Could we be about to see the end of EHCPs as we know them?
That’s what’s being suggested as part of the Government’s SEND reform and what’s being discussed is truly shocking and really worrying.
According to an article in Schools Week which quotes Dame Christine Lenehan, who is the strategic advisor for SEND, the Government are considering things like EHCPs only being for children in specialist schools and potentially removing the health and social care elements leaving it as an education plan only. She states that discussions are ongoing and at an early stage but that she thinks the Government needs to be ‘bold and brave’ in the choices it makes. We are not sure many SEND parents would view these proposals in that way.
Here are your thoughts…
We’ve shared this news across social media and it’s obviously upset and enraged so many of you, here’s just a very small selection of what everyone had to say:
“I can’t believe how bad this idea is, they really don’t have a clue. Most kids won’t get into a specialist school without having an EHCP. Wrong on every level.”
“I fought so much to get my second child his EHCP, both my children fall into the ‘high academic achievement’ so I’m lucky but was that all for nothing? It’s awful my children would have zero chance of getting into a specialist school.”
“This is very worrying. My son has only had his EHCP for around four months and the difference it has made for him has been outstanding. Without his EHCP he would really struggle to access mainstream.”
“This is really worrying. It means children and young people will be left struggling in mainstream schools. If health and social is removed families will be left fighting for support and care even more than they do.”
“How does this work if a parent cannot even view a SEN school unless their child’s EHCP is written and they agree to being able to meet need, let alone attend?”
“Health is such an integral part of the support our children need, to not have it recognised as part of this process would be detrimental to so many if not all of our children.”
“OMG surely they can’t be serious?!?! I can’t even imagine my son not having a EHCP at the minute.”
“Just reinforces that the child’s best interests are not at the heart of this. They have no regard or understanding whatsoever for our children.”
“All of the children I can think of have a health element and a good percentage of social care too. There needs to be joined up support for our children and families, a holistic approach to their care. This seems like a dangerous step backwards and a political move to make everything even harder to access.”
“What with this and other rumblings I’ve heard about assessments for neurodivergence, it sounds to me like they want to fix the SEND/EHCP crisis by making fewer children eligible.”
“250,000 children could lose their legal rights to their provision and be left to face the whim of the school if they receive support. It’s clearly a hugely misguided idea.”
“This is outrageous! How could health not be considered? Also, EHCPs only for children in specialist provision? So that leaves thousands of children in mainstream (because there aren’t enough specialist provisions) without any legally binding support? I despair.”
Here’s what we would do…
At the start of this year Sunshine Support made a formal submission to the SEND Reform consultation and these were some of our ideas around EHCPs:
- Caseload is too high and many more case officers are required within a Local Authority in order to meet need in the statutory timescales. Timescales also need to be viewed as statutory, not just optional, and there should be actual, real consequences for not meeting them. Current delays are clearly designed to postpone expenditure.
- Case officers should have much more training, not just in the legalities of what they are doing but in aspects such as communication.
- Online tracking systems which make it clear where things are up to, who is responsible for what and what the next steps are would be of significant help to everyone. This would also support multi-agency working, allowing everyone who plays a part in supporting a child to view all information in one place.
- Encourage early identification of need. We should not be waiting for things to be so bad that support is desperately needed but rather looking to put support in place before that happens.
- There is so much which slows down the process – such as private reports not being accepted – which could be addressed in order to allow the process to work faster.
- An independent EHCP service, disconnected from the Local Authority, would ensure a fairer system rather than Local Authorities considering things only from a financial viewpoint rather than meeting a child’s needs.
- Basic communication is lacking and this is not only disrespectful but it brings with it many distressing moments which are just not needed if parents were kept informed. Emails should be responded to, not ignored. Phone numbers should actually lead to people, not just ring out with no response.
- Parents should be much more respected within the process. They are the experts for their child and their viewpoint should hold as much weight as others, if not more. No parent should have to fight for their child’s basic needs to be met. When they are having to do so they should be met with the support they require – not accused of trying to get more than they need.
Join Chrissa on Facebook Live
We really feel the need to connect as a community over this and so we’ll be holding a Facebook Live on Tuesday 20 May from 9.30am – 10am on our Facebook and YouTube channel.
Chrissa will be running through what we know so far and taking any questions and comments you might have.
To join us, click here to get a reminder on the day: https://fb.me/e/5yyDmVtK3
