Barnsley SENDIASS

Early help and early intervention are key parts of the support available for families and young people. They include a number of processes such as:

If you need more support, a referral to the disabled children's team (DCT) might be made. This could result in a 'child in need' process, and sometimes a social worker from the DCT assigned to support you.

The SEND code of practice describes how early help processes can help and support you. It describes how all services must work with you and 'co-produce' any support plan. Your family must be at the centre of this process and your views, wishes and feelings taken into account when making decisions.

Depending on your circumstances, there may be a number of different outcomes which can include:

  • advice, guidance and support
  • social care
  • short breaks
  • financial support

Referrals for an early help assessment

When a referral for an early help assessment (EHA) is made, you may find that a family support worker is assigned to you for a short period. During this time, a meeting is held every few weeks. The 'lead person' will arrange these and send out invites. The lead person will also complete a document with you, with agreed actions by all parties that attend the meeting.

There's a wide variety of people and professionals who can attend these meetings. These can be:

  • school staff members (someone who knows your child)
  • health professionals (possibly as a result of an assessment process)
  • other specialists.

You can ask the lead person to invite a certain person too.

We're able to attend these meetings if there is a discussion about SEND. We won't attend these meetings if it's to solely discuss non-SEND related issues.

Referrals to the children's disability or child in need teams

If you need more support, perhaps after an early help assessment process, a referral can be made to the children's disability team (CDT). You can make this referral yourself at any time, by contacting the CDT and asking them to conduct a needs assessment. You can also ask the team to support you to outline your:

  • needs as a parent/carer or young person
  • child's needs
  • needs of your child's siblings

The CDT can give you with more details if needed, including how they decide what support they can give you. 

If you're not confident online you can ask for a paper form, and ask that their response is also in writing.

Support that could be provided

Support is assessed on a case-by-case basis. It could include:

  • a personal assistant
  • assistance for a holiday
  • financial assistance

You can find examples on what support can be provided on the child in need section of the Child Law website.

If you're looking after a family member, you're a foster carer, or you have an adopted a child, the children's disability team, or the post-adoption service might also be able to support you.

If your EHCP says 'no social care involvement'

An education, health and care plan (EHCP) not only includes educational support, but also any support and provision provided by social services. This could be related to education or training, such as speech and language therapy.

If social care (such as short breaks, early help assessment (EHA) or a family support worker) are involved, in sections D and H of your EHCP you'll see a list of what needs and provision are there to support you.

If these sections are blank, or if they state 'no social care involvement', we advise contacting your EHC coordinator named in the back of the plan.

The support provided can have a major impact on you or your child. This must be detailed in an EHC plan so everyone involved can see what is working.

Short breaks

Short breaks can provide time for a child or young person with a disability to attend an activity they might not have an option to do otherwise. These can take many forms, such as:

  • after school or evening activity club
  • disability football
  • overnight and weekend respite

A short break can give the rest of the family time to do other things. This could be supporting other family members, household tasks, or just having a rest.

You can find more advice and how to apply for short breaks by contacting the Families Information Service.

Personal budgets and direct payments

If a child or young person has an education, health and care plan (EHCP), it's possible to request a direct payment so you can organise the support needed in the EHCP yourself. For example, you might prefer to arrange the provision of a speech and language therapist from a private service, rather than the NHS. A direct payment would be used to provide this.

When the EHCP is reviewed, usually every year, you can speak to the EHCP coordinator. You can request a personal budget on part of the provision (Section F) as detailed in the plan. The EHCP coordinator will then write to you to explain if this is possible. If they don't provide this, please get in touch with us to discuss how we can support you and give you advice on whether or not to appeal.