Dear all, Welcome to our November newsletter! It's been a packed month so far, even though it's dark outside and everyone might quite like to stay tucked up in bed! This year's Anti-Bullying Week (17th-21st November) had a special focus on young people, including those who have special educational needs or a disability, who become victims of bullying. Read on for more details about the programme. We also had a productive catch-up with our CDC Council members last week and it was great to see so many new faces there. If your organisation is not a member yet - why not sign up here? Membership is 100% free and you could be at our next meeting in 2015. Best wishes, Hannah Mackay Communications and Membership Officer Council for Disabled Children hmackay@ncb.org.uk
Reforms and Policy update Care Act guidance New statutory guidance is available on Part One of the Care Act 2014 which will come into effect in April 2015. The Act pulls together threads from over a dozen different Acts into a single, modern framework for care and support. Children's Minister letters Children's Minister Edward Timpson has written to teachers, colleges,
local authorities and parents about the SEND reforms. Find the updated letters here. Pathfinder packs Mott Macdonald, who run the pathfinder programme across England and Wales, have published their more recent set of information packs which contain information on 0 - 25 Coordinated Assessment Process and Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans, Personal Budgets, Local Offer, Joint Commissioning, Preparing for Adulthood and Engagement and Participation of Children, Young People, Parents and Carers Pathfinder evaluation The pathfinder programme has been evaluated and the report from that evaluation is now available to view and download here. It focusses on the development of personal budgets and integrated resourcing in eight pathfinder and non-pathfinder areas. Reflection and next steps What have we all learnt from the implementation of the Children and Families Act so far? See the 'Events' section below for how you can join us in discussing the challenges and successes in our Spring conferences. Consultations A people powered NHS NHS England. Closes March 2015
Resources Young offenders with SEN Part of the new legal framework of the Children and Families Act 2014 will introduce new requirements for supporting children and young people with SEN when they are detained in youth custody. This fact sheet explains the new legal duties and rights as set out in the Act and which will come into force in April 2015. The Young Person's Guide to the Children and Families Act 2014 This guide, written by the Department for Education, has been written to give young people a good summary of what they need to know
about the Children and Families Act 2014. Healthwatch, children and young people Briefings for the national children and young people's sector on the role of Healthwatch England and local Healthwatch in regard to children and young people and how to become involved in their work. Includes case studies. Making it Personal - Family Guide to Personalisation, Personal Budgets and Education, Health and Care Plans This guidance for families is a revised version of the handbook forms part of a suite of new guidance by KIDS to support the personalisation agenda and the implementation of the Children and Families Act 2014.
All these resources and more in our resources hub!
Counting the Costs Contact a Family are have published their Counting the Costs Report which is based on feedback from over 3,500 families about their finances. Find out more about what their using their findings to do and how you can get involved in the campaign.
News from our networks Early Intervention Last year, the Challenging Behaviour Foundation (CBF) brought a group of academic experts together to consider the available evidence and data on children with learning disabilities and behaviour described as challenging. This work forms part of the Early Intervention Project (delivered in partnership by CBF and CDC). Click here to see the briefing paper on children with learning disabilities whose behaviours challenge. In order to help the project explore the kind of support available locally for children with a learning disability whose behaviour
challenges, we would really appreciate it if you could complete a survey: Survey if you commission services Survey if you are a practitioner/professional Survey if you are a family carer Developing effective anti-bullying practice CDC has joined forces with the Anti-Bullying Alliance, Achievement for All, Contact a Family and Mencap on an exciting and innovative programme of work to reduce the incidence and impact of bullying on children with special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities in schools. Read more about the programme here. This year, Anti-Bullying Week had a special focus on reducing bullying of those young people with SEN or a disability. Watch the official video for the week here. Preparing for Adulthood The Preparing for Adulthood (PfA) team are asking young people (between the ages of 14-25) to send in their Christmas card designs. All entries will be in with a chance to win a prize and have the winning design published on our website and featured in the PfA Christmas ebulletin. More details here. PfA also have a great new film on young people and decision making. Tools for CCGs on the impact of the SEND reforms on health services CDC's health team have been funded by NHS England to develop a resource for clinical commissioning groups to explain the Children & Families Act 2014 and its implications for health services. The resource is full of tools, films and examples from practice to help areas implement the reforms and the team have been touring the country, discussing it. The interactive training is ready to use! Social care CDC are currently working on a resource that aims to support implementation of the SEND Reforms in Social Care , on behalf of the Department for Education. It will include a variety of examples of good practice in the form of case studies and local protocols.
Events CDC Spring conferences What have we all learnt from implementation of the Children and Families so far and how can we be prepared for further reforms in 2015? Join us in London or Leeds next year in our Spring Conferences. These will be key events for senior management and delivery staff across education, health and social care; voluntary and community sector employees; local authority staff; parent carers and more! Find out more about the conferences and how to book your spot here. Your rights, your future training CDC and the Early Support programme are currently offering free face-to-face training workshops for young people on the changes to their SEN and disability support. These will be taking place across England. To find out more, please head to our website here. Save the date! Ambitious about Autism's Finished at School programme is running it's final event on improving transition for young people with autism for school to college on the 15th March 2015 in London. the event will feature the launch of their good practice guide based on the work of the programme. To register your interest please email your name and organisation to training@ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk