Needs Assessment

[badspella]

I have a son aged 20. I have posted about him before, possibly under another username.

He stopped attending school in about Y 9 due to extremely high levels of anxiety and he has engaged with little since then. It is more than likely that he has ASD (PDA), but he does not wish to pursue diagnosis.

His EHCP has not been reviewed since he was 16 and officially left school (or the PRU that he attended very briefly). However, this month, a social worker contacted me to ask if he would participate in a needs assessment. I spoke to my son, arranged a time, but he became so anxious that he cancelled the appointment.

Another appointment was arranged and the social worker arrived. My son hid and only spoke from behind a door to confirm his name.

The social worker left the needs assessment form, so I could familiarise my son with the questions. She will return in about two weeks.

My son has some serious mental health problems resembling OCD, chronic anxiety and an eating disorder. He is also socially isolated and not participating in any employment, training, education or voluntary work. He becomes aggressive or otherwise avoidant if any of these topics are mentioned.

I have asked the social worker (by e-mail) how social care may help him, just so I can put forward one or two positives and so the questions have a purpose. However, I have had no reply.

Should I just let the social worker visit again in two weeks time, and face the same response as last time? Would you say that the whole needs assessment thing, after all these years, is simply a way of ticking a box and, quickly, getting my son off their books when he (perhaps inevitably) refuses to engage in the assessment?

I am worn down by it all, and fear that my son will remain mentally unwell and completely isolated until something awful happens.

DS’s EHCP should have been reviewed every year. As DS’s hasn’t been reviewed, is out of date and not meeting DS’s needs write to the Director of Children’s Services complaining an AR hasn’t been held. IPSEA have a model letter you can use.

I think you should let the SW come, can they not talk to you while DS is e.g. upstairs? The assessment could lead to direct payments.

Thank you. I have arranged for the SW to come at a time when I will be able to talk to her. However, I have had a lot of experience from services who insist on either talking to my son, gaining permission from my son for me to act as his advocate or blatantly refusing to engage with me.

It is just the case that my son is deemed to have mental capacity to make his own decisions, and agencies tend to stick to the letter about this. Hopefully, he will grunt permission for me to talk.

I will send the letter, however, I do think that the focus of EHCPs tends to be education or training, and if the young person is not engaging with either, the whole thing is rolled over to a care assessment or needs assessment. My eldest son is 22 and lives in supported accommodation. He has not had a review of his EHCP since he was 17. I believe there must be many young people who have EHCPs but who are not being encouraged or supported (via these plans) to engage in or prepare for education or training.

One of the reasons why I am finding things so difficult at the moment is that I have been battling with agencies for both my sons for years. My eldest son has accepted, and indeed asked for, support and he has quite a good support and care package now (he has autism and psychosis). However, my youngest is much more 'challenging'. He refuses help, hides from people, refuses to participate and so on. I think the social worker is making an effort, but I know the extent to which my son can sabotage anything that adds pressure to his life.

I apologise for the ramble.

If DS can’t speak to the SW to give permission would he be able to write a letter?

EHCPs cover more than the traditional sense of education or training. For example OT or SALT provision to help independence or social skills is classed as an educational need and should be in F. There is case law showing the educational provision does not need to be about gaining qualifications. It can also include MH therapies and interventions. Or subscriptions, equipment etc. if DS can’t at the moment access more direct provision.

Thank you. I will definitely write the letter. You are absolutely correct, EHCPs should be about education, health, and social care, but in reality, they are often more dominantly focused on education, and once a child/young person leaves formal education, the LA may leave the plan because the YP is not engaging in education, or at least that is what we have been told with respect to our sons.

My eldest son's therapies and interventions are paid for by Health and Social Care and he has ambitions to re-engage with voluntary work and then go on to paid work in the future (once his volunteering recommences after post-Covid restrictions). So, I am not too concerned about his case.

However, my youngest has been ignored and he is a perfect example of what can happen when a young person with significant needs does not receive any help or support. The needs escalate and dominate his life, and (as the only person who lives with him), I have adapted to accommodate those needs.

Your first paragraph is sadly too true. But if you appeal you are likely to get more support. What interests DS? For many teens with PDA Mindjam works quite well.

The health and social care provision should be in the EHCP too. And the benefit of having provision in section F of the EHCP rather than G or H is it is enforceable and if the LA or NHS can’t or won’t provide it the LA must commission independent provision.

Well, I told my son when the SW would call, and he was nervous, but agreed to meet her, 'just to say hello'. She never came. I contacted by e-mail and left a message on her phone. I have had no response.

I know there could have been a thousand and one reasons why the visit never happened and there has been no contacts, but I am feeling a bit frustrated.

Last June a social worker rang up out of the blue and said he would organise a review of my son's EHCP. We picked a day and time, and then he cancelled, saying he would rearrange. The rearrangement never occurred.

I don't know what on earth is going on. If I get no response from the current SW, I will start a complaint with the local authority. However, I just wonder why this is happening. Do they feel that my son is not a priority because he has SEMH rather than a disability? Am I a barrier, because my son will not communicate directly with the assessors? I just feel sad because I had hoped we were not so completely alone with this.

I am not surprised you are frustrated. Not turning up without contacting you is unacceptable, complain. Sadly, I don’t think this is personal, like with EHCPs you often have to fight for support and DC whose parents advocate for them get better support.

DS does have a disability, you don’t need a diagnosis to have a disability. Also, SEMH needs are a type of SEN.

Write to the Director of Children’s Services to request an annual review. If they refuse you can threaten to begin Judicial Review proceedings because they are in breach of the statutory timescales.

Thank you. I think I will write about the EHCP not being reviewed and about the issues with the needs assessment. My DS is 20, so I do not know whether my issues will be taken forward, or whether they will wish my son to make a complaint in his own right. However the nature of his SEN means he finds engagement difficult.