From February 2022, Dorset Council’s special educational needs and disability information, advice and support service (SENDIASS) will be run by Family Action, a long-established charity that supports all families.
This is a free, confidential and impartial service for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their parents or carers.
Currently, the service is run by Dorset Council and it will continue to be jointly funded by Dorset’s Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Dorset Council.
Family Action runs six other SENDIAS services across the country. In this year’s Third Sector Awards, they won Charity of The Year, where they were recognised for their intensive work supporting families who faced significant financial, mental health, parenting and relationship challenges during the pandemic.
Cllr Andrew Parry, Dorset Council Portfolio Holder for Children, Education and Early Help, said: “Family Action’s bid to deliver this service was very strong. We are committed to the best outcomes for our families and we feel very confident that our valued SENDIAS service will continue to grow from strength to strength, providing an excellent service to benefit children and young people with SEND across Dorset”.
Dorset Council will closely monitor the service to ensure it continues to meet the needs of children, young people and their families.
The aims of SENDIASS will continue to be to:
- provide a high quality, impartial, accurate and confidential service
- empower children, young people and their parents/carers to play an informed and active part in decision making and supporting them to make the best decisions
- contribute to partnership working with providers of education, alternative provision, training, supported employment, health and care
- ensure service user views are heard and understood
- make sure service users understand their rights, roles and responsibilities
Amy Brooke, Family Action, Deputy Director for Services and Innovation, South, said: “We are delighted Dorset Council has entrusted Family Action with the delivery of the Dorset SENDIAS service.
“We will bring expertise from our six existing SENDIAS services to offer a free, high quality, impartial and confidential service. We look forward to working with children and young people with SEND in Dorset, and their parents/carers, to empower them to have an informed and active role in decision making and ensure they continue to receive the highest quality support.”
Family Action will work closely with Dorset Council, the CCG, the Dorset Parent Carer Council and the SENDIASS steering group to transfer the service. They’ll continue to use the current website www.dorsetsendiass.co.uk, which will be updated with new information and contact details when the new service launches on 1 February 2022.
The current SENDIASS team will have the opportunity to transfer to Family Action.
