Provides information to deaf and hard-of-hearing students who are already studying or who want to apply to college or university, as well as for parents and teachers of deaf students. Freephone: 0808 808 0123.Northern Ireland Tel: 028 9023 9619
School
All about Statementing
& the New EHC Plans
Getting your child a statement or an EHC Plan
All about Education, Health and Care Plans (E.H.C. Plans)
What's the difference between E.H.C. Plans and Statementing?
All about Statementing
About Education, Health & Care Plans
About the new approach…
The government is introducing a new way to support children and young people with special educational needs/disabilities and their families. The Children and Families Bill aims to improve services for vulnerable children and support strong families (SEND). The reforms will create a real change in the way that education, health and social care professionals work with families and young people.
What is an Education, Health & Care Plan (EHC Plan)?
The Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan is an exciting new way of working that puts you – children, young people and families – at the very centre of the assessment and planning process, to make sure that your views are not only heard but also understood. This is called person centred planning and is all about increasing your choice and control. This new process focuses on what is important for children and young people – what they and you want to achieve now and in the future. Young people and families have helped to design the plan and so far people are saying that they feel more listened to and more involved in decision-making in ways that make sense to them.
Who is an EHC Plan for?
The EHC plan is for children and young people who have special educational needs (SENs) and/or disabilities. Your child’s needs will be assessed by education, health and social care professionals to see if you should have a EHC plan. You can talk to your child’s school, college or nursery about eligibility for an assessment. For example, your school’s special educational needs coordinator (SENco) will be able to help.
What age does an EHC Plan cover?
Disabled and SEN children and young adults aged 0-25
How long does it take?
The whole process lasts 20 weeks.
When Do EHC Plans Come In?
EHC plans start to come in from September 2014 and will be rolled out in phases over the next 2/3 years.
How does it work?
At the start of the assessment, you and your child will have the opportunity to say what’s working, what’s not working and what you think needs to change. A facilitator will help you with this. At the same time a coordinator will gather information from the other people involved and arrange a meeting for you all to agree the outcomes and how you think they can best be met. Remember that this is all about a partnership between you and the professionals involved to make the right decisions for you as a family. Near the end of this period, the multi-agency group will meet again to confirm the EHC plan and decide what support you might be eligible for to meet the agreed outcomes. The plan will be clear about how much things cost and will have agreed timescales to make sure that it is updated and reviewed regularly, for example annually. The plan will go with your child or the young person as they change services, change schools and also when they leave school and go on to college, work-related training or employment.
What’s Different About The EHC Plan?
- An Education, Health and Care assessment looks at life beyond education and brings the different services together.
- The local authority is responsible for ensuring that assessments are effectively co-ordinated.
- The EHC plan will replace the statutory assessment and statement of special educational needs (SEN) process but it is not law yet, so you can still choose to use the old system if you prefer.
- The EHC assessment and planning process needs to be completed in 20 weeks, whereas the statutory assessment (which may lead to a statement of SEN) needs to be completed in 26 weeks.
If I want to ask to use the New EHC process, what should I do?
Parents, young people, schools, other educational settings and professionals can all make a request for an EHC assessment. Find out more by speaking to your school or other educational setting (as they will be providing some of the information that will be needed with the request), Parent Partnership, or any of the other useful contacts at the end of this guide.
How might this affect the support my child gets?
The EHC assessment and planning process is designed to focus on agreeing individual outcomes and the support to achieve these will be tailored to each child or young person’s range of needs. This could include helping families to make best use of support available – from the services available in the local offer, from the local community, or provided by statutory services where applicable.
The whole truth and nothing but...
This Myth section has been put together by the Council for Disabled Children and is designed to dispel some of the myths associated with the progress and implications of the Children & Families Bill, with a specific focus on the transition from Statements to the new Education, Health and Care plans. Below are some of the key myths we hear which are NOT TRUE.
‘My LA has said they don’t issue statements any more as the system has changed’
Statements will continue to be issued until September 2014. Some local authorities (on the ‘Pathfinder’ programme) are issuing EHC plans early in place of Statements, but these plans will no legal status. After September only EHC plans will be issued and will be legally binding.
‘My school has said that they don’t have to follow the Code of Practice any more as there is a new one’
The new Code of Practice has not been approved yet, so the current Code will continue to apply until the new Code replaces it which is likely to be September 2014.
‘My child’s statement will end on 1st September 2014’
From September 2014 there will be a transitional period (up to 3 years) during which statements can be transferred into EHC plans. A statement will remain valid until an EHC plan has been developed, or is agreed to be no longer necessary.
‘I’ve been told that EHC plans are the same as statements and have the same legal duties’
EHC Plans will have no legal force until September 2014. Like Statements, any specified and quantified Special Educational Provision in the plan will have to be delivered by the local authority and can continue up until the age of 25 if a young person stays in education or training.
