Co-production involves children, young people, parent carers and practitioners working together in an equal and reciprocal relationship. It enables genuine participation in decision-making.
In 2016 the Department for Education (DfE) contracted partner Contact, a charity that supports families with disabled children across all four nations whatever their disability or health condition, invited national SEND partners to come together to form the National Alliance for Partnership Working (NAPW). The goal of NAPW was to create a shared approach that would help local areas establish and embed recognisably good co-production. This aim was supported by the DfE and the Department of Health (DH) as it addressed underlying principles set out in the Health and Social Care Act (2012), the Children and Families Act (2014), the SEND Code of Practice (2015) and the NHS Constitution (2015) for families, parent carers, children and young people to be fully involved in the individual, organisational and strategic decisions that affect their lives.
The Four Cornerstones
NAPW was keen to develop a nationally agreed framework, process and principles for whole area inclusive practice, co-production and participation that could be used in partnership by all stakeholders in each local area in England. The Four Cornerstones of co-production were adopted to achieve this purpose. The Cornerstones were developed as a Charter by Rotherham parent carers, young people and families through NAPW member Genuine Partnerships:
- Welcome and care
- Value and include
- Communicate
- Work in partnership
Developing and nurturing each of these to build trust.
NAPW believed the Cornerstones offered a common language for co-production that would support local areas to develop their own locally agreed and understood approach to partnership working.
What is Genuine Partnerships?
Genuine Partnerships is a friendly and diverse Rotherham-based team made up of practitioners, parent carers and young people. The team models and inspires inclusive practice and co-production. Everybody involved is considered equal in terms of experience, so the term professional is either not needed or applies to everybody. Using the Four Cornerstones as a foundation, Genuine Partnerships offers unique packages of support, training and tools. In 2016 the team began working nationally and was invited to contribute to NAPW. Based on the Cornerstones, the team now facilitates projects and training in local areas across the country. An appreciative inquiry approach based on experience captured through the sharing of individual and collective narratives (stories) is adopted. Young people, parent carers and representatives from schools/settings and Education, Health and Social Care come together in different ways to engage in evaluating co-production within the area, also jointly identifying priorities for further development.