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Education, Health and Care Plans

What is an Education, Health and Care Plan?

The Children and Families Act puts children and young people at the centre of the assessment and planning process so that outcomes are co-produced with parents/carers and/or with young people themselves; 16 to 25 year olds should be especially involved with this.

Education, health and care (EHC) plans are legal documents outlining the support a child or young person will receive to meet their special needs across education, health and social care and achieve positive outcomes. The focus is very much on what is important for children and young people – what they and you want to achieve now and in the future.

Children and young people aged from birth to 25 with special educational needs and/or a disability may be eligible for an EHC Plan.

For an introduction to the Education, Health and Care Plan and how it may help your family, have a look at this video from the Council for Disabled Children

Information Contained in an Education, Health and Care Plan

The information contained in an Education, Health and Care Plan covers a child or young person's education, health and care needs, their desired outcomes, and the range of multi-disciplinary support that will be provided to help them achieve their outcomes and aspirations. This information is split into different sections.

Section A: All about me. This is the section where the child / young person and/or their parents can write about themselves. What are their interests, hopes and dreams? What is their story so far? What makes a good day and what makes a bad day for them?

Section B: My education needs. This section gives details of the child / young person's special educational needs (e.g. communication, cognition and learning).

Section C: My health needs. This section gives details of the child / young person's health needs which relate to their special educational needs or to a disability.

Section D: My social care needs. This section gives details of the child / young person's social care needs which relate to their special educational needs or to a disability.

Section E: My outcomes. This section contains information about the outcomes for the child or young person that have been agreed and the steps needed to achieve them.  

Section F: The special educational provision required for me to achieve my outcomes. This explains what is needed, what is going to happen, who is going to do it, what skills, qualifications or training they require, how often it will be made available and when it will be reviewed.

Section G: Health Provision. This section sets out any health provision reasonably required by the learning difficulties or disabilities which result in the child or young person having special educational needs.

Section H1: Social Care Provision. This section sets out any social care provision which must be made for a child or young person under 18 resulting from Section 2 of the chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 (CSDPA).

Section H2: Social Care Provision. Any other social care provision reasonably required by the learning difficulties or disabilities which result in the child or young person having special educational needs.

Section I: Education Placement. This is where the young person or their parents/carers may express a choice about the nursery / school / college they would like the young person to attend. 

Section J: Personal Budget. If a young person or their parents/carers request a personal budget, details of this will be specified here. 

Section K: This section lists all of the reports and assessments that have been used to write the EHCP. 

 

Education, Health and Care Plans are Person-Centred

The EHC plan puts children, young people and families at the centre of the assessment and planning process. This is called "person-centred planning". Sixteen to 25 year olds should be especially involved in the planning, but all children and their families should be involved from the beginning. You may be involved in a MAPPING session looking at you and your child’s aspirations for the future.

 

The video below from the Council for Disabled Children explains what we mean by putting the young person and their family at the centre of the plan:

The Education, Health and Care Plan Means Joined-Up Care

The Local Authority is responsible for making sure services across the three areas (Education, Health and Social Care) are brought together and that the plan is co-ordinated between those services and the family.

Joint assessments will help parents and young people to ‘tell their story’ only once and will focus on the outcomes that children and young people can achieve as well as identifying the support needed to do this.

 

How can I apply for an EHCP?

Usually you will apply for an EHCP after some intervention at SEN Support and using the Assess/Plan/Do/Review cycle to try out different interventions with the support of a range of professionals as well as your child’s school. You can find out a lot more about this in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Support without an Education Health Care Plan document 

If your child needs more support than is available at SEN Support you will usually make an application for a Needs Assessment for an EHCP in collaboration with your child’s school/nursery, The School SENCO will usually lead on this with your support. Other professionals may be asked to work with your child as part of this process, or usually would have been involved at an earlier stage so that lots of professional information is available to help inform decision making.

You can also apply for an EHC Plan yourself if you need to, although you will need to send lots of supporting information with your application

Click here for the Profile document

There will always be situations where you will need to move straight to make a Needs Assessment request without using the Assess/Plan/Do/Review cycle/s at SEN Support e.g. after a traumatic brain injury, moving into the country, or if your child’s needs are particularly complex. All applications are looked at individually.

You may also like to take a look at one of the EHCP Easy Read guides below