The "Parents Panels" discussion group project
The Parents Panels are a set of discussion groups designed as a mechanism for understanding the perspective of people raising children in diverse situations. This is central to the Commission’s engagement with families under the Families Commission Act.
Each Parents Panel discussion group includes eight to twelve participants in similar circumstances. The group meets three times a year for two years to discuss anything that affects people raising children in circumstances similar to their own.
The project is designed to generate in-depth, reflective dialogue directly based on the experience of participants and their peers, thus providing the Commission with a strong foundation for advocacy. While each round has a theme, often a topic of current interest to the Commission, a key purpose of the project is to hear news of emerging issues and promising solutions.
Background
The original four discussion groups were established in early 2008 based in the wider Auckland/Northland area. These groups represented teenage parents, Pacific Island families, ‘mortgage belt’ families and a group of rural families in Dargaville.
Currently we have ten discussion groups across the country. These groups represent Maori whanau, sole parents, parents of teenagers, rural families in Central Otago, parents of young children, grandparents raising grandchildren, refugees, fathers and parents of children with disabilities.
Each group is co-ordinated by a community organisation selected for their expertise in a particular field, or ability to connect with local representative families and whanau.. These organisations are contracted to do the work of recruitment, meeting organisation, facilitation, recording and reporting. Meeting-related expenses are reimbursed and participants are given a voucher as a token of appreciation. Participants are briefed about forthcoming meetings and, receive a report that combines results from all groups and notes action taken as a result of information provided by participants.
