Your Needs, Policies & Stand Up and Be Brave 13th July 2016 Dear All We know the times they are a’changin’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7qQ6_RV4VQ (are some of us feeling our age..??) Take care to heed the law as this protects your human rights…
Your Needs Have you had any kind of assessment regarding YOUR needs as a parent (and carer) in the last year? Please send us your experiences of any carers assessments you may recently been a part of especially the new Parent, Carer Needs Assessments (PCNAs) or the Team around the Child (TAC) meetings and/or similar. Just reply to this e-mail.
This request comes via the Local Children’s Safeguarding Board (LCSB); more details below: “Children with disabilities are often subject to Child in Need(CiN) plans, and reviews of their needs. The Local Authority will have duties towards some of those children. Child in Need and Team Around the Child meetings are a good opportunity for parents and carers to come together with professionals to review their child's needs to that everyone can work together well. Education, Health (community nursing, GP, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy etc) SEN Services, Children's Social Care and other services would be involved. It should be clear to everyone in complex disability or health conditions who the Lead Professional is, who will coordinate much of that network. The LSCB wishes to encourage families to take part in these local processes and to see them as a collaborative means to ensure the best interests of the child are considered and met. If required, they may be opportunity for independent advocates to support parents or represent the child's views and wishes.” The independent advocate part sounds interesting!
And here’s some more information - the legal definition of a Child in Need (it’s not meant to be jolly): “A child in need is defined under the Children Act 1989 as a child who is unlikely to achieve or maintain a reasonable level of health or development, or whose health and development is likely to be significantly or further impaired, without the provision of services; or a child who is disabled. Children in need may be assessed under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, in relation to their special educational needs, disabilities, or as a carer. Where an assessment takes place, it will be carried out by a social worker.” This document contains details of the statutory duties (from #26): www.workingtogetheronline.co.uk/chapters/chapter_one.html
Quote from the document below: “As we have seen above, children’s services authorities are under a statutory duty to assess all children in need. Accordingly, it would be unlawful for a local authority to impose its own ‘eligibility criteria’ for assessments. This would constitute an extra statutory hurdle for a child to
cross. However, once a child has been assessed, the law does not require that services be provided in every case.” councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/import/CDC_LH_Ch ap_3c.pdf As we understand it – if eligibility criteria changes (or is tightened), this is a change in law and all children & young people must be re-assessed.
More on Caring… To all parents & carers… please could you complete the Department of Health’s survey ‘Call for Evidence’ on the Carers Strategy: https://consultations.dh.gov.uk/carers/how-can-weimprove-support-for-carers Please copy your response to sendfamilyvoices@outlook.com This way, we can also collate the input and submit a collective response from Kingston & Richmond parent/carer communities. Any questions at all, please reply to this e-mail.
Achieving for Children policies & processes We are often asked how Achieving for Children (commissioned to provide children’s services in Kingston & Richmond boroughs) manage their different policies. It is a little confusing… If you want to make a Freedom of Information request, or raise a formal Complaint, you have to go via Kingston or Richmond Council: http://www.achievingforchildren.org.uk/foi If you have queries about Safeguarding or Data Protection, go via the Achieving for Children website: http://www.achievingforchildren.org.uk/Policies-Procedures-Plans If you want to know what data Achieving for Children hold about you, you can put in a Subject Access Request. Details here… “This right, commonly referred to as subject access, is created by section 7 of the Data Protection Act. It is most often used by individuals who want to see a copy of the information an organisation holds about them.” https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/principle-6-rights/subjectaccess-request/
TRAPHIC parent handbook From Twickenham & Richmond Parents of Hearing Impaired Children (TRAPHIC): their parent pack is now on the Local Offer, for all to read. Hard copies can be requested from Teddington Audiology, either hrch.audiology@nhs.net or 020 8714 4108 or electronic copy found at https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/uploads/afclocaloffer/document/file/420/Parent_Informati on_Pack_-_FINAL_VERSION-2.pdf “This handbook is for all parents of children with hearing impairments who live in the borough of Richmond Upon Thames, including children with a temporary conductive hearing loss such as glue ear, and children with permanent hearing loss. This book is for parents of children with any level of deafness from mild to profound.”
You will find that this handbook is also useful wherever you live. Plus, TRAPHIC consistently do a lot of good work across London for children & young people with Hearing Impairments. Worth a look!
Reminders TAG youth club MeToo&Co’s new Youth Club with TAG… “is now well and truly up and running. It takes place every Friday evening, all year round, even in the summer holidays, from 7.30 to 9.30pm and is for young people aged 15 – 25 with any disability or additional needs, and is particularly suitable for those who would have difficulty accessing mainstream youth clubs. They have a different theme and different activities each week. The cost is £5 per session. If you live in the borough of Richmond and your young person is interested in joining the TAG Youth Club this summer, please email info@metooandco.org.uk NB: The TAG Youth Club is also open to young people from all other boroughs, who do not need to book through Me too & Co.
