SEND SEND Code of Practice 2015 provides guidance on the special educational needs and disability (SEND) system for children and young people aged 0- 25. It is based on the Children and Families Act 2014 and provides guidance to the interpretation of other pieces of legislation including (but not limited to): Care Act 2014 Mental Capacity Act 2005 Children Act 1989 National Health Service Act 2006 Children Act 2004 School Standards and Framework Act 1998 Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 Education Act 1996 Health and Social Care Act 2012

Key Questions We need to keep considering : How effective is the Local Area in identifying, assessing and meeting the needs of and improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND (0-25). What's working well/are the current issues and challenges in identifying the needs of children and young people with SEND, matching provision to need and securing outcomes for children and young people. What are the outcomes like for the children and young people in your service? How up to date are records and what processes have we got in place to ensure they are maintained. How do we involve parents or young people in the development of our service? Does our service joint commission with other services when it is appropriate to meet the needs of a child or young person.

Information, Advice and Support for young people The Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities to provide children with information, advice and support relating to their SEN or disability. Many children will access information, advice and support via their parents. However, some children, especially older children and those in custody, may want to access information, advice and support separately from their parents, and local authorities must ensure this is possible. Young people must have confidence that they are receiving confidential and impartial information, advice and support.

Children’s Social Care Should provide early years providers, schools and colleges with a contact for social care advice on children and young people with SEN and disabilities - the service manager lead is Kate Markley Should make sure that for looked after children and care leavers the arrangements for assessing and meeting their needs across education, health and social care are co-ordinated effectively within the process of care and pathway planning. In order to avoid duplication and delay, to include in particular liaising with the Virtual School Head (VSH) for looked after children. Where children or young people with SEN or disabilities also have a child in need or child protection plan, the social worker within the SEN team should ensure the statutory timescales for social care assessments are met and assessments are aligned with EHC needs assessments wherever possible. For those already receiving support from children's services, the Care Act makes it clear that local authorities must continue to provide children's services until adult provision has started or a decision is made that the young person's needs do not meet the eligibility criteria for adult care and support following an assessment. Children’s services must not be discontinued simply because a young person has reached their 18th birthday. Support for carers includes any support assessed as being reasonably required by the learning difficulties and disabilities which result in the child or young person having SEN. It can include any services assessed under an early help assessment and/or under Section 17 or Section 47 of the Children Act 1989 or eligible needs identified by assessments under adult care provisions. It can also include services for parents and carers which will support the child’s outcomes, such as mental health support.

Multi Agency Working Multi-agency collaboration is at the heart of the SEND reforms, and we already do this in a number of ways in Bristol, from the assessment process to the allocation of resources.

Single Assessment Plan for the child Multi-Agency Multi-Agency BLA Why? Placement Plan Multi-Agency Review Complexity The Social Care part of EHC can pull in all the outcomes CLA reviews Multi-Agency

Health Education Social Care Professionals Meeting? Multi-agency Family support moving to CIN ? Multi-Agency Disabled Children have access to Complex Needs Group CIN moving to CP? Multi-Agency Who attends Complex Needs Group: Health Education Social Care Freddy Jackson-Brown Sian Wynne Jones Deborah Gale Tom Allport Duncan Gillard Harriet Andrew Julie Collison Emilie Williams-Jones Mark Symonds Liz Pickard Mary Stanley-Duke Jane Mills Jenifer Cassidy Matthew Brown Kate Markley Toni Hovey Simon Wright Helen Stephens Sue Loader Libby Rogers Suzanne O’Kelly Lucy Hunt Jane Guvenir

Requesting an EHC Needs Assessment Anyone can bring a child or young person who has (or may have) SEN to the attention of the local authority, particularly where they think an EHC needs assessment may be necessary. This could include, for example, foster carers, health and social care professionals, early years practitioners, youth offending teams or probation services, those responsible for education in custody, school or college staff or a family friend. Bringing a child or young person to the attention of the local authority will be undertaken on an individual basis where there are specific concerns. This should be done with the knowledge and where possible, agreement of the child’s parent or the young person. The local authority must notify the child’s parent or the young person that it is considering whether an EHC assessment is necessary, and must consult the child’s parent or the young person as soon as is practicable following a request for an EHC needs assessment (or having otherwise become responsible). This is particularly important where the request was not made by the child’s parent or the young person, so they have sufficient time to provide their views. Local authorities must consult the child and the child’s parents or the young person throughout the process of assessment and production of an EHC plan.

