To want to work in special needs support

[CabotCoveBeforeBros]

I'm in my 40s. Been civil servant mid manager for over 20 years but burning out fast. I have a DC with SEN which requires me to be flexible due to school refusal. I have a disability and am CEV because of meds I'm on. WFH has suited me really well with my health needs and at the moment I work part time.
AIBU to think I could find a job supporting young SEN people or their parents in some way, but retaining the WFH? I know I need to leave my current job as I am hating the policies and the role and it's causing me huge amounts of stress which in turn affects my health. This is an area I feel really passionate about but I don't know where to start.
Any advice would be amazing.

I work in further education and what you are describing wouldn't be possible in my organisation.

It sound like you want to directly help students and families and in my organisation this would be roles like teaching assistant which is required to br face to face.

The back office romes eg admin support could be undertaken from home, but limited direct with SEN people and more about about filling in forms eg .

It really isn't possible. Face to face is needed. It can be done remotely but teaching SEND remotely isn't easy. Working in schools atm is relentless and utterly utterly draining. You could volunteer in a school first to hear reading.

You need to get qualified as well. You could contact SOS SEN Or IPSEA and train as a n advocate and representative for tribunals but I have s funny feeling these would be volunteer

You could set yourself up as an advocate for tribunals etc but would need to be fair bit of research/training etc. In terms of supporting CYP with SEN there isn't really much scope to do that remotely.

Not really as the very nature of SEND support means it involves you physically being with the child/ family. I’ve been trying to do my job working with children with SEND virtually since March last year and it does not work to the point that my mental health is destroyed, never mind the physical and mental health of the poor parents and in some cases, the children.

I guess as a parent of a child with SEND, is there a virtual service that you would find useful?

I've seen jobs relating to EHCP writing/reviewing come up occasionally but they seem to be short term/freelance type of thing. Might lead you down a search trail to something else from that though, as a starting point?

The council often advertise jobs supporting families with ehcp etc and sometimes these are more the admin / coordinating type roles. Such as looking at funding
Care navigator role in the nhs ? Trying to link all the agencies involved with families ? I think these roles are quite competitive though . realistically any role directly working with families will be face to face , often involve working in situations where you may have to be trained in positive handling , may need to help with personal care, can be challenging environments.

Children and families with SEN need 100pc reliable care. Being let down at the last minute is worse than nothing.

So I don't see how you could, unless maybe you manned a helpline. But I'm guessing that's more of a volunteer role than a paid for job.

I don’t see how you could either.

I have a sen child. It’s always been face to face meeting.

Would seem pointless if they couldn’t meet

Thanks for the honest feedback. I suppose I was leaning towards advocacy but wondering if that was possible from home. Have also considered covering a helpline but guessed that was on a voluntary basis. I'm trying to work out what my best move would be career-wise and if this isn't realistic or possible then I'll have to think again.

PP who mentioned SEN families need 100% reliability...I know, I'm in one myself!

@Heyha

I've seen jobs relating to EHCP writing/reviewing come up occasionally but they seem to be short term/freelance type of thing. Might lead you down a search trail to something else from that though, as a starting point?

@Heyha thanks that's helpful

@Thirtyrock39

The council often advertise jobs supporting families with ehcp etc and sometimes these are more the admin / coordinating type roles. Such as looking at funding Care navigator role in the nhs ? Trying to link all the agencies involved with families ? I think these roles are quite competitive though . realistically any role directly working with families will be face to face , often involve working in situations where you may have to be trained in positive handling , may need to help with personal care, can be challenging environments.

Thank you

SeN case officer would have wfh flexibility but it isn't the most pleasant job going. It should be a lovely job where you liaise with families and schools during the EHCP process, but due to the system failing and Local Authorties not able to fulfil the requirements you end up in a case of being messenger and managing constant complaints and situations. Great and reewarding when process goes smoothly or you resolve a problem. Families and schopls appreciate a good case officer, who tries to do things quickly, communicates well (even if it is a phone call to say sorry no update yet but havent forgotten you) and those that do well at the job overall do enjoy it.

All local authorities have to have a SENDIASS (SEND Independent Advice and Support Service). In all my time of dealing with my LA, they have been cut rather than expanded, but it is something that doesn't always need to be face to face. It's often time critical, though.

@Sticklebricks444

SeN case officer would have wfh flexibility but it isn't the most pleasant job going. It should be a lovely job where you liaise with families and schools during the EHCP process, but due to the system failing and Local Authorties not able to fulfil the requirements you end up in a case of being messenger and managing constant complaints and situations. Great and reewarding when process goes smoothly or you resolve a problem. Families and schopls appreciate a good case officer, who tries to do things quickly, communicates well (even if it is a phone call to say sorry no update yet but havent forgotten you) and those that do well at the job overall do enjoy it.

Thanks. Going through ehcp process myself at the moment so totally get how difficult it must be as a case officer.

@DriveInSaturday

All local authorities have to have a SENDIASS (SEND Independent Advice and Support Service). In all my time of dealing with my LA, they have been cut rather than expanded, but it is something that doesn't always need to be face to face. It's often time critical, though.

Good suggestion to consider though, thank you. Especially if meetings carry on virtually in some cases.

Advocacy is not a WFH role
Many services have had to be delivered remotely or support offered over the phone during pandemic but face to face work is still required and will always be so
I also think training for any new role will be harder if done remotely

Thanks. Going through ehcp process myself at the moment so totally get how difficult it must be as a case officer.

I was always rather mistrustful of case officers, because no matter how nice and sympathetic they came across, I was aware they were on the side of the local authority who want to do things as cheaply as possible, not ours.

NHS has administrator roles to support families going through the ASD assessment process - mostly work from home at the moment.
You'd be looking for a role with NHS community paediatrics or CAMHS.

Try to remember case officers do not have any power to change decisions. They are humans whos job it is to collate and present to panels who make the decisions. Many of them are people who applied for a role advertised as being a service that supports families with children with SEND. I left within a year because it wasn't that at all despite having SEN myself and kids with SEN it was a role that is misleading due to LA'S systems and manager decisions above, yet the case officer is the messenger to deliver the outcome of panels etc. I cried many a times due to angry parents (understandably) but taking it out on the wrong person.

Anyone involved in the drafting of EHCP in my opinion needs the educational experience of SEN as Section E and Section F need to be bang on. I see a lot of EHCP that are very badly put together and do not reflect person-centred planning approaches. They then can not be implemented by the school and all sorts of issues arise. Have a look at SENDIAS webstite

@Sticklebricks444 I've seen a case officer assistant posts advertised recently and came on here to look as a way out of teaching and as I do have an interest I supporting send families.

But this is my fear of being worst of all worlds 😔

@SageBlossomBunny It has the potential to be a great job if there was enough funding to support all the SEN children and schools..but there isn't so you are the messenger most of the time. You can't do the job properly, a true ehcp process should be child centred and involve more conversations and meetings together to work on positive outcomes. Reality is you are copying and pasting alot of stuff from professional reports, presenting it for panels and then being the messenger to both parents and schools. I would look for advisory teacher roles if you want to be more supportive. That's what I ended up being and loved it, my role was to observe children in settings/schools and give advice to them, meet with parents to help them understand the ehcp process and make recommendations to the panel but you are not the messenger of bad news.