Update SEND. The Essex Local Offer. Essex. July

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1 Update SEND Essex July 2015 LOCAL O R FFE ESSE X The Essex Local Offer Since September 2014, local authorities have had a duty to publish an online Local Offer which describes, in a single place, support and services available locally for children/ young people and their families. In Essex, the process of publishing information is ongoing, with refinements and new features under development. In the 9 months since the launch of the Essex Local Offer website, there have been more than 200,000 page views, with the ten different categories ranked in order of popularity as below: Services and support for s special educational need and disability d by ucation and Lifelong following ways:.gov.uk Equipment and Resources g.uk Employment and Training Entertainment and Leisure 2200 Health Essex Local Offer, E2, rd, Essex CM1 1QH zine at ex Housing ex_cc One Planning and Education, Health and Care Plan CDS countycouncil ained in this document d/or made available in on request. Transport Education Social Care and Family Support Money Matters k 15/09/ :18 1 Education 2 One Planning and EHCP 3 Social Care and Family Support 4 Health 5 Entertainment and Leisure 6 Employment and Training 7 Equipment and Resources 8 Money Matters 9 Transport 10 Housing One measure of success of the Local Offer is its design in terms of how well parents and young people are able to navigate through the maze of services and opportunities. A number of disability organisations are having a positive impact on the development of Local Offers nationally. Some are actively campaigning and challenging local authorities about the scope and design of their Local Offers, with others undertaking reviews to evaluate how well the specific needs of their particular service users are met. The Communication Trust recently published a series of case studies highlighting eight Local Offers which it considered to be good examples in relation to support for children/young people with speech, language and communication needs. It reported on the large number of communication services found within the Essex Local Offer, and commended the use of filters as a means of finding those most likely to be suitable. continued on page 2

2 continued from page 1 The Essex Local Offer was also highlighted by the National Deaf Children s Society as one of only a few Local Offers which included information about British Sign Language provision. The Essex website is recognised as one of four examples of good practice, and acknowledges easy-tofind information through the use of its efficient homepage search facility. The Essex Local Offer has also been recognised nationally for its excellent work in demonstrating how parent carers and young people have, and continue to be involved in developing and reviewing the Local Offer. In collaboration with our parent carer forum, and the community involvement and engagement team, the project team are continuing to ensure that the parent and young person s voice will continue to be part of this organic and evolving website. The full report is now available. Children and Young People Consultation and Co Production of the Essex Local Offer We are keen to broaden the audience of who uses the site and to ensure that it is fit for purpose and appealing to the younger audience. SNAP is currently arranging and facilitating parent focus groups to seek feedback from parents, carers and young people on the Essex Local Offer. The feedback will cover the design, accessibility and overall usability of the website as well as the actual content and information contained within the portal. This term we have visited some of the Preparing for Adulthood Champion colleges across the county to ask for their assistance in the coproduction of the Essex Local Offer. Over the summer, some of the students will be helping us with establishing a library of images of their local area that can be published on the website. We have also sought their assistance in finding us students who will act as our critical friends to ensure that the Local Offer website remains up to date and accessible to all. Our aim is to ensure that these links are established this year and that they are able to be sustained over a long period of time. SNAP will begin this consultation over the summer term and they will be producing and presenting a report to the Local Offer Monitoring and Evaluation Group termly. We hope to receive feedback to the following topics: Look and feel of the Local Offer Content of the Local Offer Links have also been made with the Essex Youth Assembly and this term they have offered us some constructive advice on the site and suggestions as to how it could be improved. Do the young people and parents feel co-ownership of the Local Offer? SNAP Directory: information Currently the students are giving us feedback on the proposed new home page of the website, which is aimed to go live in September. If you would like to give the team any feedback on the Local Offer, please use the feedback button on the top page of the Essex Local Offer home page. 2

