Training and Written Guidance for Employees responsible for Undertaking the Assessments of Disabled Children - Find a freedom of information request

I seek the information detailed below, in order to ascertain the level of training and written guidance received by the those working for your authority who are responsible for undertaking the assessments of disabled children and their families for disability specific support services under the Children Act 1989 and the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970.

1. In relation to your staff members who are (or were) involved in the actual process of assessing the care and support needs of disabled children and their parents for the purposes of the Children Act 1989 and the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 (referred to as 'assessors'), please provide the following information for each of your authority's last three financial years (for which you have published accounts) concerning the training courses that these assessors have attended that were specifically directed at ensuring that they had adequate understanding of the care and support needs of disabled children, namely:

a. The name of each course;

b. The duration of each course;

c. The number of your authority's assessors who attended each course; and

d. A copy of the training programme for each of these courses.

2. Please provide a copy (in printed or electronic form) of the written guidance that your authority provides to its assessors, for assessing the care and support needs of disabled children.

3. If your authority has a social work team that has specific responsibility for assessing the needs of disabled children please provide the following details, namely:

a. The name of this team. And;

b. The number of full time equivalent social workers who currently work in this team.

1. Please find attached copies of Lincolnshire Children's Services Annual Training programme 2021-22 and the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Partnership (LSCP) annual training programme.

Both these documents provide details of all relevant training courses available to Children's Services staff. In terms of children with disabilities there are a range of specific and tailored training courses, with two particular courses being:

• Working with Children with Disabilities – 368 course completions by social care staff since 2018
• SEND e-learning - 384 course completions by social care staff since 2019

In addition there are a range of further related courses including Autism, ADHD and Foetal Alcohol Syndrome and other assessment training courses provided throughout the year.

Over the past three years the numbers of social care staff completing these training courses are as follows:

• ADHD – 161
• Autism – 145
• Assessment Training – 56
• Foetal Alcohol Syndrome - 95

It should also be noted that the attached programmes also contain a range of other training courses where children with disabilities issues will be discussed within a wider subject, for example safeguarding training.

2. There are a number of areas where this information is within LCC procedures:

• 2.2.1 Children and Young People Aged 0-25 with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

• 1.1.3 Children's Services Policy, Values and Principles

• 2.1.7 Short Term Breaks - Care for Disabled Children

• Safeguarding disabled children Practice guidance

Please find the Vision Document attached.

3. a. Children with Disabilities Team.

b. 19.