Teachernet, Current update

SEN and Disability Update: latest issue, March 2007

The Children and Young People's Review

In Support for parents: the best start for children, published at the 2005 Pre-Budget Report, HM Treasury and the Department for Education and Skills identified further steps to be taken to improve the outcomes for children and young people.

In the 2006 Budget the Chancellor announced that the 2007 comprehensive spending review (CSR) would be informed by a series of policy reviews, one of which was a review of children and young people, building on the Government's strategy to improve their outcomes.

The comprehensive spending review will report in 2007, taking a long-term look at government expenditure and covering department allocations for 2008-2009 to 2010-2011.

A review of services for disabled children and their families is one of the four strands of the HM Treasury and the DfES joint review of children and young people. The other strands are early intervention and prevention, youth and families caught in a cycle of low achievement.

Disabled children's review

The objective for the HM Treasury and the DfES disabled children's review is:

To improve the outcomes for disabled children through the development of effective and accessible services for disabled children (aged 0-19) and their families.

Work on the disabled children's review builds on the policy framework set out in Every child matters and in the report Improving the life chances of disabled children.

The Policy review of children and young people: A discussion paper, published in January 2007 sits alongside the Pre Budget Report. The report outlines the evidence gathered to date across the four strands of the review. It also provides a discussion of the issues and challenges raised by that evidence. Chapter 5, Better outcomes for disabled children, examines the different characteristics of the diverse group of children described as disabled and the underpinning reasons for their relatively poor outcomes. It assesses the action already taken by Government to support disabled children, young people and their families and considers the key challenges to improve outcomes further.

Evidence suggests that the current system for disabled children is not fundamentally flawed but needs improving. It is accepted that the Government has made investment in this area in recent years and that a number of legislative and policy actions by the Government have aimed to improve outcomes for disabled children and their families. There are a number of good examples of successful policies which are starting to make a significant difference to the lives of disabled children.

Ed Balls MP, Economic Secretary at HM Treasury and lead HM Treasury Minister for the review and Lord Andrew Adonis, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools and lead Minister for the disabled children's review, engaged Tom Clarke MP and Joan Humble MP to chair three cross-party parliamentary hearings which were held in July 2006 to engage MPs with key stakeholders. The MPs were supported by the consortium of charities working with disabled children and Children Now magazine.

The focus of the hearings was early-years services, family support and children's services and transition to adulthood. The hearings took the form of testimonials from parents and/or disabled young people, a series of questions answered by officials and ministers and an open forum to invite contributions from the audience. A cross-party group of MPs participated in the hearing panel including eight Ministers.

The hearings were followed up by Tom Clarke MP and Joan Humble MP visiting Manchester and Tower Hamlets to observe services for disabled children and talk to children and young people, their parents or carers and those staff working with the families. The report of the hearings and subsequent visits are available at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk.

Two stakeholder events were held in July and October 2006 with the aim of gathering views and evidence to feed into the review and examining the best ways to tackle the barriers to effective service provision for disabled children. The events included a focus on which interventions can most improve outcomes for disabled children and their families, good examples of early intervention, and workforce issues.

In addition over 400 responses were received in response to the call for evidence. One hundred were received for the disabled children's review alone. A list of contributors can be found as an appendix to the discussion document.

Comments on the discussion document can be emailed to: cypreview@hm-treasury.gov.uk

The review will continue to build on the analysis set out in the discussion paper. Its aim will be to identify how Government should respond to the challenges identified.

The review will report in 2007 to inform and influence the 2007 comprehensive spending review.

Workshops for primary schools, special schools and pupil referral units during the summer term.

Promoting disability equality in schools, a new section of Implementing the Disability Discrimination Act in schools and early years settings, explains to schools how they can develop their disability equality schemes.

In the summer term, the DfES is holding a series of workshops for primary schools, special schools and pupil referral units. Attendees should include members of schools' senior management teams, governors and officers in local authorities with responsibility for supporting schools in meeting the Disability Equality Duty (DED).

The workshops are free and lunch will be provided, but delegates will need to meet all other expenses themselves, including travel.

