Education, Health and Care Needs Assessments and Education, Health and Care Plans

An Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA) is the process which identifies a child or young person’s special educational needs.  It is usually the final stage of a longer process of supporting a child.

In almost all cases, students attending Catcote Academy have already had an EHCNA completed earlier in their education.

EHCNAs are only considered when a child cannot be supported from the resources normally available to an education setting (around £6000). The process should take a maximum of 20 weeks.

Every local authority in England will be free to decide exactly how they will carry out the assessment, but they should embed the following principles:

• Children, young people and their families at the heart of the process, including being empowered to make decisions;
• A ‘tell us once’ approach to sharing information;
• Better co-ordination and integration between professionals;
• Use of person centred and keyworking approaches which treat the child as an individual;
• Identify aspirational short and long term outcomes.

Many, but not all, EHCNAs will result in an Education, Health and Care Plan. Again, the format of the plan will be localised, but will draw together all of the information gathered during the assessment process – including the child and family’s views and wishes, a description of the child/young person’s needs alongside their strengths and preferences, details of the education, health and social care support they require, the outcomes they want to achieve and the education setting they will attend (after the age of 3). It is also good practice to include a support plan setting out the outcomes, support and sources of funding.

The format of the Education, Health and Care plan will differ between LAs, but should:

• Reflect the views and wishes of the child or young person and their parents;
• Celebrate a child’s strengths as well as the things they struggle with;
• Identify SMART outcomes and specify the provision required to make progress;
• Be clear, concise and accessible;
• Be based on evidence gathered during the assessment process.