Are SEN case workers to be trusted?

I'm going to be honest I work in an LA team close to the SEND team and these comments are ridiculous.

A caseworker in a neighbouring LA to mine that I know took their own life earlier this year, work related stress was a high part of it, endless abuse from parents. The team in my LA are constantly working extra hours under huge pressure. I think because you aren't dealing with them face to face it feels acceptable to be abusive to them and it isn't.

They are the front line staff trying to deliver overstretched services with no budget and demand on service that has doubled since the pandemic. Against schools that are increasingly hostile to learners with SEND. Most are from a teaching background and many have children of their own with SEND. They have gone into this role for good reasons.

Suggesting that an entire profession of people have a character flaw of untrustworthiness... You must realise how irrational that is.

They are following processes and policies written by directors and legal teams.

I have 3 children with SEND, and understand the parental perspective, and that does not make this ok. One had a horrific year of crisis, a delayed EHCP, no school place for months and it was awful. It wasn't because anyone was being lazy or not doing their job. It is because the capacity in the system is lower than the need. Same as the NHS.

Do you realise it's not their money, they are not going on a cruise with the money saved if they follow policy and name a mainstream school rather than special etc.

It's like holding the class teacher accountable for national curriculum design and school budget allocation.

They are people and this needs to be remembered.
Edited for typos

Some academies pay private EPs to write reports and bypass the LAs altogether for this reason.

Some academies pay private EPs to write reports and bypass the LAs altogether for this reason.

also isn't if funny how LA find millions to defend tribunal cases (of which they won last year about 1.3%). of course there is money. But instead of funding assessment and placements, it's wasted on fighting families.

They could be managed out but I’d be amazed if they’d be able to replace them, it’s literally impossible to recruit LA EPs at the minute.

Ed Psychs are not all created equal. Some of them are ex-teachers who are kind of cardboard cut out EPs who say whatever the LA tells them to say.

A bit like how LAs force teachers to impress their arbitrary rules on parents, such as ‘we don’t do statutory assessments unless the child is 3 years behind academically’ which is illegal.

This.

Lack of money isn't an excuse for breaking the law.

What an utterly ignorant and ridiculous thing to say. I’ve worked in education all my life and latterly became a case worker. I work my arse off for my families but am hamstrung by a system that’s failing at every level. It doesn’t make me, as an individual, evil. The system is fucked and the them vs us attitude means good case officers don’t survive long.

They could certainly be managed out and replaced with more compliant EPs.

I expect lots of EPs leave because they are fed up of the LA pressuring them to write watered down recommendations. We've heard on this thread about how they are told to use words like "might benefit from". EPs who've come into my schoolnhave said the LA won't let then recommend 1:1 support for kids with very high needs who clearly need it. Maybe let them get on with their jobs without so much interference and they might not leave.

I do wonder though what would happen if they didn't toe the line? Could they be sacked? Even if that were legal, surely the shortage of EPs would mean they didn't want to lose the ones they have.

I expect lots of EPs leave because they are fed up of the LA pressuring them to write watered down recommendations. We've heard on this thread about how they are told to use words like "might benefit from". EPs who've come into my schoolnhave said the LA won't let then recommend 1:1 support for kids with very high needs who clearly need it. Maybe let them get on with their jobs without so much interference and they might not leave.

I do wonder though what would happen if they didn't toe the line? Could they be sacked? Even if that were legal, surely the shortage of EPs would mean they didn't want to lose the ones they have.

No, not at all. The system is stacked against parents and stalling, ignoring communication from parents, ignoring legal deadlines are all standard practice in EHCP teams. It's all part of a system that aims to deny or at least delay often expensive placements for children with disabilities. Given that many placements are tens of thousands a year (plus transport) it is really worth throwing families under the bus even if they win 12 months down the line at tribunal. There is no accountability and no fines for LA if they don't follow the law so delaying tactics save a fortune. All EHCP workers are training in those. I live in an LA where last year, just 6% of EHCP were finalised within the legal time frame. The amount of distress and suffering it causes for the disabled children and their families is awful. I have one who hasn't been in the whole school year and EHCP well overdue. Don't trust them. They are all evil. I think it takes a special kind of person to take that role which has been essentially designed to wreck lives!!!

what do you expect the LA to do?

Whatever they need to do to fulfil their legal obligations. It isn’t the concern of individual parents.

My local authority commissioned a private EP to do my DD's assessment, presumably as an attempt to clear the backlog. She wrote a very thorough report with lots of specific recommendations so doubtless the LA won't want to use her again! They have now issued the draft EHCP, omitting the specifications that would cost them money. We had a meeting with the caseworker to ask for these things to be included. She said she had put them in but then didn't send me a copy of the amended draft, I had to request it. When I did, I saw that she had only vaguely amended the report, and had still omitted the specific detail. This is the sort of reason why people don't trust caseworkers.

Now we are in a position where we will probably have to go to tribunal, which we will win as the case law is clear, but my DD is of an age where waiting for the tribunal will probably affect her chances of getting any GCSEs.

Our caseworker is nice and has been polite and friendly. I don't doubt she went into the job with good intentions but I know the pressure from higher up will be to avoid spending money at all costs. I work in education myself and considered a move to SEND work in the past but I couldn't do it because I know I would be pushed at every turn to try to avoid giving the provisions that children need.

I’ve seen some crap ones and some amazing ones. The same with dyslexia assessments.

Sorry, some are crap I should have said. Some really are because people are desperate so they know they can get away with writing the bare minimum and still get hired because there’s no one else.

Some private EP reports are amazing. When I used to do EHC panel, I was made up to see some private names, I’d like ‘thank god one less for our waiting list’.

Im private now so I can’t think they’re all crap 😂 sorry I did word that wrong so my apologies. Some of them I just feel awful that someone’s paid for it to be honest.

How can you say ‘private EP reports are crap’

That’s like saying that all cars are crap. You go by recommendations, experience and kudos.

There is no incentive for independent EPs to write whatever the parents want if they want to be taken seriously.

So if every parent on that EP waiting list issues enforcement action, what do you expect the LA to do? Offer increasingly high pay to private EPs? I think at this point you’d probably have to go to £2k+ per case. If as an EP, I can make £2k a case, I’d drop down my capacity because I don’t need to work as much, so then you’re back to square one. That’s if the LA isn’t bankrupt by that point because you’re talking £3mil to clear one LAs EP waiting list.

To clarify, I’m absolutely not defending the LAs. I literally left my post because it made me feel sick and there was a complete lack of any action to do anything about it. However, I wish that more focus was put onto actually starting to resolve this EP problem because it’s not going anywhere and there needs to be a better solution than just pay them more. Because the other problem is, why would any EPs then work for the LA if you can get £££ per case privately? Work 2 days a week privately for a full time wage at the LA? So then the waiting list just gets longer the problem gets worse.

For what it’s worth, case worker wise, I met some great ones and some shocking ones. It’s a mixed bag but god I wouldn’t want to do that job, it’s no wonder turnover is so high.