Working together to commission services that improve outcomes and reduce inequalities for children and young people aged 0-25 with SEND in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) and Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) work as strategic partners to improve support for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) across a wide range of services for education settings and families. Shared commitment to this integrated commissioning strategy for SEND will further strengthen those relationships, working alongside schools and other educational settings to ensure children and young people (CYP) with SEND and their families receive the right support, from the right people, in the right place, at the right time for, to help fulfil their potential.
Engagement and co-production with CYP, their families, schools and providers, is crucial for creating effective solutions; minimising duplication of services and resources, whilst ensuring efficient use of public funds to best support identified need and planned outcomes for academic achievement, personal resilience, social connections and independence.
This Strategy sets out our shared aims and objectives, including:
- understanding the needs of CYP with SEND in Lincolnshire
- CYP with SEND to receive the right support, at the right time, as close to home as possible and reducing inequalities they may face compared to their peers
- to make support options clear and accessible for CYP, parents, carers and professionals
- educate settings on how to best support CYP with SEND, making necessary adjustments and reduce exclusions
- improve joined up working between organisations to prioritise shared goals
- enhance transitions between education stages and services across the system
The Strategy identifies key achievements so far and our agreed future priorities, including:
- review of clinical interventions in schools to ensure CYP with complex health needs can receive clinically safe support at a school close to their home
- review and redesign of Lincolnshire’s speech and language therapy (SALT) service to meet the increased demand and to develop a wider integrated CYP therapy service
- better methods of sharing data and lived experience information from CYP and their families, and for this intelligence to be used more effectively to develop and improve services across the system
- reduce health inequalities for CYP with SEND
- improve accessibility to public transport and address bullying; programmes of work led by Lincolnshire Young Voices
- continue ongoing development of service for children in their early years with suspected or diagnosed SEND
- evaluate the impact of the Family Hubs Programme speech and language support pilot, identifying areas for improvement
- implement and test the delivery of ‘families first for children’ pathfinder programme to improve outcomes for Lincolnshire families
- transform Lincolnshire CYP mental health services to improve emotional wellbeing and mental health support for CYP and families
- develop diagnostic assessment processes to provide early identification of autism and suspected learning and intellectual disabilities and other neurodevelopmental conditions
- provide focused support for early signs of sensory processing difficulties in CYP
- develop joint mental health crisis provision and review processes for identifying and supporting CYP at risk
- strengthen accountability and joint decision-making processes to ensure better outcomes for CYP with SEND