Are SEN case workers to be trusted?

LAs have not been allowed to open new maintained special schools for a long time hence the reliance on the independent sector.

At the point of court hearing cases are leap frogged to the top of the list. Not ideal. There was an EP upthread who's LA has a waitlist of 1500. Pushing 1 to the front of the queue illustrates nothing more than that they have jumped to the front of the queue. The other 1499 are still in the queue waiting to be assessed by a team of a dozen EPs.

The problem with the discussion about 'bells and whistles' is that there is an entire industry of people that can profit from presenting themselves as need. So noone is disputing that there may be need to for SALT, OT, physical therapy in section F. But increasingly there are requests for extra curricular extras. My colleague next to me lists LAMDA acting lessons, horse riding, singing lessons as examples she has seen people try and force into the plan through tribunal.

Another increasing trend is feepaying mainstream schools saying that they can meet the needs of kids that mainstream state schools can't, keeping them for a couple of years, pocketing the fees and then moving them on before exams. And parents who just want (mainstream) private school fees paid.

The point of the EHCP is to meet need to the point that kids are accessing an education in line with that of their non-SEND peers, it is there to remove the barriers.

I'm not saying there aren't genuine cases, there will be loads where therapjes are needed in section F. But an industry is building up around trying to get all sorts of other things paid for through section F.

And as much as you don't care about the overall availability of resources the LA have to, they have to manage on a finite budget. And that doesn't match up with their unlimited statutory duties so you are going to get disparity.

The Code of Practice is not the law. I quoted above what the law actually says on this subject. When a caseworker is delaying producing a decision about whether or not to issue an EHCP because they haven't got EP evidence, when actually they have but are faffing about waiting for an LA EP to look at it, they are compounding their ongoing clear breach of the law. The courts have said time and again that these are hard-edged and absolute legal duties. I've seen LAs refuse to accept reports that have clearly been written to assist with the assessment decision and the wording of any EHCPs, in circumstances where they know full well that the author is very reputable, better experienced and qualified than their own EP, and is regularly upheld by the Tribunal. I've also come across caseworkers who claim that they will never accept a private report - so it is not because they have any doubts about any individual report, but a totally unlawful blanket response.

If the LA is unclear about anything in an independent report, there is absolutely no reason why they can't contact the expert concerned and ask. That is the sensible response, not to reject the report or insist on prolonged delays till their own EP gets round to having a look at it.

You seem to be wholly supporting caseworkers who ignore the law because, in your view, they are applying it to "the real world". Yet, time and again, both the tribunal and the courts find them to be wrong about that. Can you not understand that it is hardly unreasonable for the parents of very vulnerable children to expect that LAs just obey the law without having to be dragged kicking and screaming in front of the courts first?

People on virtual school teams, like SENCOs, often receive the same training as LA caseworkers. You made a statement about independent expert evidence which was simply incorrect, and I was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt in that connection. I'm happy to stop doing so, if that is what you want. This was not a matter of my "view" on the legal situation, but a direct quote of the relevant statutory wording. I note that nowhere in your post do you seek to uphold your original statement, but equally nowhere do you have the grace to accept that it was incorrect.

You seem to have missed the fact that I agreed with you upthread about the fact that caseworkers aren't evil etc, and that they are grossly overworked and badly trained and supported. So your suggestion that I am in a "little echo chamber" is, again, simply untrue.

But we need to make sure everyone gets the basics before anyone gets the bells and whistles.

This really is a counsel of despair. If the severely disabled child is not entitled to get the "bells and whistles" of the right specialist teaching and facilities till absolutely every other child is getting the basics, we will never meet their needs, and they will essentially be thrown on the scrapheap. The law requires that the actual needs of every child are identified and met, and we can't and shouldn't ever just shrug our shoulders on that and give up because resources. The lack of things like adequate specialist school places is as much due to a failure of LA planning as a lack of government resources, and LAs also have to accept a share of blame for wasted funds in many aspects of their functioning.

The other side of the coin on the assessment issue is the number of schools that are in denial about children's difficulties, and all too ready to assume that parents are exaggerating. Everyone who works in this field has come across cases where schools have been rigorously opposed to assessment, claiming there is nothing wrong with the child in question, only for proper assessment to reveal quite serious problems that were being exacerbated by the school's refusal to acknowledge their existence. It is truly astonishing how many teachers seem to be quite ignorant of the concept of masking, for instance, or the existence of sensory difficulties and how they affect the ability to learn. As for the EP shortage, it is astonishing how often LAs manage to find one when faced with the prospect of being ordered to do so by a court.

I am really sorry that this is your situation. And I hope you find a new job that you are happy in.
Just remember that you are actually out there helping people in impossible situations which is much harder than being a keyboard warrior on an anonymous forum

Sadly there are far too many people profiting from failings of the system

My son and daughter both attended out of County independent specialist school because in our LA there is no provision available for autistic academically able CYP. For my dd at Tribunal I was fighting against them placing her at a generic special school where academically the chosen peer group were functioning at the same level as she was aged five. The school and LA sat and argued that in two years they would sit and pass higher level GCSEs as d would. Thankfully panel saw past the bullshit. LA are currently crowing about spending £3 on extra places for SEND at generic special schools some Ofsted thought ill thought out and unlikely to help the many academically able CYP without school places. Until our LA make suitable provision parents like me are going to fight to have our children placed in independent specialist and until there is a maintained alternative parents are going to win at SENDIST. As for horse riding I was offered that by LA as part of d’s EOTAS package, d has anaphylactic allergies, has never shown any interest in horses and her OT assessment would give plenty of reasons why it would be inappropriate so of course I said no but you can’t blame parents for saying yes when LA are pushing it at parents.

