SEND Reforms , The role of the voluntary sector Christine Lenehan Director , Council for Disabled Children
This presentation will ;
•Highlight key aspects of the SEND reforms •Look at some key opportunities for the voluntary sector •Highlight the CDC offer to the voluntary sector
Principles - section 19 Children, young people and parents at the centre of decision making Supporting children, young people and parents to participate A focus on achieving the best possible outcomes
Principles in practice
•The role of Contact a Family and the development of NNPCF •Building networks of children’s voices (see details through the Making Ourselves Heard Network )
•The Role of Independent Support
Joint working across agencies Education, training and social care provision to be kept under review Promoting integration and joint commissioning arrangements Cooperation across services and institutions
And in practice …
•The role of the Voluntary Sector on Health and WellBeing Boards •Understanding the role of Healthwatch •The Voluntary Sector as honest broker •The Voluntary as a joint agency deliverer
Local offer Information on education, health and care a local authority expects to be available Children, young people and parents/carers must be involved Review and revise commissioning in light of comments received on the local offer
In practice
…
•Must be produced in partnership with families and the voluntary sector •Is a legal requirement •Is a developing document which should inform local planning and priorities •Must be clear on eligibility criteria
•Have you seen yours ??
Information and advice
Duty on local authorities to provide information, advice and support Should be jointly commissioned and cover education, health and social care Services extended to disabled children and young people and those with SEN
So for example …
•In the Independent support tendering process ….
•39 small voluntary organisations won contracts
•8 large voluntary organisations won contracts •I private sector organisation won
EHC plans - key features To be drawn up within 20 weeks Person centred with a focus on outcomes Include education, health and social care Extend beyond school, potentially up to 25 Personal budgets included
CDC Council membership - A unique opportunity to inform and be informed on a variety of disabled children’s issues Attend CDC Council Meetings three times a year Join CDC working groups Contribute to the responses CDC is making to government consultations Receive free monthly e-mail newsletter summarising news from disabled children’s organisations and central government, and updating on policy and practice issues. • Free subscription to CDC’s quarterly e-publication, a roundup of essential policy and practice. • Regular invitations to workshop sessions/conferences on key policy and practice issues. • CDC members can also join and receive information from any of CDC’s specialist networks, such as the Transition Information Network • • • •
CDC Council membership
• Currently 187 organisations from across England and Wales are represented • If you are interested in finding out more about CDC membership, or would like to subscribe to CDC’s monthly newsletters and/or quarterly e-bulletins, please email
[email protected]
Becoming a member
Membership is primarily open to registered charities, however some voluntary organisations may be eligible for membership if they: • Are an organisation established for charitable, humanitarian, or educational purposes that exists to benefit the community • Use surplus revenues to achieve its goals rather than to distribute them as profit or dividends to shareholders • Have written their aims, objectives and methods of working of the organisation in a publicly available document
Innovation and Sustainability Grants Programme
• Part of CDC’s work as Strategic Reform Partner to the Department for Education • Intention to support both the development of capacity building across the voluntary and community sector and the implementation of the SEN and disability reforms • Over 200 organisations applied in 2013 • 20 organisations selected across England • £5,000-10,000 over 2 years • Innovative approaches to supporting the SEND reforms locally and increase participation of children and young people • Improve the sustainability of their organisation • Part of CDC’s wider initiative to support capacity and sustainability in the voluntary and community sector
Examples of Innovation and Sustainability Projects
• A Kitemarking project, supporting children and young people to become volunteer Kitemarkers, similar to ‘secret shoppers’; finding out whether local facilities and services good places to visit for children and young people with additional needs and their families. • The development of a workshop series on employment, housing, health and social life/friends and relationships for young people aged 18-25 with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. • The development and testing of an innovative personal budgets offer and a film about the work for and with local youngsters, their families and prospective PA’s.
Innovation and Sustainability Grants Programme
• We will use learning from this to: - Demonstrate innovative approaches to supporting families and young people; support the building of sustainability across the VCS, - Support the implementation reforms at a local level, - Learn more about how local voluntary and community sector organisations can use different models to operate in financially difficult times, and - Increase the participation of disabled children, those with SEN and their families in voluntary organisations
More information Briefing on the Children and Families Act: www.councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/resources/cdcsresources/summary-of-the-children-and-families-act Special Implementation Edition of the CDC Digest: www.councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/resources/cdcsresources/special-edition-cdc-digest Our website has all the latest resources on the reforms from CDC, Government and from across the sector: www.councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/resources Any queries regarding resources can be sent to
[email protected]
