Has anybody got some experience of over 18 EHCPs particularly the health part?

[Gr3yH3art]

My 19 dd has some health needs I want put on her EHCP as part of the annual review as the needs are stopping her from accessing the rest of the EHCP. She has ASC,ADHD, dyspraxia, PTSD, anxiety/ depression and has been battling a serious eating disorder which she’s winning. So now physically well her ED team feel DBT would be useful but they don’t do it. Unfortunately the CMHT who do keep refusing to take her on as she’s still under ED services and in our area you can’t be under two services. Also the CMHT currently seem to be taking on very few patients anyway. Dd desperately wants to do a level
3 qualification and there are good measures in her EHCP that would enable her to get it but she doesn't feel well enough and feels she needs to do the DBT first. Nobody seems to want to take responsibility for it or the health bit.

I’m utterly confused with the process post 18. Nobody from the local authority turned up to the review and the senco at the college she’s at felt they should be so have postponed it and requested they attend.

Senco thinks I also need to request an NHS continuing healthcare assessment( which will take months). However the local authority advisory service say the authority are pretty useless re health, contacted health who told them to advise us to go to PALS.So what are we supposed to do?

I’m getting so overwhelmed with it all as don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing and it just feels as if the H bit on the EHCP doesn’t mean anything .

Would a private psych assessment to highlight that she needs it help? I know the EHCP process is particular though. All her diagnosis and Ed psych reports are NHS but they were very picky re her ED psych report as it was written by somebody in the neighbouring trust due to her school and they insisted somebody in their trust re assess her and rewrite it. So guessing a private psych report stating her needs wouldn’t be that favourable either but seriously wondering what other option we have.

Any advise would be most welcome.

Health care provision that trains or educates is actually considered special educational provision thus belongs in F. This includes therapies. You may have to appeal following the AR and will need evidence it is needed. The LA may want to be picky with evidence, but they must consider all evidence and if you have to appeal SENDIST certainly will. The evidence will need to cover needs, provision, outcomes and be detailed, specified and quantified.

Needing therapy alone wouldn’t meet the criteria for continuing care funding.

Thankyou so much!What is F and AR? I thought that re the continuing care so at least that is one
less thing to do.

Annual review currently postponed. So do I wait until the review meeting and say what I want there? I’ve been told that the local authority don’t know much about the health part and parents often know more so honestly don’t know if they are going to feel able to include anything. Who then does?I don’t know how to get to the appeal stage iykwim. I have a catalogue of evidence that she needs this therapy but not a report as the ED team don’t feel qualified hence trying to refer her. We have so many incidents, meds and admissions though. We could also get a private psych report I guess but worried re how much it will cost.

AR is annual review.
F is section F of the EHCP.

Depending on DD’s needs, she may qualify for continuing care, but not on the basis that she needs therapy, so it may still be worth doing depending on her needs.

When was the last AR? Why has it been postponed? You can raise the matter as part of the review. Following the AR meeting, you will get the right of appeal. DD can be eligible for legal aid in her own right. Legal aid can fund independent assessment if necessary. The LA does know about C&G. Don’t let their strategic incompetence deceive you.

If the ED team feels it is necessary (‘would be useful’ would be pointless wording in an EHCP), push them to commit to paper. If they are qualified enough to think it is required, they are qualified enough to write that down.

Thankyou so much for all the info I’m getting precious little from anywhere else. This was our first annual review. Nobody turned up and the SENCo felt the local authority needed to be there as it’s not just a straight forward annual review so she suggested calling another date.

What is C&G?

Section C and section G of the EHCP.

It isn’t uncommon for the LA not to attend the AR meeting. The AR process should still continue. By all means you or the SENCO can request another review. That would be an early review and should not halt the current AR process because that would delay the right of appeal. There’s also no guarantee the LA will agree to hold an early review.

It is worth reading ISPEA and SOSSEN’s websites and the SENCOP to understand more about the EHCP process.