Essex County Council (ECC) is making changes to the Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment process in 2024.
The goal of these changes is to make sure we issue plans within 20 weeks.
Changes will include:
- recruiting more agency Educational Psychologists (EP) to work on the outstanding assessment requests
- sharing EP advice with families and settings as soon as it is available, instead of waiting to share it as part of the draft Education Health and Care plan (EHCP)
- maximising EPs time, considering when and how they assess children
- preparing a draft EHCP more quickly, without also needing a needs assessment report
- replacing the Outcomes meeting with a Proposed Plan Meeting (PPM) for families to discuss the draft EHCP and suggest changes to the plan
- ensuring all families are offered a Way Forward meeting if the decision is made not to assess a child or young person
- adding information to support families attending a PPM to the Local Offer website
- increasing communication throughout the assessment process so families are aware of progress
You can read a letter from Director of Education, Clare Kershaw announcing these changes: