1. MSI Local Offer 3 July 2014 HOSS Conference Suzanne Wilkins
County Professional Lead
for Sensory Impairment
Kent County Council

2. MSI Local Offer in Kent
The Kent MSI Local Offer may be different to the Local Offer for children with MSI in your LA, however:
The journey we have followed over the last few years reflects the current SEND reforms
This may throw some light on how services could be developed in your LA in the light of the SEND reforms

3. SEND Reforms These reforms plan to bring:
Clarity for parents of what services are available and how these are accessed
Joined up multiagency working including joined up reports
A focus on the outcomes for children, young people including young adults
Continuum of provision
Support for transition to adult life

4. The starting point for Kent
2007 Kent Adult social services undertake a project to re-evaluate their service delivery for deafblind adults
Services for children are asked to produce the data on deafblind children
Approx 50 children on both the VI and HI caselists
Realisation dawns that there was little coordination between HI and VI
There was little/no MSI specialism in the peripatetic sensory service

5. Parents consulted First step was to consult with parents.
The large distances result in this being undertaken by phone
The adult Deafblind Development Project funded the consultation
30% of the MSI families agreed to be interviewed, some took up to 60 minutes each
Tremendous amount of time was investment but results were revealing

6. “Many different people have assessed my child
“Many different people have assessed my child. There are always people coming to the house. So many people! I am not sure where they are coming from. I don’t think KAB or DSC&F have assessed her. I think education and also OT and DCS have possibly. I don’t know all their names or where they have come from. English is not my native tongue but I speak it better than my wife, whose English is not so good.” Parent Dec 2007/Feb 2008

7. “At the end of the recent summer holidays I wrote to my child’s Social Worker asking if we could arrange respite for a week for next summer as we haven’t been able to go away as a family for two years now and are desperate. I thought if I gave a year’s notice they might help us. I had a letter back saying that another team in another area was taking over but wasn’t given a contact address or number. They haven’t contacted us so I guess I will have to do the chasing again.” Parent Dec 2007/Feb 2008

8. MSI Parent Consultation
A high proportion of the parents surveyed were unhappy at parts/all of services offered/received by their children
All parents would have liked more information along the way
Some expressed anger and a few were very distressed  
Most parents had ideas on how the services could be improved

9. Next step
The findings from both parents and professionals were pulled together using the headings from the Deafblind Guidance as a framework
This statutory guidance requires local authorities to undertake a number of actions to improve services for dual sensory impaired people
This applies to both adults and children
Social Care for Deafblind Children and Adults 2001 reissued 2009 LAC(DH)(2009)6

10. Deafblind Guidance The Deafblind Guidance requires the LA to:
Identify, make contact with and keep a record of children and young people with MSI
Ensure that assessment are carried out by a specifically trained person/team
Ensure services provided to CYP with MSI and their parents/carers are appropriate, recognising that they may not necessarily be able to benefit from services aimed primarily at blind children or deaf children who are able to rely on their other senses.

11. Deafblind Guidance
Ensure CYP with MSI and their parents/carers are able to access specifically trained one-to-one support workers  
Provide information about services in formats and methods that are accessible to CYP with MSI and their parents/carers. And for CYP; education within an appropriate format or method.
Ensure one member of senior management includes within his/her remit, overall responsibility for services for CYP with MSI and their parents/carers.

12. Action for MSI CYP
For each part of the Deafblind Guidance we drew up an action plan:
to improve services and outcomes for children, young people and their families
to improve the delivery model and specialist services provided by professionals
to identify future areas for development

13. Identified a strategic lead
Strategic lead - County Manager Disabled Children Service
MSI Steering Group was established and this included the strategic lead for MSI
This multiagency group moved forward with all of the proposals and used an operational working group to support developments
Strategic lead identified funding for new ways of working

14. MSI Intervenors
2.0 FTE MSI Intervenors (delivered by 4 members of staff) were recruited to:
Work with children and young people outside school time
Support the development of communication and independence
Provide short breaks for families either in the home or through supporting access to community or specialist activities

