New assessment for special educational needs starts
Monday, 1st September 2014.
Suffolk County Council is adopting national changes to the way in which children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities are assessed.
From today the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) reforms come into effect with the aim of improving the way services support children and young people with SEND.
The new reforms will ensure that services across education, health and social care will work together to provide an integrated response to need. The new arrangements will support children and young people from birth to age 25.
Early identification for SEND support is key, the changes will see parents, carers, children and young people at the heart of decision making about identification of needs and how those needs will be met. The aim is to give families far more choice and control over this provision.
Cllr Gordon Jones, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for children’s services, said: “We welcome this approach which will build on the good models of integrated working we are developing in Suffolk for children and young people.
“We acknowledge that families have struggled in the past to secure the services they need and these new reforms ensure that all services will work together to meet the holistic needs of their child.
“I am also pleased to see that these arrangements will support young people up to the age of 25 years and therefore improving opportunities for further learning and employment.”
The changes include:
· Single coordinated plan - the Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP).
· An ethos of putting the family at the centre, this will give the family more choice and control about the provision their child receives. The planning and support will be co-produced with families and focus on short and long term outcomes.
· An extended age range, now birth to 25 years of age; this will mean that post-16 providers such as colleges, training providers etc. will be more involved in tailoring a programme to suit the needs of the young person.
· A ‘Local Offer’, a service which provides information, advice and guidance on all services supporting Children with SEND. Suffolk’s Local Offer is being hosted on Suffolk Infolink. The Local Offer needs to show what families can expect and what they are entitled to.
· Personal Budgets - parents or carers of children with SEND, or the young person, if over 16, with an education, health and care plan can request a personal budget for elements of their EHCP.
In Suffolk a SEND Reforms Working Group has been set up to bring together multi-agency representatives from the county council, health, social care, parents and carers to ensure the reforms are successfully implemented.
For each topic of the reforms, multi-agency task and finish groups have been established:
· Education, Health and Care Plan
· Joint commissioning
· The Local Offer
· Personal budgets
· Workforce development
· Local Authority ICT applications
· Moving into adulthood.
From today the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) reforms come into effect with the aim of improving the way services support children and young people with SEND.
The new reforms will ensure that services across education, health and social care will work together to provide an integrated response to need. The new arrangements will support children and young people from birth to age 25.
Early identification for SEND support is key, the changes will see parents, carers, children and young people at the heart of decision making about identification of needs and how those needs will be met. The aim is to give families far more choice and control over this provision.
Cllr Gordon Jones, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for children’s services, said: “We welcome this approach which will build on the good models of integrated working we are developing in Suffolk for children and young people.
“We acknowledge that families have struggled in the past to secure the services they need and these new reforms ensure that all services will work together to meet the holistic needs of their child.
“I am also pleased to see that these arrangements will support young people up to the age of 25 years and therefore improving opportunities for further learning and employment.”
The changes include:
· Single coordinated plan - the Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP).
· An ethos of putting the family at the centre, this will give the family more choice and control about the provision their child receives. The planning and support will be co-produced with families and focus on short and long term outcomes.
· An extended age range, now birth to 25 years of age; this will mean that post-16 providers such as colleges, training providers etc. will be more involved in tailoring a programme to suit the needs of the young person.
· A ‘Local Offer’, a service which provides information, advice and guidance on all services supporting Children with SEND. Suffolk’s Local Offer is being hosted on Suffolk Infolink. The Local Offer needs to show what families can expect and what they are entitled to.
· Personal Budgets - parents or carers of children with SEND, or the young person, if over 16, with an education, health and care plan can request a personal budget for elements of their EHCP.
In Suffolk a SEND Reforms Working Group has been set up to bring together multi-agency representatives from the county council, health, social care, parents and carers to ensure the reforms are successfully implemented.
For each topic of the reforms, multi-agency task and finish groups have been established:
· Education, Health and Care Plan
· Joint commissioning
· The Local Offer
· Personal budgets
· Workforce development
· Local Authority ICT applications
· Moving into adulthood.
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