About the Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)
An EHCP is a legal document that describes any education, health and social care needs a child or young person may have. An EHCP is for a child or young person who needs extra support in school, beyond what the school can ordinarily provide. It is designed to help them achieve their goals and overcome barriers to learning.
An EHCP identifies what a school must put in place to help the child/young person and the outcomes necessary to achieve it. The EHCP will also set a timeframe during which the outcomes should be achieved and when they will be reviewed.
An EHCP is drawn up between:
- the Local Authority (Education)
- Health
- Social Care
- the child/young person and their family
The process is started when a request is made for an ‘EHC needs assessment’. (EHCNA).
What happens once a request for assessment has been submitted
Once the request has been received, the clock starts on the process and the Local Authority (LA) will process the application. You will receive a ‘decision’ letter within six weeks of submitting a request.
The LA might decide not to go ahead with the assessment. If this happens, you can appeal against the decision. You can find further information about this on the Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND), Information, Advice and Support Service (IASS) website.
If the EHCNA is agreed, you will be allocated an EHCP Coordinator who will work with you during the assessment period that follows. To help you to gain a better understanding of what is going well and not so well, you will be invited to a Family Conversation.
This is an opportunity to share information about:
- yourself, your child and your family
- the impact your child’s special educational needs have on their daily life
- any barriers that are preventing your child from accessing opportunities within the community
- who is involved in supporting you and your child
- you and your child’s hopes and aspirations for the future
- what outcomes you and your child would like to achieve
The LA will also gather information from all the professionals involved with your child, including:
- you and your child
- medical advice from health
- educational advice
- psychological advice from an educational psychologist
- advice/information from social care
- advice and information from any other appropriate agency
- any agency from which you or your child request
Everyone will have up to 6 weeks to send their advice back to the LA.
When the advice/information has been received, the LA will decide whether to issue an EHCP.
Your EHCP Coordinator will keep you be informed of progress throughout this time.
You can contact your EHCP Coordinator on:
Telephone: 01229 407 403
Email: SEND@westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk
if and when you want an update or any further information.