York's Model of Joint Partnership working (co-production)

As a result of the co-production workshops held in July 2020, attended by 32 stakeholders, 1 area that continued to arise was the use of the word co-production. It was described as not well-understood and not family friendly and there was a concern that parents may not engage with services to work together in partnership.

Therefore, a survey was produced to gain feedback around the word co-production. 34 parents completed a survey and concluded that "Joint Partnership" should be the new term adopted.

What our children, young people and parents carers say:

Our experience with the Local Authority regarding our children had been as diverse as the needs of our four autistic children. For context, 2 of our children’s educational needs have required us to engage with the LA (Local Authority) for EHCPs (Education, Health and Care Plans). We are just starting the journey with a third child. We hope the process of improving engagement will only help in that journey as we consecutively continue on the path with the other 2 children.

I think if we had a more 'joined up' approach to working where we could more easily share information it would be better for our children.

There should be open communication on what to expect and clear time frames.

(...) SEN (Special Educational Needs) is a minefield and I don’t have any background in Education etc. So, I find it all bewildering. I’m also a visual person, I can’t imagine how services should look - you tell me/show me ideas of how things can work/what my son can access and I will know which are suitable - but tell me. Don’t hide things, assume I know or limit my knowledge. I still find out most things of importance through discussion with other parents. I need services to ensure they filter down as much information as possible (like parents) for us to make informed decisions.

I felt we were involved appropriately and, thanks to an exceptional provision we managed to secure a place in, our son is thriving.

A young person described his thoughts about joint partnership:

They can have their own say in what happens and if they don’t like it they can change it.

You have chance to actually say what you want.

But when asked what he thought the barriers could be, he explained:

The adults letting us make decisions.

I don’t think they’d find it easy, it could happen but wouldn’t be easy for adults to let go of the control.