Series 5: Engaging Children and Young People

Implementing the SEND Reforms

Produced in collaboration with:Contact a FamilyCouncil for Disabled ChildrenEarly SupportInformation, Support and Advice Services Network

Mott MacDonaldNational Network for Parent Carer ForumsPreparing for AdulthoodThe Communications TrustThe Dyslexia-SpLD TrustAutism Education Trust

Welcome and Introductions

Aims and Objectives

To understand participation as a right for disabled children and young people.

To understand the principles and relevance of section 19 in relation to disabled children and young people.

“We want children and young people with special needs and disabilities to achieve well in their early years, at school and in college; find employment; lead happy and fulfilled lives; and have choice and control over their support. The special needs reforms will implement a new approach which seeks to join up help across education, health and care, from birth to 25. Help will be offered at the earliest possible point, with children and young people with SEND and their parents or carers fully involved in decisions about their support and what they want to achieve. This will help lead to better outcomes and more efficient ways of working.”

The vision behind the SEND reforms

• Too many children with SEN have their needs picked up late.

• Young people with SEN do less well than their peers at school and college and are more likely to be out of education, training and employment at 18.

• Schools and colleges can focus too much on the SEN label rather than meeting the child’s needs and Statements / LDA do not focus on life outcomes.

• Too many families have to battle to find out what support is available and in getting the help they need from education health and social care services.

• When a young person leaves school for further education they enter a very different system which does not carry forward the rights and protections that exist in the SEN system at school.

Case for change

“It means so much when people listen to me, but when they don’t I just tend to not bother. Kind of like as if I’m worthless.”

“We can make our own decisions. We have our own ideas about what we’d like to achieve.”

“I believe that disabled young people should be involved in decisions that could really affect them because they are the ones that are going to be affected and they know what helps them in life and what doesn’t.”

Young people’s views on participation

Children and Families Act: PART 3

19 Local authority functions: supporting and involving children and young people

A local authority in England must have regard to…

(a) the views, wishes and feelings of the child… or the young person…

(b) the importance of the child… or the young person participating as fully as possible in decisions…

(c) the importance of the child… or the young person being provided with the information and support necessary to enable participation in those decisions

Cultural change

• United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

• United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled People

• Equality Act

• The Children Act 1989 and 2004

• NHS Act 2006

• Various government initiatives, programmes and guidance

Participation as a Right

Definition of Participation

Participation is the active process by

which individuals or groups can influence

decision-making and bring about change.

• To ensure that changes are based on the lived experiences of children and

young people

• To uphold children’s rights

• To fulfil legal responsibilities

• To improve services

• To improve decision making

• To promote children’s protection (Sinclair and Franklin, 2000)

• Increase experience, skills, confidence, responsibility, independence,

control, shows value and respect

• Enables us to provide better, more inclusive, effective services, where

children feel ownership and are more engaged.

The importance of involving children and young people

Ladder of Participation

Degrees/ levels of Participation

Degrees/ levels of Participation

• Where individual decisions are being taken about children’s own lives.

• Where services for or used by children are being developed or provided locally.

• Where national policies or services are being developed or evaluated.

CYPU (2001) Learning to listen: Core Principles for the involvement of Children and Young People

Be clear about the focus

It is important that local areas embrace all of these – and not one at the exclusion of others

Difference between individual and strategic participation

Inclusion is…• … being welcome.

• … being part not apart.

• … going where you want to.

• … being actively involved.

• … people expecting you.

• … getting help when you need it.

CDC Inclusion Policy (2008)

Key Principles for Inclusion

How the Mental Capacity Act worksThe Act sets out five key principles which must underlie everything done in relation to someone who may lack capacity to make a decision for themselves: 

1.It should be assumed that everyone can make their own decisions unless it is proved otherwise. 2.A person should have all the help and support possible to make and communicate their own decision before anyone concludes that they lack capacity to make their own decision. 3.A person should not be treated as lacking capacity just because they make an unwise decision. 4.Actions or decisions carried out on behalf of someone who lacks capacity must be in their best interests.5.Actions or decisions carried out on behalf of someone who lacks capacity should limit their rights and freedom of action as little as possible. 

Mental Capacity Act

Young person’s feedback on their experience of accessing services and support:

“You do tend to get parents spoke to instead of you, or you don’t get involved as much because you just get over looked.”

It’s important to encourage and provide support to parent carers so that they are able to play an active role in the participation of the child or young person.

Young person and parent carer participation

In small groups, discuss our experiences of models of involving young people:

•What is the purpose of young people’s involvement?

•What process/ structure/ mechanism will best support young people’s involvement?

•What do you perceive to be the biggest challenges and how will you overcome these?

•How will you as individuals support the involvement of young people in the network?

•Next steps/ planning – do you need some core principles or a participation strategy?

Group Discussion

Pathfinder ChampionsNorth WestWigan, Manchester. Salford & LancashireNorth EastDarlington and Early SupportYorkshire and HumberNorth Yorkshire, Calderdale and York CityWest MidlandsConsortium of 13 LAsEast MidlandsLeicester and Nottinghamshire

Support available to local areas

East of EnglandHertfordshire and BedfordLondon 1Bromley, Bexley and EnfieldLondon 2SE7 (supported by Mott MacDonald)

South EastSE7 (supported by Mott MacDonald)

South West 1Cornwall (supported by Mott MacDonald)

South West 2Southampton and Portsmouth (supported by Mott MacDonald)

http://www.sendpathfinder.co.uk/pathfinderchampions/

Support available to local areas

Delivery Partners

Autism Education TrustContact a FamilyCouncil for Disabled ChildrenEarly SupportInformation, Support and Advice Services NetworkNational Network for Parent Carer ForumsPreparing for AdulthoodThe Communications TrustThe Dyslexia-SpLD TrustMott MacDonald

Evaluation

Please help us to keep improving these workshops by completing the evaluation form at

Participant evaluation:https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/sendreformworkshops

Facilitator evaluation:https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RGVNV9M

The Implementing the SEND reforms workshop series has been collaboratively produced by:

Implementing the SEND reforms workshop series

Series 1: Transitioning from the old to the new system

Series 2: Understanding EHC plans

Series 3: Best practice in joint commissioning

Series 4: Engaging parent carers – Wednesday 25th March 2015

Series 5: Engaging children and young people

Series 6: Preparation for adulthood – Tuesday 10th February 2015, Series 7: Understanding SEN Support

Series 8: Early Years providers – Wed 21st January 2015

Series 9: Personal budgets – Wed 4th March 2015Register for future events using Eventbrite