Council for Disabled Children, July 2019
Over the past decade, successive governments have brought in a range of legislation, policies and programmes in an attempt to deliver on a vision of coordinated, person-centred care and better outcomes for children and young people with SEND. However, despite this visible drive towards integration, services for children with SEND remain fragmented. The reality of integrated working between different services and agencies, such as NHS and local authority services, children’s and adults’ services and specialist and universal services, is challenging. The report identifies key factors that are helping and hindering the integration of services around special education needs and disability (SEND). The report finds that:
- • The system of disabled children’s services, nationally and locally, is highly complex and fragmented. Those who work in it face multiple practical barriers to integration.
- Leadership is the most important factor in enabling or hindering integration; service leaders play a pivotal role in uniting agencies around a whole-system approach to SEND and wider vulnerable children’s services.
- Good quality population data is vital to developing a whole-system approach, and the measurement of shared outcomes.
- Local Areas’ efforts to integrate services in the complex SEND system must be part of a wider strategic vision
Click here to view the full report.