Anna Gill Early Support- Council for Disabled Children June 2014

Who is Independent Support designed to support? It will provide independent supporters in each local area as an additional resource for a time limited period to work directly with young people and the parents of children being assessed for an EHC plan This will include: New entrants to the system Children with a statement converting to an EHC plan Young people with an LDA converting to a plan

What would make a good IS? Be locally recruited Have skills and expertise in working with parents and young people Have experience and understanding of SEN and disability Be based in private, voluntary and community sector organisations Complete a training package

CDC role 1.To manage a transparent procurement process 2.To manage 152 service agreement contracts with eligible Parent Partnership Services 3.To manage contracts with VCS&P to provide an IS service in every local authority. 4.To provide advice and support to organisations under contract to ensure successful delivery of the programme throughout its duration. 5.To develop and provide appropriate IS training 6.To manage the process of independent evaluation that provides evidence of improved outcomes for parents and young people and successful practice in the sector.

How we think this might be achieved? “Through partnership working, disabled children and young people with special educational needs and their families are supported through the SEN and Disability reforms in order to improve outcomes and better life chances.” Disabled children and young people with SEN and their families Independent Support Local Authority Parent Partnership Service National Network of Parent Carer Forums

Our approach ) ‘Evidence and Practice Build’ (Timescale: February – June 2014) Phase 1 : Implementation (Timescale: June 2014 – March 2015) Phase 2 : Implementation ( Timescale: April 2015 – March 2016)  Launch of tender exercise targeting VCOs  Launch of tender exercise targeting PPS  Support provided as identified  Develop and implement training offer and new training modules  Initial evaluation of trials reported in June 2014  ES RFs develop good practice in partnership working and feedback on good practice  Monthly status report to DfE  Outcome report to DfE  Launch of wider tender exercise (VCO) on 28 May  Launch a Service agreement to PPS on 20 May.  Contract monitoring and management  Develop further training modules (based on sector need)  Training plan to Independent Supporters recruited in regions  Evaluator criteria set and appointed.  Twice yearly outcome report with recommendations to DfE  Monthly status report to DfE  Contract monitoring and management  Evaluation report on impact and good practice  Sustainability models of good practice developed and disseminated.  Further strategic advice and support to sector based on a need.  Preparation of final report and recommendations  Exit strategy implemented.

Evidence and build phase – a brief overview of findings

VCS&P operating across England

PPS operating across England

What we asked them to do in this phase 1.To explore, consult and provide a range of options to implement an Independent Support offer. 2.To provide practical and innovative workforce development options that identifies an IS workforce (and what that looks like) – which sets out clearly how that workforce could be managed and deployed locally or regionally to deliver the required services. 3.To provide case studies setting out examples of good local protocols that could be used and/or adapted by the authority and/or by other local authorities and would support joined up service delivery (case study template to be provided by CDC). 4.To participate on pilot training.

They have been consulting others Parent / carer survey Parent / carer focus group questions Young people’s consultation Young people’s questionnaire Stakeholders’ questionnaire Face to face sessions with youth groups Local parent forums Parent Partnership Services local lead professionals Local authority SEN teams Residential weekend Survey Monkey Phone calls/ s

Early feedback suggests: IS at various points in transition would be welcomed Most parents expressed a preference for an impartial support worker Young people had mixed views on using an IS and many were satisfied to use the support systems available to them at present IS were expected to be very knowledgeable about the new EHC Plan and the Local Offer IS should be able to signpost on to other support services IS should be the single point of contact Peer support was an essential element to be developed and nurtured by IS Resources such as web based information, forums and webinars would be most welcome but should not replace individual, face to face support A simple guide and timeline on the EHC Plan process should be available in several formats and languages

Early feedback on the expectations of an Independent are : Listen Get information about the young person by asking them directly Understand the disability of the young person Understand the impact of the disability Break things down so that the young person understands Can explain things properly IS knowledgeable about the services that exist Has enough time to listen and talk things through Enables the young person to talk to them in confidence without fearing that they will go away and tell everyone Has enough options and good information to enable the young person to decide what to do

Early feedback on practical and innovative workforce development options are: Mixture of paid and voluntary staff Staff responsible for co-ordination and management of the volunteers would be paid and could also have a caseload. Parent Partnership Service already have expertise in supporting parents so could continue with this specialism. Minimum hours threshold Train and pay parents, albeit there could be a minimum hours threshold that parents would need to work to be paid, below which they would not be paid (e.g. 6 hours per week as is the case in some services. Counselling Model This model requires that staff would have to undergo training and work in a voluntary capacity for a certain number of hours in order to become qualified. They would receive supervision and mentoring as part of their training from experienced staff, already working with young people or parents.

Early feedback on practical and innovative workforce development options are: Support Hub Model An easily accessible “support hub” for parents, children and young people. IS workers would be allocated to groups of schools in the area and a volunteer “Parent Champion” would be appointed in each school to work alongside the SENCO. Voluntary Sector Consortium Model Each IS sits within a different local voluntary organisation but is part of a network (consortium) to ensure that training and information is consistent and they are available to families used to tapping into certain voluntary organisations for support. A co-ordinator would take referrals and make sure the most suitable IS worker was allocated to the family. Virtual Hub A small team of IS workers will sit within an existing voluntary organisation. They will have dedicated help lines 7 days a week.. Live “web” chats and forums would be managed by the IS workers to avoid misinformation being given. They would sign post on to relevant organisations as necessary.

Parent/Carer are telling us they want to see Provision of open and transparent information about services and options Timely and accurate assessments that incorporate the views of the parents Completion of agreed actions within agreed timeframes Timely response to enquiries, requests and service need Collation of information to prevent duplicate requests for the same information from parents Commitment to responding to the needs of the child/young person rather than acting in the interests of the local authority Consistent person leading parent through the process Professionals who communicate effectively with each other What they fear is… Assessments being undertaken prior to the provision of information about the services available Lack of response to phone calls Having to provide the same information repeatedly to different people No help in times of crisis Services not tailored to individual need

Young people are telling us Disabled young people should have access to support and accessible information in particularly at times of transition IS workers need to have the knowledge, experience and confidence to support young people Peer support should be available to young people through the IS model An independent advocate may also be required to ensure that children and young people are offered choice and control Young people should deliver training to IS to upskill the workforce to use the most productive methods of working with young people What they fear is… Not engaging or communicating with the young person directly Terrible use of jargon Not providing information relevant to the decision Artificially limiting options because of lack of knowledge or reduced expectations of the potential of the young person Not perceiving the individuality of the young person with specific talents and needs Asking the same question repeatedly

What might be the key challenges for a new service Volume Example – the PPS in Cumbria alone has dealt with 900 individual pieces of casework, not only contacts, from parents on educational issues alone over the last 12 months. The PPS is seeing a steady increase of casework requirements that don’t even relate to the imminent reforms. Being ready The Local Authority, Health and Social Care providers are still formulating their response to the reforms and their systems are yet to be put in place. Independent Support will need a thorough understanding of new protocols and ways of working to be in a position to provide a quality service. Geography and diversity In some rural communities they are separated by distance and cultural differences, with both social and working practice varying greatly from district to district. A ‘one size fits all’ approach will not work, so there needs to be flexibility in working practice in response.

What might be the key challenges for a new service Maintaining a skilled workforce Given the possible short term nature of IS it may be hard to attract not only volunteers but paid staff to take on the IS role with its training commitment, supervision requirements, working hours and places of delivery. Expectations Feedback perhaps affirms the expectation for exceptional IS, capable of a multitude of skills and possessing outstanding qualities to deliver services well over and beyond the remit of IS. Sustainability An IS Service with a time limited budget will need to be preparing for the end of its funded contract from day one. Securing longer term funding may be difficult so a range of options should be explored, for example major stakeholder contribution schemes and social finance in the form of social impact bonds.

Next steps A report to DfE this week Findings reports to be published on the CDC website ASAP A closer review of case studies and risks