Schools are encouraged to bring their accessibility plans/disability equality schemes and during the workshops will have the opportunity to use criteria to assess the extent to which they are meeting the requirements of a scheme. There will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions during the day. Clips from the DVDs in the resource Implementing the Disability Discrimination Act in schools and early years settings will also be shown.

To view a full list of the workshops taking place, and to register for an event follow the link www.pauljamesassociates.co.uk/login.htm using conference code: 975837 and password: pdes.

Alternatively, registration detail can be emailed to the conference organisers at pdes@pauljamesassociates.co.uk or phone 0115 943 5589 for more information. Joining instructions, including an outline programme and location map, will be sent to you after the closing date.

Dates for workshops are as follows:

10/05/07 South East, Thistle Marble Arch hotel, London

22/05/07 North West, The Midland Hotel, Manchester

8/06/07 East Midlands, Holiday Inn City, Leicester

11/06/07 South West, Holiday Inn, Taunton

18/06/07 East of England, Newmarket Race Course, Newmarket

26/06/07 Yorkshire and the Humber, Holiday Inn, Harrogate

2/07/07 North East, Marriott Gosforth Park Hotel, Newcastle

11/07/07 West Midlands, Aston Villa Football Club, Birmingham

18/07/07 London, Paddington Hilton Hotel, London.

Implementing the Disability Discrimination Act in schools and early years settings (ref 0160-2006DOC-EN) can only be ordered by schools and voluntary organisations from our publications centre, however extracts from the resource are available here.

A hard copy of the Disability Equality Duty is available from the publications centre. (All schools that ordered the Implementingthe Disability and Discrimination Act in schools and early years resource were sent a copy of the DED guidance automatically. Subsequently, anyone who orders the Disability Discrimination Act resource will receive this new DED section with it).

A word version of the Disability Equality Duty is also available here.

Report on the Implementation of Standard 9 of the National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services

In November 2006 the Department of Health and the DfES published a report on progress in improving the mental health and psychological well-being of children and young people. The report highlights some areas on which service providers and commissioners will need to focus if the ten-year objectives set out in Standard 9 of the Children's National Service Framework (NSF) are to be achieved. The Annex to the Report offers best practice guidance to assist achievement.

In the short term the report focuses on progress towards the achievement of the Public Service Agreement (PSA) target of a comprehensive children and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) in all parts of England by the end of 2006. This is measured by availability of services for young people with learning disabilities, 16 and 17-year-olds, and 24-hour cover and next-day specialist assessment, which are sustainable and locally-provided.

The Report also makes specific recommendations for CAMHS commissioners and providers of services to ensure the delivery of good practice in the medium-term and summarises the extent of progress which CAMHS should expect to achieve by the mid-point in the NSF 10 year cycle in order to achieve the full programme.

The report is available here.

Commission for Social Care Inspection: Children and adolescent mental health service performance indicator 2005-2006

In November 2006 the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) published the 2005-06 Social services performance assessment framework indicators for children which included a new performance indicator, "Progress made towards a comprehensive children and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS)".

The characteristics of a comprehensive service were outlined in appendix 2 of the Mental health and psychological well-being of children and young people chapter of the National service framework for children, young people and maternity services available at www.everychildmatters.gov.uk

Councils were asked for a self-assessment of progress by February 2006 on the following four key components:

Was a full range of CAMHS for children and young people with learning disabilities commissioned?
Did 16 and 17-year-olds who require mental health services have access to services appropriate to their age and level of maturity?
Were arrangements in place to ensure that 24-hour cover is available to meet urgent mental health needs of children and young people and for a specialist mental health assessment to be undertaken within 24 hours or the next working day where indicated?
Were protocols in place for partnership working between agencies for children and young people with complex, persistent and severe behavioural and mental health needs?

The method for scoring broadly follows the following pattern:

1 for no protocol in place
2 for protocols in place but no services yet
3 for protocols and services in place, but only partial implementation
4 for everything in place and full implementation

The minimum score is 4 and the maximum is 16.

Self assessed scores were reported via the Durham CAMHS mapping website at www.camhsmapping.org.uk.

The summary results showed that:

The England average was 11 and inner London average was 14 out of a possible 16.
91% of councils had a score of 9 or more.
51% of councils had a score of 4 in at least one of the components.
6% of councils had a total score of 15 or more.
Two London councils (1%), Bromley and Lewisham, rated themselves as having a comprehensive CAMHS.
7% of councils had scores of 6-8; of this group half were unitary authorities.
13% of councils had at least one rating of 1.
Two of the four components were the least well implemented: on CAMHS for children and young people with learning disabilities 31% of councils rated themselves 1 or 2; on partnership working between agencies for children and young people with complex needs 32% of councils rated themselves 1 or 2.

The 2005-06 Social services performance assessment framework indicators for children is available at http://www.csci.org.uk/pdf/paf_report_children_2006.pdf

Case study: Educational psychology at Huntercombe Her Majesty's Young Offender Institutions

Educational psychologists (EPs) work in various ways within different levels of complex systems, some aspects of the role are public and formalised; others are more subtle and informal. The intention overall is to promote the development and well-being of young people.

Huntercombe is a Young Offender Institution for young men aged between 15 and 18-years-olds. At Huntercombe, the delivery of EP services is commissioned from Oxfordshire County Council and comprises two days a week from a Senior EP, and one day from an EP. Just as EPs in the community work closely with schools, at Huntercombe they work closely with, but are similarly independent from, the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and contracted education provider CfBT.

Apart from education, provision for young people at Huntercombe reflects the wide range of agencies often involved in the local community with young people who have complex needs (eg health, social work, mental health, Connexions). In addition, there are specialist roles that focus on linking prison with community services (education link work; casework). Each young person has an electronic individual learning plan (ILP) on which targets and progress are noted throughout the custodial sentence.

The often brief sentences (eg two months in custody as part of a four month Detention and Training Order), and the constantly changing population, create pressure to work quickly and demand efficient systems for assessing needs and planning appropriate interventions. Previous EPs have worked with the special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) and Head of Learning and Skills to introduce screening systems to identify young people who need additional support during activities, or individual tutoring for literacy and numeracy.

Huntercombe is fortunate in having the Manwaring Centre. The centre is a small unit with two members of staff who work with up to four particularly vulnerable young people who attend up to five half-day sessions per week. To supplement group education, the SENCO may allocate a learning support assistant (LSA) to provide individual tuition in literacy or numeracy, and there is also a volunteer one-to-one tutoring service.

In the case of a young person who was withdrawn and socially vulnerable, the educational psychologist agreed support and regular meetings throughout his three month stay at Huntercombe. Work focused on personal narrative, solution finding, self-awareness, social skills, and emotional/behavioural regulation, aimed at helping offenders to cope within the prison regime, avoid disciplinary sanctions for inappropriate behaviour, protect himself from potential bullies, and recognise personal strengths to build on.

Alongside this direct contact, the EP worked with the staff of Manwaring Centre and of the motor vehicles course to support their understanding of Asperger's Syndrome, and alerted the prison's disability awareness officer so that staff on the residential wing could be informed of the young person's needs.

As the young person's sentence progressed, the EP, caseworker and youth offending service (YOS) liaised to establish what information would help them organise appropriate support for the young person as he returned to the community.

Subscribe

Want to keep up to date with what is happening in special educational needs and dsability?

It's free and easy.

For an electronic copy subscribe at www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/sen/updates

For an audio copy, call 020 7273 6007

For a paper copy, write to:
DfES SEN Subscriptions
PO Box 99
Sudbury
Suffolk
CO10 2SN
or email senupdate@prolog.uk.com

This copy and previous copies are available from the Publications Centre.

Your comments

We welcome your comments. Please send them to:

SEN and Disability Division
Department of Education and Skills
1E Caxton House
Tothill Street
London
SW1P 9NA

Tel 020 7273 6007
Fax 020 7273 1167
email sen.update@dfes.gsi.gov.uk

The Publications Centre