CB SENDIASS CASEWORK
CB SENDIASS can offer you information, advice and support that will empower and enable you to move forward independently. The level of support we offer will be determined on a case-by-case basis, with a view to supporting as many families as possible.
If you have had previous support and your case was closed, we cannot allocate the same officer. All new enquiries are processed as appropriate, dependant on the enquiry. If it is determined that an officer is required to support you moving forward, this will be determined by the level of need and capacity of the officers.
CB SENDIASS are impartial and at arm’s length of the Local Authority and other statutory organisations. This means that we do not take sides, please see our impartiality policy for further information.
We cannot give opinions or make promises.
The advice we give is based on what the law says, local policies and procedures. We do not hold any power over the Local Authority or school’s policies, practices, or procedures, we can only raise where policies / procedures may not be in accordance with the relevant laws.
CB SENDIASS do not attend meetings about a child or young person unless the young person or their parent/guardian has directly requested our attendance and is present at the meeting. Our attendance is determined by the needs and circumstances of the parent/guardian, child, or young person and by the availability and capacity of the service.
WE REQUIRE AT LEAST 2 WEEKS' NOTICE FOR ANY MEETING REQUESTS.
We strongly feel that you directly engaging with the education setting, service or Local Authority is the best way to achieve the best outcomes. Our first aim is to give you the information you need to attend meetings, raise questions, and make confident decisions. This might include offering advice before and after meetings. We can look at EHC plans, documents, and reports so that your feel confident about the questions to ask, what is reasonable to expect and what you would like to achieve. We anticipate that most questions and concerns can be supported in this way.
When we can attend, and with your consent to do so, we may take part in discussions and help you raise your views. wishes and help you understand and exercise your rights. We support solution focused discussions and may raise points around legislations and processes or highlight points from documents but cannot influence outcomes. We do not take part in decision-making processes or judge decisions; we cannot instruct decisions to be made.
We can only offer information and advice if you live in Central Bedfordshire.
If you do not live within Central Bedfordshire, you will need to contact the SENDIASS for your Local Authority.
Find your local IAS service (councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk)
Please be patient with us, we are a small team with an extremely high demand on the service, we may not always be able to respond as quickly as we would like.
To ensure we process information efficiently, please always quote the above SID number in all correspondence with us.
This includes emails we are copied into.
In our continuous effort to maintain the highest standards of support and to ensure we are as efficient as possible we kindly request that we are only copied into emails that are relevant to us, and we will only respond if there has been a direct request for us to do so.
If we have tried calling you, and are unable to make contact, we will leave a message and try calling again, we will also send an email. Please do not leave voicemails and emails for the same enquiry. Our voicemail is checked once a day and processed, usually in the next morning.
Emails are processed daily, the following day, allowing a full 24-hour window for all emails to arrive. This helps ensure that correspondence is not missed.
Please do not send emails to officer's personal email addresses, they are not monitored and there will be a delay in our processing, which can result in a delay in response times.
ALL EMAILS MUST COME TO: support@sendiass.co.uk
This includes meeting invites and any documentation. Please send documents to us as attachments, stating clearly what they relate to.
We are unable to access links sent from the EHC team, google drive etc.
If you are sending password protected documents, please send the password in a separate email, stating which document it relates to.
SUPPORT WITH TRIBUNALS
In the first instance we will email you the relevant information and advice, if we do not hear back from you, we send a check in email in around 2 weeks to see how things are, and how you wish to proceed with the Way forward Meeting (for Refusal to Assess or Issue) or Mediation.
We will send 2 check ins, if we do not hear back, we will assume that you have everything covered and look to close the case.
SENDIASS can support at Mediation, however our attendance is dependent on the availability of an officer.
If you would like support at mediation, please inform us as soon as a date is set. We will check if someone can accompany you. If we are unable to attend, we can arrange a preparatory call with you before the mediation, should you wish.
SENDIASS do not represent parents at meetings, and we cannot influence any decision making, we are there to support and with your permission, highlight any areas that may need raising.
When you are ready to appeal, we ask that you have all the requested information prepared and ready to ensure a smooth process and enhance efficiency. This initiative-taking approach allows us to focus on providing you with the best possible support throughout the appeal process.
If you would like us to provide ongoing support throughout the appeal process, please send us the registration document from the Tribunal when you receive it. By providing the registration document ensures we can provide efficient and effective support throughout the appeal process. Thie registration document provides the timeline and important dates, which will allow our officers to allocate their time efficiently and schedule calls or meetings as needed.
Due to the team’s capacity, we are currently unable to attend tribunal hearings. There may be exceptional circumstances of which will be determined by the SENDIASS Manager. SENDIASS are not solicitors and cannot represent at hearings.
You may be entitled to legal aid If you are on a low income or receiving certain types of benefits, you may be eligible for legal aid. In some cases, a young person may qualify for legal aid in their own right. The legal aid eligibility keycard sets out details of who qualifies.
Please let us know if you are in receipt of information, support or advice from another SEND advocate or legal professional such as a solicitor. If you are then regrettably, we are unable to support you with the appeal.
CLOSING CASEWORK
We will close your case:
- When the agreed outcomes are achieved.
- If the child, young person, or parent/carer decide they no longer wish to have support from us
- If the child, young person, or parent/carer is using another service to access information, advice, and support around the same issue(s). Please let us know if you are in receipt of information, support or advice from another SEND advocate or legal professional such as a solicitor. If you are then regrettably, we are unable to support you with casework. This is to avoid the potential for conflicting advice and help us support other families, who do not have access to other services.
- We have tried to contact you three times or more but have had no response.
When we close your case, we will send you an email to let you know, with a link for our feedback form.
You can of course come back to us at any time should you require Information, Advice or Support pertaining to SEND in education.
CB SENDIASS is not an emergency service; we cannot provide emergency support and intervention.