Independent Support
A quick young persons’ guide
Where did Independent Support come from?
• From 1 September 2014 the way that children and young
people with special educational needs and disabilities receive
support;
• Statements of Special Educational Need will change to
Education, Health and Care plans (EHC);
• Young people with a Learning Difficulty Assessment (LDA)
can request an EHC assessment;
• An EHC plan brings a child’s or young person’s education,
health and social care needs into a single document;
• Independent Support makes sure local services work together
to give good support to young people moving onto EHC plans.
So how can Independent Supporter help me?
Independent Supporters will:
• help you to understand how to access services;
• help you with an assessment to move you from a Statement of SEN or a Learning
Difficulty Assessment (LDA) to an EHC plan;
• help you put together your one page profile;
• work with lots of different services to help you collect all the information needed for
your EHC plan;
• give you information to help you understand personal budgets;
• tell you how to get more information if you need it or your Independent
Supporter is unable to help.
But will organisations really work together?
Yes and they are…
In each local authority, services are working together to make sure young people
receive good support.
The local offer sets out what services are available in your local area so there is
no confusion on how to access support.
Services that should be working together to make
it easier for young people are:
• Independent Support agency
• Information, Advice and Support Service
• Parent Carer Forum
• Local authority
Find out more by contacting your local Independent Support agency
How will the new EHCP process work?
Many Independent Supporters support a young
person by going through an agreed set of steps.
Usually this will take around 20 weeks.
Every local area will have protocols that set out
what level of support young people can expect.
If the young person has statement they will have a
review which must happen within 14 weeks.
How do I get in touch with my local IS service?
There are a number of different ways in which you can find out more about your
local independent support service, for example Visit the Council for Disabled Children’s website by using the following link to find
out who your local Independent Support provider is and how you can get in
touch with them.
http://www.councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/news/january-june-2015/getting-intouch-with-your-local-independent-supporter
Phone your local ‘Information, Advice and Support Service’ (IASS) or find them at
http://www.iassnetwork.org.uk/find-your-iass/
If you experience difficulties is finding your local service please do not hesitate to
get in touch with the IS team at: independentsupport@ncb.org.uk