It’s not uncommon for disabled children, young people and their families to feel that they have been left out and are not getting the services from local councils that they deserve.

That is why parents of disabled children on the Island are urging the Isle of Wight Council to sign up to the Every Disabled Child Matters (EDCM) Charter.

The EDCM is a campaign hoping to address these problems and help create change.

Several local authorities have already signed up the Charter (more details below) and parents on the Island hope that the Isle of Wight will join the list.

If you want to show your support why not write to your Island County Councillor asking them to make the proposal at County level?

The nine measures are:

• We know how many disabled children live in our area and that all agencies in our area are planning services on the basis of this knowledge.
• There is a key worker service in our authority providing support to families who are accessing more than one specialist service.
• Our parent partnership service is sufficiently resourced to provide advice, information and support to parents of disabled children and young people who have been excluded from school.
• Parents and carers in our area are getting accurate and timely information and advice on the full range of services available to them and their families.
• All staff have received both disability equality training and training to ensure that they have core competencies to work with disabled children; relevant staff have received specialist training and other staff know how to contact them for information.
• Disabled children are involved in drawing up our Disability Equality Scheme and also in monitoring its effectiveness in eliminating discrimination.
• Our Children and Young People’s Plan explains how we will provide specialist services and also make all universal services including extended schools and children’s centres accessible to disabled children.
• Our Local Area Agreement includes targets for the level of service to be delivered to families with a disabled child.
• Disabled children and families are involved in the planning, commissioning and monitoring of services in our area, including both specialist and universal services.

The EDCM confirmed to VB today that the Isle of Wight Council has not yet signed up to the charter.

Find out more about EDCM by visiting their Website.

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