Our Advocacy Services
We know from personal experience with our own family, how difficult it can be to navigate the bureaucracy of the SEND system, to fight for your child's needs.
We can provide support in the areas listed below and we always keep our fees to an absolute minimum to ensure you retain the most resources possible for any other professional reports that you may need to supplement and support the process. Our services are based on a fee earner rate of £50 per hour, which is much lower that many other Advocates in the sector.
We use existing legislation, statutory guidance and frameworks and the evidence available to support your case. Below we have provided a guide of the cost of each services based on the number of hours they take on average, but each family's case is unique so these may differ slight depending on your needs.
EHCP Draft Review
A focus of sections B and F of the plan, but we can also advise on the approach to change of placement (section I), should you have concerns that the LA have got this wrong or have not listened to parental and/or child/young person preference.
We can review the content of your draft plan and advise on potential changes to ensure the needs of your child or young person are fully catered for, to ensure they get the education they need, prior to the LA finalising the plan.
Refusal to Assess or Issue
Appeals at Tribunal can be heard for:
Refusal to Asses or Issue a plan
Plan Content/School Placement
We can review the evidence available from the process up to that point and advise and support you with the appeal process, preparing your grounds for appeal. We can also support you with your application to Tribunal and pull together the required evidence bundles to help you navigate the process.
EHC Needs Assessment
The needs assessment is the first stage of the EHCP process. There are two legal tests that local authorities must consider when reviewing an application for a needs assessment, which focus on whether your child MAY have SEN. However these can often be overlooked by LAs.
We can help you build a strong request for a needs assessment, based on the legal tests and any evidence you have. We can also advise you on how to secure additional evidence to support your application.
Working Document Support
During the appear process, the EHCP becomes a working document, which is passed back and forth between you and the LA to agree the required amendments prior to the Tribunal hearing.
This process can be a daunting prospect for parents. We can support you with drafting your working document and discussing the contents directly with the LA, ensuring the resulting plan is robust and quantifiable.
Mediation & Meeting Support
The process of securing an EHCP, an all stages, can involve many meetings and calls with the LA and School. we can help you with those meetings by ensuring you're armed with all the information you need and you're fully prepared, including current legislation and regulations.
We can also accompany you to these meetings if needed and support negotiations with school and the local authority.
