EHCP draft due tomorrow with no parental input, is this normal?

[sunflowers93]

I’m still very new to this whole thing and looking for some advice on processes.

We are currently going through the process of getting an EHCP for my 4 year old. School started the process and have obtained all the reports they needed and applied - no issues on that end.

a while back I recieved an email from the LA with the EHC assessment form along with the parental advice form. to which I chose the option of wanting full parental involvement, as I was advised by others this was the best option.

because I chose this option I was advised I didn’t need to send back the parental advice form. There have been no meetings etc…

The 16 week draft date is tomorrow and I’ve had no input so far, so how is a draft created without any parental input so far?

I have no issues with the professional reports however they don’t create the full picture of my sons needs as they don’t see him at home.

is this normal? Does my input come next? Like I said very new to this and the LA aren’t exactly great communicators on how these processes work!

any help would be much appreciated!

During the EHCNA the LA should have sought advice and information from you.
This is often done via a form rather than a meeting with the LA. Unfortunately, it was poor advice not to return the form. Beyond that, and your discussions with other professionals the LA sought advice and information from, it is normal for drafts to be written without parental input.

If/when the draft is sent to you will get at least 15 days to make representations. However, sections such as section B&F are based on evidence rather than just your parental word, so amendments you propose will need to be based on the evidence. If you want a co-production meeting you can request one when (if!) you have/return the draft. It is still a possibility that the LA will refuse to issue. If they are going to issue they must finalise by week 20 and in order to do that they should send the draft by week 14.

I think it's important to understand that the EHCP is essentially a contract between the place of education and the local authority and that parental involvement is tangential at best.

Now that's obviously not good for the reasons you state (my DD is also very different at home to school) and not in the spirit of the SENCOP either, but it is what it is.

At least you'll avoid what happened to me, which is lots of very personal information provided for Section A getting sent to the general email address of the school! Where I also taught!

I suggest you make a bullet point list of the most important things you'd like them to know from your perspective, and ask that they be added to Section A when you have the 15 days to comment on the draft

While EHCPs are legal documents, an EHCP is not a contract between the place of education and the LA.

For a start, some CYP don’t have a place of education named in the EHCP. Even for those that do, EHCPs are not written for a specific placement and the EHCP follows the child. And the ultimate duty to provide F falls to the LA even if there is a placement. That duty is non-delegable. EHCPs also include health sections not related to the LA providing provision.

Parents play a vital role. From start to finish. DC whose parents know the law, understand the system and can advocate for their DC get better support. It shouldn’t be like that, but it is. Although that isn’t the fault of those who can and do advocate for their DC.

@inthequietofdawn of course I agree parents play a vital role. They're our kids. We know them best.

But my experience was that the parent has to force the LA to include them in the process. There's no genuine inclusion of parents in the process in most cases (any more than there is in a lot of internal school decision making of course).

I bow to your wider experience of the sector (my DD goes to a mainstream school and I teach in one - I don't know much about PRUs, special schools or alternative provision, for instance). But I think I'm right in saying that the vast majority of DC with an EHCP DO attend a school/college and therefore from the parents' point of view, the EHCP sets out what the school/college should do to meet the needs that were identified in the reports.

I mean even at the best of times parents can't actually order schools to do anything. Outwith the private sector, they're not the customer so to speak!

Anyway, it's good if OP knows that (s)he needs to be very clear what she'd like for her DC and understands that (s)he should go through everything with a fine toothed comb.

I will admit I was too innocent about this 4 years ago and I actually thought the LA would advise on a suitable school 😂.

@Phineyj I think we are perhaps coming from the parental involvement point from different angles, but with the same intention/meaning. I completely agree parents are often the ones left driving the process. Parents need to, and should be supported to, understand the law, system and how to advocate for their DC.

I was meaning parental involvement is vital in terms of it is parents of children who have the right of appeal, it is parents who will enforce the provision (the first steps in their name then in their child’s name), it is parents who drive proposed amendments (i.e. don’t rely on schools or professionals to suggest what is needed), it is parents who drive ensuring all the necessary evidence is collated, it is often parents who push for the AR to be conducted correctly, it is parents who need to push for the advice and information is sufficient…

Section F of the EHCP sets out what special educational provision a CYP must receive in order to meet needs in B, but it is ultimately the LA with the duty to ensure that provision is provided. Despite what LAs say, that duty is absolute and non-delegable. It is important parents know that the buck stops with the LA.

Some types of schools, including state mainstreams like your DD is in, must make their best endeavours to secure the SEP required to meet DC’s SEN (EHCP or not) and they must make reasonable adjustments, but that isn’t the same as saying they are ultimately responsible for providing all the SEP in the EHCP.

Most CYP with EHCPs are educated in schools or colleges. Although a not insignificant number aren’t, and that number is growing.

@Phineyj you can see the numbers here. You might find them interesting. You have to do the maths if you want percentages because while it gives overall percentages for each placement category it only gives numbers for subcategories rather than percentages as well. You can’t just go on the categories because even for the ‘Total percentage educated elsewhere’ category some are educated in schools. And some in other categories are educated in places other than a school/college.

I agree that parents are key.

It's a really, really strange process though!