turned 18, kicked out of college, home school/ Child benefit

[philipwright]

My son is on the autism spectrum but has done ok at school and college until he was 17 then in June last year he started suffering seizures and mental health issues, he is bedridden with ME/CFS and cant physically attend college anymore so they discharged him. I applied for a ECH plan but it was refused as they used the info from before he became ill, although the LA have agreed he has SEN. I've applied to the tribunal and await it. however, he turned 18 today and the council wasted no time in writing to slash my council tax reduction and now i also stand to lose the child benefit which helps him greatly, that adds to my working/ child tax credit so i can care for him every day.. now i will be screwed. I was reading that home education has to start before he is 16 so i can't even educate him at home until hes 19? any help is massively appreciated.

Does DS receive PIP? If so, you can be exempt from council tax as a carer and thus receive a 25% single person discount as DS would be the only eligible adult. If DS isn’t in receipt of PIP he, or you as his appointee if appropriate, should apply.

For child benefit purposes home education has to either start before the young person turns 16 or they have to have an EHCP.

In some circumstances child benefit can continue to be paid if the young person is unable to attend for medical reasons. If the exemption doesn’t apply to DS and he hasn’t attended college since June child benefit should have stopped already. If you can’t continue to claim for DS he, or you as appointee, can apply for UC in his own right.

so basically he just gets to apply for UC and pip and gets thrown on a scrap heap, and I get to try and claim £69 a week for full-time looking after him, so depressing.

Did you appeal the refusal of EHCP?
Would it be worth doing that?

I didn’t say DS is thrown on the scrap heap. You asked about finances, PIP (which I’m surprised he isn’t already claiming) and UC are how DS is able to be financially supported. Between the two they can be in excess of £1200 per month.

If you have no other income or a low amount of income universal credit can top up carer’s allowance.

You mention you are waiting for SENDIST, now DS is 18 he will be eligible for legal aid in his own right. Have you looked at that? Have you gotten independent assessments? Legal aid can fund them.

No I said "thrown on scrap heap" obviously as thats how he feels. I don't know what DS means or Sendisdt sorry. No he's not applied for pip yet, he wants to continue education so does not want to go on UC (presume universal credit). I know all these options can be explored I was just hoping there was some way of him staying in education, even home education with a ECH plan as once he drops on PIP and UC it's a slippy slope to laying in bed.

Why would he want legal aid and independent assessments? He's had enough of court cases in his childhood, he just wants to keep studying and feel like there is hope rather than walk that never ending path

DS means Dear/Darling Son on mumsnet.

SENDIST is who you appeal the EHCP refusal with. Have you definitely appealed the EHCP refusal? Was it a refusal to assess or refusal to issue?

For those who are eligible legal aid helps with EHCP appeals.

Depending on what other evidence you have you may want/need independent assessments to support your appeal.

I was just hoping there was some way of him staying in education

There is and you are pursuing that if you are appealing the EHCP refusal. Finances are separate to that though.

Claiming PIP and UC doesn’t mean DS has been thrown on the scrap heap nor prevent him continuing education. It doesn’t have to be a slippery slope to staying in bed.

Thanks, yes I submitted the appeal to them via email as it said and got verified they received it. There is not enough time to get independent assessments when the need to appeal has to be within 30days never mind solicitor appointments and legal aid applications. The appeal is decent. They accepted he had SENs but did not issue as the college said they could provide yet the college submission was a year old when he was healthy and had not taken into account current medical evidence. He has a lot of seizures due to his new condition and I would ideally like to get a plan to homeschool with Flexi for exams as I don't trust any of his colleges to take care of him, their incompetence so far has been outstanding.

There is time to get independent assessments and, if eligible, find a legal aid firm to take you on. Plenty of parents manage it, especially the former. You don’t need to do it before submitting to SENDIST. BTW the statutory deadline to appeal is 2 months from the date of refusal letter or 1 month from the date of the mediation certificate, whichever is later.

You need to do more than prove DS has SEN. Presuming this is a refusal to assess as it doesn’t sound like an EHCNA has been done you need to prove - a) DS has or may have SEN, and b) it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made via an EHCP. The first part is the easier part to prove. The latter is the harder part and independent assessments help to prove the threshold is met.

By EHE the LA are likely to say you are making suitable alternative arrangements thereby relieving them of their duties, and it’s unlikely they will fund any of the provision in section F. Rather than EHE have you looked at EOTAS? If you are going to EHE why do you need an EHCP to start? You could start EHE now and DS keep studying whilst appealing.

If you haven’t already it’s worth reading IPSEA and SOSSEN’s websites to understand EHCPs and appealing better.

I appreciate the reply and effort, greatly.
They agreed he had SEN based on current medical info, they said he did not need a ECH plan as the college could cover things has there was nothing wrong with him beyond autism according to the old info submitted by the college which was from 20/21 before he became ill with seizures, PTSD, and mental health issues. so basically the college had no up-to-date info as he has been off since he started having seizures and they just submitted the old records they have of him and the council used it as an excuse to say "the college can cope without a plan" but then the college kicked him out because they cannot cope with his medical issues. the appeal to the tribunal went in already and I pointed out all the issues. For example, the council stated "Please note that I will be asking the SENCO at college to ask the Primary Mental Health Worker
and Educational Psychologist about a co-ordinated approach for support.
will continue to receive targeted support in his education setting. This is part of the 'graduated approach' of supporting children and young people with SEN called SEN Support. The education setting will discuss the support with you. They will also continue to monitor ***'s
progress regularly and will share that information with you" but the college then just kicked him out and told him to reapply when "he's better".
EOTAS sounds great, I've looked at it a little bit, should I put something together as a new submission or shall I compile something and add it to the tribunal application that was sent last week ?

to add he already has a camhs diagnosis of autism, PTSD, non-epileptic attack disorder, and OCD, which was submitted and only in Jan 23 after the LA refused to do a plan did the college state "Both myself and shared concerns about the timing of joining the Achieve programme based on his health and about his ability to fully or partially engage with the programme”.
“We are still happy to talk to about joining the Achieve Programme in the near future and we look forward to meeting with him when he’s feeling a little better” ... feeling a little better! so basically they cannot meet his needs but the LA have stated in their refusal letter " will continue to receive targeted support in his educational setting. This is part of the 'graduated approach' of supporting children and young people with SEN called SEN Support. The education setting will discuss the support with you. They will also continue to monitor *'s progress regularly and will share that information with you".
As you can see, it pretty heads in the sand "he's fine to attend college without a plan we can do this.. he cant come to this college its inappropriate"

So you need evidence an EHCP may be required. Just proving DS’s medical conditions isn’t enough, and your word an EHCP may be required isn’t enough. You need evidence as that is what SENDIST will base their judgement on.

If this is a refusal to assess appeal (is it?) don’t mention EOTAS as the placement named in any potential EHCP is irrelevant and you would need evidence for it anyway. Focus on one step at a time.

It's a tribunal for refusal to grant a plan. So besides the written evidence he needs a plan what evidence are you referring too? Can you give some ideas?

So you have evidence DS requires an EHCP?

What assessments did the EHCNA include? What were the reports like?

For a refusal to issue the best and easiest way to prove DS requires SEP to be made via an EHCP is independent assessments. Have you (he) made a SAR to the college? Do any of the medical letters say DS requires an EHCP? Without knowing far more it’s impossible to say what other evidence could be used.

Have you looked at IPSEA and SOSSEN’s information on refusal to issue appeals?