case officer at la

[mamaabc]

Have forgotten so much from the first time round...

Should be 'experienced' having done this all before but feels like such an unknown with a different child with different child.

Is the case officer at the la a friend or foe when applying for a statutory assessment?

Foe!!!

(Never before have I been able to answer a MNSN message with one word!)

Friend, in this case.

It was case officer that ignored all the reports stating MS with support and stuck her neck out to offer DD1 special school, despite her having more children who needed it than she had places for.

Foe in our case. They decide how much money (if any) to spend on your child / whether to do SA. So I think it depends on whether they see your child as worthy or not. And whether they have unlawful policies to ration / refuse SA etc etc

Foe! She had only had the budget but not Dd's best interests at heart.

Neither in our case. Just a total choc teapot.

Foe! Their the once that try to give you inadequate statements to save pennies
But they can be swayed if they find out your not a pushover and actually know what your on about( thanks geese for all the knowledge you've given me).
My sons case officer know knows not to even try play games with someone who can play them better

Foe. All 3 of them.

They try to get away with as much as possible - our LA have xyz blanket policies because Sendist says we can in such and such circumstances etc.

They rely on you proving them wrong.

I've been through 4 in my LA and they were all evil and part of the person spec for the role must have been "Machiavellian"

agree, foe in our case too. if i hear the phrase "we will go to panel AGAIN" yaadaa yaadaa yaada , i will throw the phone in the bin.
nope, scrap that my solicitor has a tape recording of maniac laughing to be played should that phrase be uttered again...

FOE and don't be persuaded otherwise.

Another vote for foe. Ours is deliberately obstructive (and rude!).

Ours was ok, but I can see that many more aren't.

Wolf in sheep's clothing is an apt description imo

May have a different view on Monday when ds2's schooling will be discussed but so far we have managed to keep on a good relationship and this has helped us get what we want for the ds's or at least a reasonable compromise. One thing that helped was to invite them to a child concern meeting so that they could hear first-hand the problems the ds's were having with school and the lack of other support that had been given.

The latest one we have is a foe but can do a fantastic impression of friend having previously worked in a different role outside the LA. Very sneaky! I do find that I am listened to and not considered an easy victim which helps.

What Dude's mum said

Foe. Mind tolde she was just a admin worker who didn't go to the panel. So either a lying b@t*h or bonkers as my named case worker!

neither. She just didn't have the knowledge or authority to do what we needed to be done - ie rewrite draft statement into something that could be enforceable

Foe... But remember the age old quote " keep your friends close and your enemies closer" I've never done so much arse licking in my whole life but got a better result than going in all guns blazing. Don't trust the parent partnership either. When it comes down to it they take sides with the LA

Foe - though they must especially love me or feel intimidated by me as I am one of the very few people (there are two if us in total - one actually being one if my best friends) who the LA have instructed barristers again - and they still lost both of them! That said my LA have only ever won one tribunal in 10 years!!!

Also wolf in sheeps clothing especially apt and they can switch from your enemy to trying to be your best friend in a nano second.

Depends. If the SA is black-and-white unarguable, is very obviously going to save the LA lots of money, and will save the case officer a lot of personal time and hassle, they might be an ally of sorts.

Otherwise foe. By virtue of their job, not necessarily on a personal level. Like a parking warden.