15. Family Days Organised by the MSI Working Party these provide:
4 events each year which support families with deafblind children to come together as a group to access community or specialist activities
Develop family to family support
There are 25 families who regularly attend, although usually only 15 families at each event
Academically able MSI young people act as peer mentors/helpers on the Family Days

16. Guide-Communicators
Guide-Communicators are available as part of the services provided by adult social services
A service was developed for young people
Currently Guide-Comms are working with academically able MSI teenagers to build their independence skills and to provide short breaks
Young people are encouraged to design their own activity with Guide-Comm support

17. Training
One day awareness training is provided on a regular basis to a multiagency audience
County Sensory Impairment team have facilitated the NatSIP/Sense 7 day RCE MSI course on an annual basis since 2008.
Over 80 practitioners have completed the NatSIP/Sense course.

18. Specialist Teachers for MSI
MSI sections were developed for the Kent Mainstream Core Standards for All Learners which provides advice and strategies at universal, targeted and specialist levels for all schools
Similar documents were developed for Early Years and Special Schools
Reorganisation enabled the reflagging of some to the posts for Specialist Teachers as MSI
Currently three Specialist Teachers have MSI coordination as part of their role. Not necessarily to deliver but to bring together the HI and VI work

19. MSI Reports
One parent in the consultation commented that she received HI reports and VI reports but she was expected to draw together what the two sets of information meant for her son.
Joint MSI reports were developed. The Specialist Teachers for MSI work with the ToD and the QTVI to provide information and advice on:
Communication
Access to Information
Independent mobility

20. Social Services
Historically Disabled Children Service included a team who worked with deaf children only.
Additional staff and the reflagging of one post resulted in a Sensory team who with children and young people who are deaf, VI or deafblind
Mobility services for children are commissioned from a local voluntary organisation. This is jointly funded by Disabled Children Service and Special Educational Needs and is delivered on a priority basis within schools and the community.

21. Outcomes Families report the benefit of short break opportunities
Parents have responded positively to the joined up nature of services and have said they are more able to support the strategies in reports
Professionals have regular opportunities to meet with families of MSI children to gather feedback and gauge the next developments required
Education, Social Services and Voluntary Organisations work more closely to improve outcomes for children with sensory impairment

22. Outcomes
Parents are providing support to other parents whereas previously many had spoken of the isolation of being a parent of an MSI child
Families have experienced a wide range of opportunities with their children and are now accessing these without specialist support
Young people with MSI are accessing life experiences that their peers take for granted
Staff in schools are better equipped to meet the needs of children and young people with MSI

23. MSI and EHC Plans
For children and young people with MSI there will be an MSI Appendix for EHC Plan rather than HI and VI being required.
Outcomes will be focused on:
Access to the curriculum
Communication/Information
Independence/Self Esteem

24. Local Offer
The Kent MSI Local Offer was an organic development that has moved forward over a period of time
Key factors:
Finding out the parent and child’s experience and understanding the improvements they require
Working to the Deafblind Guidance
Working jointly with all providers
Actively working to improve practice and delivery

25. Supporting the development of the MSI Local Offer
Along this journey we have participated with adult services in the development of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment for Sensory.
This was an opportunity to set the scene with regard to the data and information on children and young people with MSI as well as HI and VI.
Part of the JSNA requires client/user feedback which would have been a starting point if we had not already visited this previously.

26. Future developments Some areas of work still need improvement;
parents have requested joint audiology and ophthalmology clinics
not all areas have orthoptist lead vision screening for four year olds
We are working with Health commissioners for children services on the development of a Joint Commissioning Framework for Sensory.
This will inform future developments to the MSI Local Offer.

27. What does the Local Offer look like?
Kent’s local offer for sensory is based on the matrix in the NatSIP publication - Creating Confidence in Local Services.
We also have a more accessible version - An Overview of the Local Offer for MSI.
The Local Offer must be collaborative, accessible, comprehensive and transparent
It is important that the Local Offer is not static, it should develop to support the best outcomes for children, young people and their families