Support SEND Kids secures funding to fast-track creation of pioneering EHCP

Support SEND Kids secures funding to fast-track creation of pioneering EHCP digital workflow  

 24th March 2022: Support SEND Kids, a charity focused on helping children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) access the right educational support, has today announced that it has secured a grant of just under £10,000 from the Worship Company of Information Technologists (WCIT) to create a digital workflow and checklist for SEND parents struggling to manage the endless flow of tasks involved in accessing their children’s human right to an education.

Support SEND Kids will leveraging the legal knowledge already on their platform and further develop an AI-powered searchable database of Education Health Care Plans (EHCP) to allow parents to access information in a unique way.

The news follows the launch by Support SEND Kids of an on-line version of the ‘Noddy Guide’, a no-nonsense guide to SEN law reimagined by the authors David Wolfe QC and Leon Glenister in accessible Q&A format for the first time in its 15 year history. Support SEND Kids has also released a short film today of the barristers discussing this launch and what they see happening to SEND law; at the same time as hosting a live Q&A that parents and carers are welcome to join.

The goal of the digital guide is to both make the law accessible and to use the interactive Q&A format to highlight and surface inconsistencies and emerging issues in SEN law that the SEND community can engage with and amplify.  

Now, thanks to support given to them by the WCIT, Support SEND Kids will be able to build a ground-breaking tech powered interactive workflow that will help SEND parents keep track of the endless administration, tasks and reminders needed to keep their child’s support in place. As EHCP’s are reviewed annually and as children get older the process can get increasingly complex, particularly if the family moves across local authority boundaries or the children attend school in another borough. A single place to keep reminders on key milestones and deadlines will help parents enormously.

Janvi Patel, co-founder of Support SEND Kids, said, “The EHCP process by design lacks transparency and is overly bureaucratic, with the result a fragmented and inconsistent application of the same law running across over every local authority in England. Helping parents to manage the anxiety generated by this complexity and giving them more piece of mind and time to spend on things other than list building is key to what we are trying to achieve. Our vision is a world where access to education through the legal system for SEND Kids is pain free. We are hugely grateful to the WCIT for this generous grant and supporting our vision. These funds will contribute to giving SEND families more control over the complex and challenging process of keeping their children in school and helping them avoid  lengthy and costly legal fights in tribunal to access the education their children are entitled to.”

Rachel Amos, co-founder of Support SEND Kids, said, “Our platform is currently undergoing a very exciting period of growth, as we work with global technology companies like Bryter and Kira Systems to develop innovative solutions for SEND families. We are extremely grateful for all of the backing that we have received so far, from technology savvy grant-givers such as the WCIT to the private sector and SEND professionals. Thanks to this broad base of support, we are fast building an accessible body of specialist knowledge for the benefit of the SEND children and their families.”

As well as hosting the Noddy Guide in interactive Q&A the Support SEND Kids hub is a place for parents to have direct access to SEND law experts, SEND professionals and other parents who have the lived experience of navigating a complex legal process and who very much wish to pass on that knowledge. By making legal insights around every stage of the ECHP application process freely available, Support SEND Kids hopes to help schools, parents and local authorities ensure that every SEND child is able to claim their right to learn, develop and fulfil their potential.

Any SEND professionals interested in joining the Support SEND Kids Q&A forum can sign up here or email contact@supportsendkids.org. Donations to Support SEND Kids can be made via CrowdJustice here.