Phyz Next Meeting: Friday 15th July 10:00 – 12:00 at The CrossWay Centre, East Twickenham, Richmond Road, TW1 2PD. Topic: EQUIPMENT Summer Holidays Family Picnic: Tuesday 2nd August 2:00pm – 5:00pm at the Woodland Garden, Bushy Park. (Meet by the Pheasantry Café) No need to let us know you’re coming but we do appreciate it if you can. Contact us on: info@phyz.org.uk
Express CIC July newsletter Their most recent newsletter, with details of their impressive range of support groups http://us3.campaignarchive2.com/?u=f01719d4eb48d6a9956c5eea9&id=dc0d51ffeb&e=4a6df307ec
Health… “Richmond Council and Clinical Commissioning Group are refreshing their joint strategy for the period to 2019. The refreshed version is now available for comment, prior to launch later in the year. A consultation was carried out in March 2016, which has helped to inform the strategy; now we are seeking feedback on the draft document…” https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/blog_articles/584-richmond-carers-draft-strategyconsultation
Mental Health - Richmond The Richmond Transformation Plan for Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing 2015-2020 can be found here: http://www.sendfamilyvoices.org/third-party-documents/ All comments, questions and queries welcome! Just reply to this e-mail.
Youth Councils – survey Richmond and Kingston Youth Councils are conducting an anonymous survey to find out what young people think and know about mental health. They will use the findings to try and ensure services around mental health better meet the needs of young people. They aim to reach out to as many young people as possible. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1OoMWY8Yn6gZVvNo9nyxKzSd3AwcqzBi0IMbY0f8Hpc/viewform?c=0&w=1&usp=mail_form_link The questionnaire must be completed by midnight on Sunday 24 July.
Transforming culture and practice in social care Written by the Council for Disabled Children (CDC). Date 19 Apr 2016 This report looks a little dry – but it is about changing future policy… “The report reflects on the emerging learning and promising practice from phases 1 & 2 of the Council for Disabled Children’s learning and innovation programme. This forms part of the Department for Education (DfE) Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme which supports 53 projects looking at the development, testing and sharing of more effective ways of supporting children and families who need help from children’s social care services.” http://councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/help-resources/resources/transforming-culture-andpractice-social-care
What’s new on the Local Offer… “Achieving for Children offer Wikis to families, children and young people with SEND to encourage the voice of the child and enable children and young people to take part in their own person centred planning. The course is FREE and open to anyone who is keen to learn about the innovative approach and advance their skills.” https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/blog_articles/591-wikis-and-multi-media-advocacy-rix-andthe-open-university-launch-a-new-free-online-course This is another family's story with a Wiki-based EHCP, written by parent Claire Watts. Claire has been preparing her son, Alfie, aged 10 and who has Down’s Syndrome, to move from a mainstream primary school into a special secondary school. http://www.specialneedsjungle.com/using-online-ehcp-parents-story/
#summer on the Local Offer Use #summer in the Search Engine in the Local Offer to find activities during the summer holidays https://www.afclocaloffer.org.uk/site_search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search_site%5Bterm%5D=%2 3summer
LDAs Learning Disability Assessment (LDA) cease to have any legal status from September 2016. If your young person has an LDA that has not been transferred to an Education, Health & Care Plan – and if it should be – please contact the SEN Team, or go via the Local Offer Contact Us page.
Stand up for me… “Stand up for me and be brave” is what young people want from social workers In a series of talks to social work students, young people share what they want from professionals involved in their care. These bullet points are from an article that covers all social workers, not just the specialist workers we see. That said – they still make sense… Here is young people’s advice for social workers. Be brave. Stand up for me; I want you on my side. Just because things are always done one way does not mean they are right for me. The care system is not perfect and needs to change continually, we might be the ones to make it better. Having friends is vital to me; don’t forget this when making plans. Life story work is important; I need to understand my past to move forward. Make time to listen to me. Put your notepad down. Hide your work ID card when you go out with me. Don’t only see me when I have been in trouble, when you need information or because you have to. This is my life. My relationship with family will probably last longer than the one with children’s services, help me work out these relationships if and when I need support. Understand that having lots of changes of social workers makes it difficult to talk with someone new, as I don’t know how long you will be around for. As ever, if you have any queries at all, please ask and we'll always do our best to find an answer. With best wishes, Romany (for Richmond) and Caroline North (for Kingston) Phone: 07469 746 145 www.sendfamilyvoices.org