Children with a Disability and those Children who May Need Special Medical Help

This chapter talks about children who have disabilities and those who have complex health needs. There are too many types of disability and complex health needs to list here but you must remember that if you are caring for a child/young person with these needs, there will be at least one professional who has a clear idea about what the disability is and what it means for the child/young person to function on a day-to-day basis. As the carer and person responsible for providing the care for our young people, you must have a clear understanding of what the child’s/young person’s needs are and how to respond to these.

Disabled people often find that their disabilities are the first and only thing that people notice about them, and you must remember that the child or young person should be thought of first before the special need that they have. We need to work with the people who know the child/young person best to understand what the child/young person’s disability means for them as an individual.

Some areas of help that children and young people with a disability need are:

• Help with physical disabilities like mobility issues.
• Help with learning difficulties and social disorders such as those on the Autistic Spectrum;
• Sensory impairments (e.g. partial sight).

Some areas of help that children with complex health issues need are:

• Special medication and dealing with things like epilepsy;
• Help with breathing, eating and other daily functions like using the toilet and bathing.

Some children/young people may need help in both of these areas of support. Some children have entitlements to benefits that are not affected by being in your care. See Money Matters and Insurance.

Where a child/young person needs special help, you should be in a position to provide this. This means that these things should be in place before the child/young person moves in:

• You may need special training from a suitably qualified medical professional. This could include giving special medication or treatment and understanding the child’s needs;
• You should be provided with suitable equipment such as a hoist or a special car seat or wheelchair;
• Where there are risks around manual handling, risk assessments should be completed.

It should also be clarified as to what equipment the child/young person may bring with them and what else they may need.

When considering caring for a child/young person with a disability, you need to be given full information in order to be clear whether you can meet their needs. You must be approved to care for children with disabilities before they can live with you. Once you have decided to care for the child/young person, the Placement Planning meeting should detail all the support including medical needs the child has. It should be clear what decisions you can make regarding the child/young person’s day-to-day life including medical decisions. This should all be clearly documented and agreed with the social worker, fostering social worker, child/young person and their parents.

All children with a disability should have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) which identifies the help that they need to get the best out of going to school, pre-school and college. You should know what this says before a child/young person comes to live with you. You should be part of any review of this plan.

Many children/young people with disabilities need continuing services throughout their lives.

Assessment should take into account the long-term needs of the child/young person. This will help you along with the child/young person’s birth family and professionals to make decisions about the kind of help needed, at different points in time, for example with education, respite or other services.

Your fostering social worker and the child/young person’s social worker should help you to identify appropriate support and advice from relevant agencies, this includes supporting our children with their interests and taking part in activities they enjoy.

You should make sure they have all they need to reach their potential and lead as full a life as possible. If you have any struggles in this you must speak with the child/young person’s social worker, fostering social worker and you and the child can make a referral for an advocate for the child/young person. You can find out more about NYAS and advocacy here.

Local authorities in England have a duty to develop and publish a Local Offer setting out the support they expect to be available for local children and young people aged 0-25 with Special Educational Needs (SEN) or disabilities, whether or not they have an Education, Health and Care Plan.

The Local Offer is  available via the local authority website.

The Local Offer includes information about:

• Special educational, health and social care provision for children and young people with SEN or disabilities – this should include online and blended learning;
• Arrangements for identifying and assessing children and young people’s SEN – this should include arrangements for Education, Health and Care Needs Assessments;
• Education provision and post-16 education and training;
• Information to assist in preparing young people for adulthood;
• Arrangements for travel to and from education;
• Childcare, including suitable provision for disabled children and those with SEN;
• Support available to young people in higher education, particularly the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) and the process and timescales for making an application for DSA;
• Arrangements for resolving disagreements and for mediation, and details about making complaints.

The Local Offer includes provision in the local authority’s area, and also provision outside the local area that the local authority expects is likely to be used by children and young people with SEN for whom they are responsible and disabled children and young people. This could be provision in a school or further education college in a neighbouring area or support services for children and young people with particular types of SEN that are provided jointly by local authorities.