3 FACE. The workshops will cover the One Planning Approach, setting outcomes, and effective participation in and/or facilitation of review and transfer meetings. The workshop programme begins in September 2015, with 1-day training sessions available monthly in each of the four Essex quadrants. Complementing the One Planning training already provided for school and college staff, these FREE workshops are open to practitioners in Social Care, Health and Education, and to parents and carers of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. From January 2016, there will be ½ day followup/action learning sessions for participants to come together to share and reflect upon their experiences of the One Planning process, and to explore any further questions. Person-Centred Approaches and One Planning FREE Multi-Agency Training Workshops Working in partnership with Essex County Council, InterAct will be providing a series of multi-agency training workshops on Person Centred Approaches and One Planning, to enable greater understanding and more effective participation by practitioners, families and young people in the processes around the new Education, Health and Care Plans, which are a key focus within the SEND reforms. The training is designed to support direct work with children and young people, drawing upon tried and tested person-centred planning tools and resources, and utilising Education, Health and Care Plan case studies of children and young people who have been supported by the isessex Independent Support service. isessex is the local partnership, led by InterAct, with Families InFocus (Essex), ecdp and parent carers forum To keep up to date, please see the Essex Local Offer For further details, please contact Sarah Riordan on sarah.riordan@interact.org.uk SEND Preparation for Employment Grant In March, the DfE announced that Local Authorities would be receiving funding to introduce a range of programmes that would assist in preparing young people with SEND in their quest for employment. In Essex, we have been working with colleagues in Adult Services, Employment and Skills unit and the Information, Advice and Guidance Team (IAG) to consider the most effective way to use this one-off funding. The DfE wants LAs to consider programmes that will lead to increased numbers of education providers offering supported internships. The funding should look at ways to build relationships with employers and to challenge education providers to improve preparation for employment in study programmes for young people with SEND. One programme that the funding will support is the employer roadshow. This programme, managed by the Employment and Skills Unit, will tour Essex in a mobile unit and visit a variety of locations from industrial estates, shopping centres, retail parks, high streets and head offices of multinationals. The mobile unit will be stocked with marketing information and manned by staff with specific expertise in this area. The concept is to invite business owners to the stand, or for a representative to visit the employer at their place of work during the day and at their convenience and highlight to them the importance of providing SEND young people with employment opportunities. We will also be working with our colleges on a programme of job coaching and presentation skills to ensure that they are employment ready. 3

4 Education, Health and Care Plan Transfers The DfE have set the timescales on transferring all statements of SEN to an EHCP. A process of assessment called a transfer review is required to do this. All transfer reviews must be completed by 1 April In Essex there are over 7000 statements of SEN. Each year the DfE have set out the priority cohort. In Essex there are 2500 children and young people in the priority cohorts who have a statement and may require a transfer review. Essex has published their Transfer Guidance for September August 2016 on the Essex Local Offer. East of England SEND Partner Network Essex has joined with Hertfordshire, Bedford Borough Council, Peterborough Council and Cambridgeshire County Council to form the East of England Regional SEND network. We are currently in the process of developing our plan of work for the next year but we have already identified a number of key priorities including: The meeting, as part of the transfer review, should replace an annual review if possible and where not possible (because of timings) then the annual review should be being held in a person centred way which can then mean that the meeting, as part of the transfer review, will be shorter as much of the work will already be completed. Develop partners (Health, VCSO, leadership in local authorities and district councils) knowledge and understanding of the SEND reforms and the importance of these in relation to support individuals within their own communities isessex is also available to support families and schools in the statutory process. Working strategically with parent carer forums, ensuring common understanding of co-production Quality review of EHC plans Transfer reviews Links have been made with In-Control, the national charity which has been commissioned by the DfE to promote personalisation and the Preparing for Adulthood regional team, who will both be delivering workshops in the region to support these priorities. The first joint piece of work is the creation of a quality assurance framework for the EHC process. Representatives from each LA will be meeting in July and October to share practice and knowledge. 4

5 Joint Commissioning The Joint Commissioning Group which includes education, health and care commissioners has recently undertaken a comprehensive review of therapies across Essex with a view to look at more integrated commissioning arrangements in future. The initial review is completed and work will now begin on looking at future options in each Clinical Commissioning Group area. A review of other LA models has also been undertaken to understand where others may already be joint commissioning. We do a lot of cooking, the OT helps me lots, I find it really hard to cut the vegetables. Whilst the review activity has being progressed with colleagues it was essential that to inform the outcomes of the review that we sought the views of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) who are receiving therapies. They also told us about some of their negative experiences and what they would like to see changed in the future: In March/April of this year a series of engagement visits were conducted in both SEND and mainstream primary schools within Essex. The pupils took part in small group discussions about SEND therapies and were given the opportunity to put forward their views and suggestions regarding the therapies they receive. I want to have more help with my words and talking. Getting extra help makes me happy. Yeh I get help to cut the chicken and I have different knife to help me. I had a bad back so when I m in lessons I have a nice chair that is just mine and I can sit on to do my work. I would want help in school holidays; I don t get any when school breaks up My mum has been trying for years to get me extra help since I was in primary school but can t as I m not bad enough. The results of this report have been used to form part of the SEND therapy review and will help us to shape future joint commissioning provision with the best outcomes for children with SEND. When asked about their experiences, children and young people told us: Personal Budgets Currently there are three different pathways for parents/carers, children and young people to follow if they wish to request a Personal Budget in Essex. These pathways are individually connected to Education, Health and Social Care. outcomes for children, young people and their families. In each CCG area, health, education and social care colleagues are working together to identify the most appropriate arrangements for allocating resources to ensure an integrated approach to supporting children and young people on Education Health and Care Plans. The purpose of this activity will be to provide clarity around the allocation of resources in order to ensure consistency. Further work on the Personal Budget Policy document has taken place and it is in the process of being approved by the five Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs). Development of guidance for parents and practitioners across health, education and care are being considered to look at integrated packages of support, as part of the resource plan, to deliver the identified 5

