500 signatures reached
To: Minister for Disabilities Finian McGrath, Minister for Health Simon Harris & Minister for Education and Skills Joe McHugh
An Education, Health & Care plan to be legal right of every child and young person in Ireland
To make an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan the legal and statutory right of every child or young person with special educational, health and social care needs
An EHC plan is a legal document that describes a child or young person's special educational, health and social care needs. It explains the extra help that will be given to meet those needs and how that help will support the child or young person to achieve what they want to in their life.
Who needs an EHC plan?
EHC plans are for children and young people whose special educational needs require more help than would normally be provided in a mainstream education setting (a college, school, nursery).
Although the plan can include health or social care needs, your child or young person will not get a plan if they only have health or social care needs that do not affect their education.
An EHC plan can be issued to a child or young person between the ages of 0 and 25 years.
How will you get an EHC plan?
The EHC plans will be drawn up by your local council after an EHC needs assessment. You, your child's education setting or your child, if over 16, can ask your local council to carry out an assessment.
What does an EHC plan look like?
The sections are:
A: The views, interests and aspirations of you and your child.
B: Special educational needs (SEN).
C: Health needs related to SEN.
D: Social care needs related to SEN.
E: Outcomes - how the extra help will benefit your child or young person
F: Special educational provision (support).
G: Health provision.
H: Social care provision.
I: Placement - type and name of school or other institution
J: Personal budget arrangements.
K: Advice and information - a list of the information gathered during the EHC needs assessment.
Why is this important?
In Ireland up to 1,000 children a year are being forced to stay at home because they cannot get a school place.
Overwhelmingly, it is children with special educational needs (SEN) - often those with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) - who are worst hit.
Every child and young person with special educational, health and care needs to have the extra support and interventions which will help the child or young person to achieve what they want to in their life.
We propose a viable solution for this, an Education, Health & Care (EHC) plan to be the legal and statutory right for every child or young person in Ireland, whose special educational needs require more help than would normally be provided in a mainstream education setting (a college, school, nursery).
Annual review of the plan
The plan will be reviewed at least once a year. At the end of the review the local authority may make changes to the plan, end it or leave it unchanged.
How long will the plan last?
The plan will remain in place until your child leaves education or the local council decides that your child no longer needs the plan to help them in their education. If you move to another local council the plan will be transferred.
How will the benefits of the EHCp be reinforced?
A specialist Tribunal will be in place (which is essentially a no costs jurisdiction) where parents and young persons can challenge the contents of a plan
If provision in a plan is not provided, the Local Council (who maintain all such documents) can be challenged by way of Judicial Review or a referral to the Local Government Ombudsman.
Once a petition has been published, it will be open to signatures for six months.
* At 10,000 signatures, the government will formally respond.
* At 100,000 signatures, the request will be considered by the Petitions Committee for debate in Dail.
PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION AND SUPPORT EVERY CHILD AND YOUNG PERSON IN IRELAND TO HAVE THE LEGAL AND STATUTORY RIGHT TO AN EDUCATIONAL, HEALTH AND CARE PLAN.