Have you missed the umpteen times I have pointed out that I am also a parent of children with significant SEND? it doesn't give us carte blanche to abuse people.

Where has someone tried to gaslight you? I .sick of hearing this word every time someone is told there are not unlimited resources.

I have seen both sides of the situation as a SEND parent and working for the LA. The situation you are in sounds horrendous, I have been in similar, but name calling people on the internet won't change that. And I am pretty sure there is not a silver bullet solution that your caseworker is sitting on, being too lazy and uncaring to put in place. My son's crisis began at the end of year 5 and we couldn't get it sorted until year 6 to 7 phase transfer when he got a special school place. This was not because of laziness or incompetence, my caseworker consulted with 21 schools unsuccessfully. They went back and tried to negotiate with some. When he began to really struggle he developed some tricky behaviours and it's near impossible to get schools to offer a place then, particularly in that age range.

I had to draw the line at them consulting further away because I didn't want him travelling any further and accept a bit of tutoring/AP for a few months (which basically ended my 20 year teaching career and gave me a mental health crisis). Thankfully we got through that and are now a couple of years down the line, I have a new job anf he is now settled.

Stamping my feet and shouting "it's the law" would not have made a place at a school magically appear. We had to work through the broken system like everyone else. It's shit and the system needs changing. That doesn't mean my caseworker was evil or untrustworthy, that I was gaslit, or that it's ok for me to insult people on the internet.

It isn’t paraphrasing. It is completely changing the meaning to something that is incorrect.

Drumming lessons, Gym Sessions, Horse Riding are extra curricula and support holistic health and social wellbeing.
they are above and beyond what is required

Depending on the child’s needs, they can all be considered special educational needs under the law. If they were ‘above and beyond’, they wouldn’t be able to in F of EHCPs because it only covers what is reasonably required. For CSA children unable to attend school, they can also be part of AP to ensure they receive the broad and balanced curriculum all CSA DC are entitled to as part of a suitable full-time education under s.19 of the Education Act 1996.

Did you quote me by mistake?
Your reply doesn't make any sense in relation to my comment.

TLDR: Most parents are fighting for some semblance of an education for their children, not free extra curricular activities.

And the suggestion that EHCPs are a way to get a private education is absurd. Utterly. I’m case hardened, experienced and legally trained and it took 2 years’ tribunal and JR action just to get SLT for one of mine. And prior to this it was self funded by the parent.

This thread is highlighting everything I’ve seen in my now eleven years experience of this. I’m an advocate on a voluntary basis because my caring responsibilities are incompatible with a paid position. And yes, I am care experienced, sadly to the teeth.

Step back and think about the cases which cost the LA hundreds of thousands. In my county and the one neighbouring it there is NO specialist autism provision provided by the state. None. Zero. So the kids who need specialist are bussed into another LA or placed in residential autism schools. No one wants that. No one wants their child on a huge round trip or away from them all week. But when there is literally no accessible alternative then that’s what happens. And yes of course that £100,000 could go a long way when spread across multiple children but what happens to the individual child who still legally must have an education? Do they simply “take one for the team”?

Thank God they have the legal protection of the CAFA from those who seek to bend it to their own beliefs about the greatest benefit for the greatest number.

what aren't you concerned about the poster making nasty accusations against parents who fight the system? Why are you more concerned with my reply stating that this simply isn't true (we are not trying to get out kids a private education and horse riding lessons). It's such an absurd statement. But you aren't bothered by that??? Accusing of SEN parents of such thing is exactly the sort of lies and gaslighting we are exposed to by the LAs. What issue do you have with calling it out? You surely read the post yourself?

Do you have any idea just how many of the workforce around SEND either have SEND themselves it children with SEND. A significant proportion, it is often the driving factor.

I had to leave my on site job at a school for one I can do remotely for some of the week b cause of my children's mental health and SEND needs. I took a significant pay cut to do so. I realise that my level of education and experience makes that an option for me and that is not an option for everyone, so I am lucky in that respect.

Stop making personal insults at people, it is not ok. I know you are having a hard time but you are underestimating how many of us have been or are where you are.

Can you try and outline your arguments without making personal insults at people.
I am really sorry for your situation. I have been there and it was horrific for all of us.

You think you can do better? Apply for a caseworker position, train as an EP, apply for a virtual school post

Unfortunately, parents like me are pushed out of the workforce by local authorities as there are no schools for our children to attend, and unfortunately , I cannot leave my suicidal child alone at home. but thanks for the patronising crap.

That's like saying, because a few exaggerate their depression/back pain/disability of choice everybody's PIP should be reduced and DWP should make illegal decisions.

99% of parents want the LAs to follow law because they want their child to access their legal right to an education. They want to fight so their 10 year olds are not suicidal because of unsuitable provision. They want to give their child a fair chance in life. To have the possibility of an actual future. To not have their family torn apart by the trail of destruction the LA cause. To be able to work to provide for their family Which they can't do because the LAs illegal practices mean their DC don't have access to education.

Not fucking horse riding lessons!

(Although I pay privately for RDA lessons for DC and at £132 a term it's massively cheaper than weekly OT).

The reality is those SEND children with sharp elbowed parents treat SEND as access to a private education with the state funding it.

you are away with the fairies. My child doesn't have any education. I want a maintained specialist setting (as opposed to having no school). The majority of the parents want the same. Just a suitable education for their child to attend. You should become a case worker if you aren't one already. You would fit right in with your gaslighting and the lies you produce.

No you have repeated the same incorrect point.

Absolutely not. No one from the LA ever has your child’s best interests at heart. The lie and gas light you.

I paraphrasesd. Because it's Mumsnet not a tribunal hearing. I'm not at work and can't be arsed 😂