6 Panels Next steps will include the testing of the most efficient and effective ways to share information and contribute to, and review EHC plans, so that the limited capacity of professionals is best used: this will include testing technological solutions such as Lync/Skype or phone conferencing, to reduce time spent at meetings. EHC Panels are in the process of being piloted across the County through joint commissioning work within the various CCGs. The NEE CCG and ECC Joint Children and Young people s commissioning Group has made inroads to develop the EHC Panel Pilot as part of the current Local Management Team meeting. Local guidance on the EHC process is being developed and arrangements for the DMO (Designated Medical Officer) role are being considered. This may include establishing a split arrangement, with a clinical lead for clinical decisions and a commissioner lead for commissioning/funding decisions. They are currently establishing the commitment and capacity of each partner (education, health and care providers and commissioners) to contribute to the Special Education Needs Area Local Management Team (LMT) panels so that EHC plans can be progressed effectively and decisions made within required timescales. The Essex SEND Information, Advice and Support Service The SEND IAS Service continues to build on its practice of proactively supporting a culture where the views of children, young people and their parents/carers are listened to and understood and where those views and thoughts form a central part of discussions held around a child or young person s educational needs. IAS directly to children and young people and we are keen to consult with young people who can advise on the most effective ways to reach children and young people. We have been in contact with the Young Essex Assembly and are meeting to discuss how we can work with members of the assembly to support the work of IAS with children and young people. The YEA is made up of 75 young people from Essex who have been elected to represent young people in the county and to campaign to make a positive difference to their lives. We recently undertook a short filming session with a family in Harlow, who had agreed to be videoed talking with their SEND IAS support worker about the differences a person centred approach was making to their daughter, as well as to them as parents. In the video, the mum and her 9 year old daughter clearly express the positive changes that they have experienced as a result of the approach adopted. Mum has given permission to share this film at our Together is Better Conference on 8 July at Hylands House in Chelmsford and also to putting it up on the Local Offer, so look out for it there! The SEND IAS team have an important role in building knowledge of and relationships with voluntary organisations/parent led groups in their locality, so that they can signpost parents/ carers and children/young people to relevant groups in their area. If you are a new group and / or would like to share information on how your group supports children and young people who have SEN or a disability and their parents, please do contact us. The SEND IAS has a responsibility to provide SEND IASS Helpline number: SEND IASS send.iass@essex.gov.uk 6

7 Support them to be right at the centre of decision making Since the implementation of the SEND reforms began last September, isessex Independent Supporters have been providing extra support helping children and young people transfer from SEN statements and Learning Difficulty Assessments (LDAS) to Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). Provide support and help to parents/carers and/or young people before and during the assessment and planning process for an EHCP. Provide support and help to parents/carers and/or young people during the transfer of an SEN Statement or LDA to an EHCP. Our service is flexible and the family tell us when support is needed. We allocate the same worker throughout the process and Independent Support can be taken up at various stages of the EHC Planning process, by phone, , in person. We welcome direct contact from families, young people, schools and colleges. We offer tools to help families and young people, e.g.: These are early days, but based on the first 100 evaluation responses received directly from parents and young people, 80% would recommend the service to others, and nearly 95% said their work with the Independent Supporter was either extremely useful or very useful. One Page Profiles Important to me/for me, and getting the balance right What s working/not working e.g. Routines, Daily life, Holidays A Parent said: Good information given on EHCPs and transfer from SEN Statement A Young Person said: My friends said this was going to be rubbish, but I m going to tell them it was really helpful. Independent Supporters: Help young people and families understand more about the process For further information or if you want to find out more, please contact us: sarah.riordan@isessex.org / Families InFocus In Essex Independent Support is(essex) being provided by: Families InFocus (Essex) Essex organisations working together for Essex families 7