Camhs, highlights & 56 case studies!

CAMHS, highlights & 56 case studies!

31st August 2015 Dear All School terms start soon, so before we swing into action again, here is a round-up of current news and a few reminders… (Word version of this bulletin is also attached.)

Kingston parent’s meeting – 10th September "Dear Kingston Parents, Hoping that you have all enjoyed your summer break and you are preparing yourself for the big return to school? Please come and join us for an extraordinary parent forum meeting.

DATE: Thursday 10th September TIME: 7-30pm In order to ensure we find a suitable venue in Kingston or Tolworth, please reply to this e-mail to say whether or not you will be attending. Details of the venue will be sent next weekend.

Very best wishes, Caroline North "

CAMHS Summary Report You may remember that earlier this year we teamed with Healthwatch Richmond, ADHD Richmond and Richmond NAS to produce a parent/carer survey on the CAMHS (Children’s and Adolescent Mental Health Services).

We also worked with Healthwatch and local schools to produce a similar survey aimed at understanding student’s and school’s experiences of CAMHS. The Summary Report has been published is attached and can be found here http://www.healthwatchrichmond.co.uk/richmond-camhs-summary-report or www.richmondsendfamilyvoice.org/useful-documents We hope that the results of this survey will be used to inform the 2016 CAMHS Strategy, help to shape CAMHS services and inform future Healthwatch work about CAMHS. Express CIC undertook a similar survey in Kingston, and we hope to hear from them soon.

In the meantime, representatives from Healthwatch and RSFV will report back to the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board at the end of September.

Children and Young Person’s Listening Event Richmond Health and Wellbeing Board would like to invite parents, carers, young people, and the organisations that work with them to share their views about the challenges and opportunities for young people in Richmond to stay healthy and well.

As well as a wider debate on keeping young people healthy and ensuring joined up services, there will be workshops on the following areas for more in-depth discussion:

   

Special Educational Need and Disabilities (SEND) Emotional Wellbeing and mental health Services for under fives Tackling risky behaviours

Details are: Monday 14th September, 6.00pm-8.00pm (registration and refreshments at 5.30pm) Heatham House, Whitton Rd, Twickenham TW1 1BH Due to the capacity restrictions at the venue you will need to register prior to attending.

Please RSVP by the 4th September to Sophia Coward publichealth@richmond.gov.uk stating which of the workshops you would like to attend, giving a first and second preference.

Highlights : EHC Plans & SEN Transport As we are all about to jump into a new term, here’s are reminder of some of the headlines from our last bulletin. You can find the complete text and previous bulletins here: www.richmondsendfamilyvoice.org/news The SEN Team are crafting a full pack of information for schools which will also be available on the Local Offer in September.

The EHCP templates are being revised and an updated version – one year on – will be ratified at the SEND Implementation meeting on 7th September. This template should remain stable for a while, whilst the SEN Team test its effectiveness.

A particular area of development is ‘section A’ of the EHC Plan NHS England wrote to all Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) reminding them of their obligations to children and young people with Special Educational Needs & Disabilities. For parents, it’s worth reading this (relatively brief) letter, so you know what you can reasonably expect. We can forward a copy on request.

IPSEA’s very concise EHCP Checklist (April 2015) is here: http://www.ipsea.org.uk/file-manager/resources/ipsea-ehc-plan-checklist-2014-sept.pdf SEN Transport; if you have any immediate queries about SEN Transport, please contact one of the following:   

Charlie Donhou (Richmond Taxi’s) Tel: 020 8547 5540 charlie.donhou@achievingforchildren.org.uk Rachel Freeman (Richmond Depot) Tel: 020 8547 6147 (desk) or 0208 892 7094 (depot) or 07826 863 142 (mobile) rachel.freeman@achievingforchildren.org.uk Molly Jones (Kingston) Tel: 020 8547 4708 molly.jones@achievingforchidren.org.uk

If you would like to be a part of the steering committee for the SEN Transport Consultation, please contact Richmond SEND Family Voice, or LEAD Kingston by replying to this e-mail.

Updated DfE advice Transition reviews begun on or after 1/9/15 - extra four weeks for statements “Minister Edward Timpson announced last month that the maximum time period for a local authority starting a Transfer Review of a statement of SEN on or after 1 September 2015 would be extended by four weeks. This was one of the Department’s measures to support an effective transfer process, as outlined in his letter to local authorities.

We are writing to let you know that the legislation to make this change has now been published and can be accessed here. It comes into force on 1 September 2015. To accompany the new legislation we have published a new edition of the DfE on Transition Reviews.

The effect of this legislative change is that for Transfer Reviews for statements commenced on or after 1 September 2015, the timescales for the two phases are as follows: Notification period – The local authority must provide a minimum of two weeks’ notice of the date of the start of the Transfer Review process.