One-page Social Care Guide

Meeting Statutory Deadlines The local authority must decide whether or not to proceed with an EHC needs assessment, and must inform the child’s parents or the young person of their decision within a maximum of six weeks. If an EHC plan is to be issued, must take no more than 20 weeks. When carrying out an EHC needs assessment the local authority should seek views and information from the child using appropriate methods of communication. There is a clear relationship between population needs, what is procured for children and young people with SEN and disabilities, and individual EHC plans.

Decision-making Following the completion of an EHC needs assessment, if the local authority decides that an EHC plan is not necessary, it must notify the child’s parent or the young person, the early years provider, school or post-16 institution currently attended, and the health service and give the reason for its decision. This notification must take place as soon as practicable and at the latest within 16 weeks of the initial request. The local authority must also inform the child’s parent or the young person of their right to appeal that decision and the time for doing so, of the requirement to consider mediation should they wish to appeal, and the availability of information, advice and support, and disagreement resolution services. EHC plans should be focused on education and training, health and care outcomes that will enable children and young people to progress in their learning and as they get older, to be well prepared for adulthood. Outcomes should always enable children and young people to move towards the long-term aspirations of employment or higher education, independent living and community participation.

Personal Budget Local authorities must provide information about organisations that may be able to provide advice and assistance to help parents and young people to make informed decisions about Personal Budgets. The child’s parent or the young person has a right to request a Personal Budget, when the local authority has completed an EHC needs assessment and confirmed that it will prepare an EHC plan. They may also request a Personal Budget during a statutory review of an existing EHC plan. BUDS – Bristol Universal Descriptors Please see link- S:\SAFE\CPRNTSCS\Teams\DisabledChildren\EHCP Advice\Bristol Social Care BUDs for Under-18s - January 2018.docx

Personal Budget case discussion is multi-agency Who attends: Kate Markley Emilie Williams-Jones Jane Guvenir Family Support and Inclusion Team

Reviewing EHCPs EHC plans should be used to actively monitor children and young people’s progress towards their outcomes and their longer-term aspirations. They must be reviewed by the local authority as a minimum every 12 months.

Reviews of EHC plans for children aged 0 to 5 Local authorities should consider reviewing an EHC plan for a child under five at least every three to six months to ensure that the provision continues to be appropriate. Preparing for Adulthood Local authorities must ensure that the EHC plan is reviewed at Year 9, and that every review thereafter includes a focus on preparing for adulthood.

EHC plan reviews should be synchronised with social care plan reviews, and must always meet the needs of the individual child Care Leavers In reviewing their arrangements for EHC needs assessment and EHC plan development, local authorities should ensure good advanced planning involving the young person and personal adviser. Children and young people educated out of area The home local authority must ensure that the special educational provision set out in the plan is being made. Children and young people with SEN who are educated at home Home education must be suitable to child’s age, ability, aptitude and SEN. The plan should make clear that the child or young person will be educated at home, under Section 42 (2) of the Children and Families Act 2014, the local authority must arrange the special educational provision set out in the plan, working with the parents. Under Section 19 of the Act, a local authority must have regard to the views, wishes and feelings of the child and his or her parents, or the young person. Unless otherwise stated, a reference to ‘a local authority’ means the home local authority. For a detained person with an EHC plan this is the local authority which maintained their EHC plan when they were in the community. Where the young person is already in custody, a request for an assessment of post-detention EHC needs must be made to the home local authority (meaning where the detained person is ‘ordinarily resident’).

Governance Arrangement