What is an Education Health and Care Plan?
Most children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) will have their needs met in local mainstream settings. These educational settings should try to meet the needs of these children and young people.
Some children and young people may not make expected progress, despite these efforts to identify, assess and meet the special educational need. In these cases, schools or parents should consider requesting an EHCNA – an Education Health & Care Plan Needs Assessment
This assessment involves a process of gathering information from the relevant people or agencies, including the views, interests and aspirations of the parents and child or young person.
The needs assessment will help to determine whether we need to make additional provision through an EHCP. These plans replace statements of SEN and Learning Difficulty Assessments (LDAs) for children and young people with the most complex needs, from birth up to the age 25
When deciding whether to issue an EHCP the local authority will take into account whether the needs of the child or young person can reasonably be met from resources normally available to settings.
An EHCNA will not always lead to an EHC plan. However it may help to decide how the education setting can meet the child or young person’s needs without an EHCP.
It should not take more than 20 weeks from requesting an assessment to a final EHCP being issued.
If you would like more information about this process, please contact the SEN assessment team on 01922 652871.