Transition Review – There is a maximum period of 18 weeks from the notified start date.” https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-managing-changes-to-legislation-fromseptember-2014--3 Updated 27th August 2015

NICE The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence helps health and social care services get better. They are making a new guide about services for children and adults with learning disabilities. The guide will be about the care needs of people with learning disabilities. They are starting a group to help to decide what to put in the guide - and want people to help them.

The ‘easy read’ version is here: https://www.nice.org.uk/get-involved/join-a-committee/lay-member-services-for-peoplewith-learning-disabilities-and-behaviour-that-challenges The ‘not so easy to read’ version is here: NICE is seeking to appoint members to the Guideline Committee for Models of service delivery for people with learning disabilities and behaviour that challenges.

Become a service user, parent or carer member of the committee developing NICE guidance https://www.nice.org.uk/get-involved/join-a-committee/lay-member-service-model-forpeople-with-learning-disabilities-and-behaviour-that-challenges-gc

Case Studies (56 of them!)

“CDC have a page dedicated to case studies relating to parents, carers and young people who have received support funded through the Independent Support programme. Each case study illustrates what support was offered and just as importantly – what the experience was in light of that support.

These case studies are important to reflect the difference that occurs when you apply the Section 19 Principles (of the SEND Reforms), backed with the involvement of Independent Support to ensure they are considered every step of the way.

When parents, children and young people are supported, empowered and encouraged to express their views, identify goals and aspirations relating to their own future (as expected in Section 19) it should mean, that not only will they have their say but they will be heard and

should see a different pathway opening up ahead as a result. Hopefully it will also mean they will continue to make their own decisions and grow from this point forward.” http://www.councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/what-we-do/our-networks/independentsupport/case-studies

Right Chair, Right Time, Right Now On Monday 20th July the new Wheelchair Charter was launched at Speaker’s House in the Houses of Parliament. The RIGHT CHAIR RIGHT TIME RIGHT NOW campaign aims to raise awareness of the vast differences in the quality of wheelchair services across the country The Wheelchair Charter encourages MPs, CCGs, the general public and others to pledge their support to the campaign and to take positive action to help bring about improvements: http://www.nnpcf.org.uk/the-national-wheelchair-alliance-launches-charter-and-nationalcampaign/ The Wheelchair Leadership Alliance was formed after the second NHS England wheelchair summit held on 27 November 2014. For more details about the Alliance you can look at the web site here: www.rightwheelchair.org.uk

What’s new on the Local Offer Karen Lowry (Local Offer Content manager) has been busy all summer, ready for when the rest of us step away from the ice creams and deckchairs (if we’ve been lucky enough!).

Karen has created a page illustrating the changes made to the Local Offer since it went live.

This is a legal requirement; because it both demonstrates that the Local Offer is a living resource and thus provides more support to parents. Here is the first instalment of You Said, We Did for the Local Offer: http://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/pages/home/find-out-more-about-the-local-offer/you-saidwe-did Lena Vantol, who runs the commissioned Information Services within Kids, is working closely with Karen. Here is a message from Lena: “If you would like to know about local services in your area that can support your child and family members, I would recommend starting with the Local Offer website. There is already lots of information on there, and lots more yet to go on. Importing such a large amount of data is a mammoth task so it will take time to get everything on there, but it is being worked on all the time. There is now a calendar of events page: http://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/events (something like I used to provide when I ran this service from Richmond AID).

I am working with the Local Offer Contents Manager, Karen Lowery on frequently asked questions to be covered on the website and looking out for gaps in service information.

Why not make it one of your ‘favourites’ on your computer or laptop? If, however, internet surfing is not for you, preferring to make contact with a human being, please feel free to contact me by phone, email or arrange to meet up and I will be happy to provide you with information and guidance on a range of services.”

Phone: 0208 831 6179 (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays) 020 8547 6200 (Wednesday, Thursday and Fridays) E-mail: lena.vantol@kids.org.uk

Council for Disabled Children (CDC) Annual Stakeholder Survey A notice for the professionals who receive these bulletins…

“The CDC annual stakeholder survey has now gone live. The survey is asking professionals and practitioners working in SEND (across the VCS, private and public sectors) for their views on the SEND reforms, where/how they receive information and what support they would like to see. By completing the survey, you will be given the opportunity to win a free ticket to CDC’s annual conference. The deadline for completing the survey is 18th September and CDC will announce the winner of this ticket on the same day. The survey can be accessed at the following link https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CDCsurvey15 “ As ever, if you have any queries at all, please ask and we'll do our best to find an answer.

With best wishes, Romany (for Richmond) and Caroline North (for Kingston) Phone: 07469 746 145 www.richmondsendfamilyvoice.org