To wonder how a £36k a year education can meet DS’s needs if a £250k one can’t?

[GoneBatty]

Private residential SEND college (out of area) costs £250k a year. They are saying DS’s needs are too high for them to manage.

Council are saying a £36k a year local outreach provision can meet his needs.

It’s all very fishy as SEND college at first said they felt they could meet DS’s needs so we visited, all was OK. As as soon as the council (who will have to fund it) got involved, college backtracked and said they couldn’t meet his needs.

They have given nonsensical reasons which I have mitigated numerous times. Both the college and council have told blatant lies and I’ve caught them out in two big ones!

Now we have reached Tribunal the college is suddenly full which was not an issue a few months ago so know they’re lying again as they would know numbers of students months in advance due to Tribunals and the time it take to get funding. Also most Tribunals due to take place over the summer were postponed for this age group.

AIBU to suspect the council has given the college a backhander to say they can’t meet his needs? It would cost council £750k for a 3 year program. They could have given a £100k ‘investment’ per se? Still saves a lot of money!

There is literally no other provision like this in the country. I have approached 21 other colleges, local and out of area. DS has had no proper provision for over a year and he is running out of time as age 20 - EHCP is to 25.

Do I sound nuts (I feel it)? Can this actually be possible?

It's irrational but it happens. The firm of barristers our LA used to use against unrepresented parents will no longer represent them because they were losing over 98% of Tribunals and their reputation was being slashed. Of course they have now enlisted a new Barrister's chambers instead.
For us in the East Midlands, in one of the top three worst LAs in the country according to SOSSEN, they are staffed by self serving incompetents who have no consideration for the CYP at the heart of the fight they are just high on the perceived power they hold.
Phone lines are still closed "because of Covid" all emails are almost always on out of office, legal timescales are routinely ignored, the only way to get a response is to make a formal complaint that they drag out for as long as possible or enlist the aid of a solicitor.
An example from only last week, a friend has been waiting for an Ed Psych assessment as part of the EHCNA. Made a formal complaint, answered by lead SEND arguing the 20 week timescale was in fact 140 working days and so not overdue. Escalated to stage two and at the same time got a solicitor to threaten JR. Ed psych offers appointment for this Monday and then Tuesday when Monday wasn't possible. So there is availability to the parents who can afford the costs incurred by using a solicitor.

Fuck me.

Excuse me if I've missed this,

But why can't the local outreach centre meet your ds needs?

Councils always always always go with the closest to your home address, no matter how fancy one further away is.

It really is postcode lottery.

Are you actually bloody serious. Not a serious disability. Jesus fucking christ this thread is an absolute cesspit of ignorant disablism

So where do you draw the line? What if the cancer treatment simply prolongs life but won't save it? Should it be withdrawn? What if the cancer treatment leaves that person alive but severely disabled requiring very expensive care? Should we treat them but then refuse to provide care?

You cannot be serious!

But tell me where the op details anything that would indicate a serious disability? Instead she details the opposite!

I think she mentioned he was self harming which we don’t know the extend of but it could be quite serious and life threatening. If he has no additional needs then he wouldn’t have got an ehcp in first place.

Ah I see. Missed the self harm

I just sae

@TwitchyJerk No violent behaviour ever. Not even with brothers. No police or SS involvement until I fought for an adult disability SW. Has ASD but no 'meltdowns' either. Was bullied all through secondary called 'retard' etc but never involved in fighting. No incidents with other students or staff ever. In fact he always said as having great manners and politeness all though secondary school.

and from mumsnet - there would seem to be many much younger than a 20 year old in much more dire straits that are reviving no help. Hence my question

OP’s DS has an EHCP, meets the threshold for supported living, a social worker and psychiatrist. And even the LA acknowledge a mainstream setting can’t meet his needs. All of that indicates the severity of his needs.

And yet he has an EHCP and 20 specialist schools have said they can't meet his needs. That rather suggests he does have serious SEN and disability.

And your experience and professional qualifications are what, exactly?

I can't believe you actually typed this and then pressed post...

This.

The real problem is that the Tory’s have been underfunding social care for the last 12 years. The U.K. social care budget has got ridiculously tight while CQC regulations have increased ten fold, staff pay rock bottom, staff retention rock bottom also .. all while the LAs try to do over the most vulnerable in our society by not meeting legal EHCP plans. It’s the government who need to rethink social care funding and social care structure.

Me neither

but we will be accused of all sorts

That’s really shocking. Age 25?!! It doesn’t make any sense.

You tell me when a disability isn't serious.

Why doesn't it make sense? Why should people with disabilities and SEN not receive the support they need?

Apologies, that was badly worded. I meant,.if a person is entitled to social care (which given the person in question is receiving support in supported housing, they presumably are) that I believe they are permitted to have that social care provided under a personal budget.

£250k per year…wtaf

Salaries aren't the only cost though, are they? What about the building, utilities, rent, security, building maintenance, catering, cleaning, etc etc.