvement in vital public services to children and adults with additional needs/disabilities.

Parent Action Connects

online and face to face, independent family advocacy service for parent carers = 1 to 1 independent advocacy and group peer advocacy support, enabling and empowering parent carers as advocates for their children’s human rights in vital public services.

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Parent Wellness Centres and Community Learning Hubs

A one-stop community hub for parent carers and parents, providing specialist early education and childcare services for babies and children with additional needs/disabilities, and a community adult learning hub for parent carers, focusing on early intervention and prevention of mental health harms to parent carers, their children and families.

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Community Action Training

bespoke consultancy and training services for public service professionals, teams, providers and commissioners, on quality improvement of their parent carer participation practice, in all public services to babies, children, young people and adults with disabilities/additional needs, in all community settings.

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Community Campaigning

community campaigning, is a collaborative way of working by parent carers, to raise awareness of the people in power in public services, around issues of importance to parent carers in local communities.

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Parent Action Data

A repository of parent carers anonymised, lived experience data, gathered during delivery of our Parent Action Connects independent advocacy service, available at cost to public service providers, commissioners and teams, to support their quality improvement and parent carer participation duties and responsibilities (Children’s NI Order, 1995)

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Our Mission

Parent Action promotes person and family centred approaches in all public services to children, young people and adults with disabilities/additional needs, their parent carers and families. We exist to challenge and prevent the social isolation of children, young people and adults with disabilities/lifelong health conditions and their families while actively promoting these families social capital (social connectedness).

At Parent Action, we focus on working with parents, children, young people, adults with disabilities/additional needs, staff, commissioners and public service providers, towards community participation in the promotion and protection of children, young people’s and adults with disabilities/additional needs and the human rights in their receipt of vital public services.

 

Our Key Aims

 

  1. Communication – Parent carers have no voice and no choice currently, in the vital public services their child receives in their homes, schools and local community. Parent Action Connects and Community Campaigning Services, is Parent Action’s solution to this.
  2. Family Centred Care Co ordination –Parent Wellness Centres, Parent Action Data and Community Action Training Service for public service professionals, is Parent Actions solution to this.
  3. Parent Action Corporate and Business Governance and Development –.  Parent Action continues to develop projects and services to promote public service culture transformation, to ensure person and family centred care are developed and maintained in all NI public services.

Our Vision

We envision local communities where children, young people, adults with disabilities/long-term health conditions, parents and families experiences of all public services are positive, empowering and continuously improving.

Our Values underpin all aspects of Parent Action's strategy. By embracing and following these values we can ensure to work toward and achieve our business plans, missions, objectives and visions.

By sharing these values, using our peer advocacy model (Figure 1), which is based on the principles of co-production, parent carers are enabled and empowered to develop their negotiation and advocacy skills, ability and confidence in the best interests of their child and whole family, into vital public services.

  • Respect

    Parent Action must ensure that the the child/adult with disabilities/lifelong health conditions and their parent carers, must report that they feel valued as unique individuals during care or educational assessments, planning, implementing and evaluation of service provision

  • Safety

    Parent Action work to ensure the child/adult with disabilities/lifelong health conditions and their parent carers, must feel valued and protected as individuals in their receipt of public services, and must have their personal strengths, resilience and adaptive abilities actively supported by professional staff, and recorded as part of care and education assessment, planning and evaluation of each service.

  • Communication

    In working with parent carers, Parent Action must make certain that the child/young person/adult and parent carers have a clear understanding of their situation, as a result of effective and meaningful engagement and participation in all decision making about their child and families needs in partnership with all public service professionals involved in their child’s care in their home, school and community.

  • Privacy and Dignity

    Parent Action works in a collaborative effort with parent carers and all public service professionals to uphold the privacy and dignity of the child/adult with disabilities/lifelong health conditions, their parent carers and family. This includes promoting parent carers preferred social identity as parents first, carers second, ensuring that they're being protected throughout the integrated care plan being implemented and evaluated across health, social care and education services.

  • Person Centred

    Being person and family centred means, we respect parent carers and their children as individuals, we empower parent carers to uphold their own and their children’s rights, we enable and empower everyone in the team around the child/adult with disabilities/lifelong health conditions, including parent carers, to develop mutual trust and understanding, negotiation and advocacy skills for the best interests of the child/adult with disabilities/lifelong health conditions, and we enable and empower parent carers and public service professionals to develop healthful relationships. These are the person and family centred outcomes, of the delivery of our Independent Family Advocacy Training Services in Parent Action.