‘My LA has said that only pupils with statements who receive a certain level of funding will get an EHC plan’
The threshold for EHC plans will be the same as those for Statements, that is where the special educational provision necessary to meet the child or young persons needs cannot be reasonably provided within the resources normally available to mainstream schools and early years settings.
‘I have been told that if I’m not happy with anything in my child’s EHC plan I can appeal’
The educational aspects of an EHC Plan can be appealed to the SEND tribunal (from September 2014) in the same way as those of a statement. Arrangements for challenging Social Care and Health are still to be finalised, but should be in place by September 2014.
‘When I ask for my child to be assessed under the new system the LA must carry out a social care assessment now as well as an assessment of his educational needs’
No this is not true. The duty to assess a child’s needs is only in relation to their educational needs not any social care needs they – or you as their carer – may also have. This type of assessment still has to be triggered separately by contacting your children’s social work team. Once is has happened any information should be recorded in the EHC plan.
About Statementing
What is a statement and how does it help?
A statement outlines your child’s needs and the support required to meet those needs. It can include specialist therapists, a specified number of 1:1 hours and any specialist teaching required.
IPSEA has a detailed outline about what a statement is here.
Assessment and statementing is a lengthy and legally complex process. It can be frustrating to see your child not getting the help they desperately need right away, so take a deep breath, and PLEASE take professional advice. Timeframes are rigid, and the documents submitted have to be perfect for you to stand a chance of getting a statement.
An enormous workload will suddenly descend on your child’s SENCO, and your school with have to pay for expensive assessments and submit very well drafted reports – so it’s vital that you keep the dialogue going with them at all times
Tip: start by making sure you know the parents’ guide inside out.
Special Educational Needs (SEN): A guide for parents and carers - Revised 2009
Annual review
This checks to see if the statement still supports your child’s changing needs. It has to take place at least every year. Based on the review, your child’s statement might be amended. Check carefully for any changes that have been made before you sign and send it back to your local authority. Make sure you don’t miss their deadline.
If you had lawyers or professional support for your statement, it might be an idea to have it looked over for more subtle changes that you may have missed.
It is vital that you name the right school for your child in the statement well ahead of him or her needing a place for middle school, secondary or post 16. Naming a specific school can be complicated – read through the IPSEA advice or see our other statementing links on this page.
Sometimes interim reviews can be requested in between annual reviews if the needs of your child change.
Here is some more information you might find useful:
What is a special educational needs statement?
What is a special educational needs statutory assessment?
Check out our legal zone for professional help and advice on statementing.
Action on Hearing Loss
FIND OUT MORE
CSIE gives information and advice on the special educational needs of pre-school children and school pupils up to the age of 19. CSIE also supports parents' campaign groups, families and schools, and produces a range of booklets and information factsheets.
Deaf247
Deaf 247 provides a directory of resources of all things for people with hearing issues and deafness. There is a link to almost anything you can possibly think of…from specialist schools, to courses in sign language, to speak and language therapy even holidays and fun activities.
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Disability Action can provide general information on the needs of disabled children and pupils. Tel: 028 9029 7880.
Enquire provides independent information, advice and mediation to families with young children, and to young people with educational needs. Helpline: 0845 123 2303.
IPSEA is a national charity providing free legally based advice to families who have children with special educational needs. All their advice is given by trained volunteers. Tel: 0800 0184016 (Freephone)
Offers information, advice and support for parents and carers of children and young people with special educational needs. You can ask for details of your local service from your child's school or local authority. You can also find details about their services, and contact details for your local service on their website.
Parents for inclusion is a self-help organisation giving information, advice and support on education matters to parents of children with learning difficulties. It has parent support groups and can help a parent prepare their representations or case for an appeal. Publications are available. Tel: 020 7738 3888.
Sense is a national charity that supports and campaigns for children and adults who are Deafblind. They were established from a family support group in 1955 by parents whose children were born with rubella, and the experience, skills and views of families remain central to their work. You can see how they have developed over almost 60 years on their website.
Sense offers high-quality, flexible services across the UK, using skilled staff and a dedicated network of volunteers. They work with a wide range of Deafblind and multi-sensory impaired people, as well as those who have a single-sensory impairment with additional needs.
They work with children, young people, adults and older people with a progressive sight and hearing loss, offering a range of housing, educational and leisure opportunities. They also offer support to all Deafblind people in both the congenital and acquired Deafblind communities, not just those who receive direct support and services from them.
SNAP Cymru provides free advice to families who have children with special educational needs in Wales. You can find details about their services on their website, or you can ring their helpline on 0845 1203730.
SENAC is a charity in Northern Ireland providing an independent advice, information and advocacy service for parents of children and young people with special educational needs up to the age of 19 across a wide range of learning difficulties. Advice Line: 028 9079 5779
The Council for Disabled Children
The Council for Disabled Children provides an information service to parents and professionals on the needs of disabled pre-school children, pupils and students.
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