Understanding adversity in children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) undergoing an Education Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA) in England.
- Mental Health
- Public Health
- Social Care
This project explored adversity in children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) undergoing an Education Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA) in England. It aimed to understand whether early life adversity contributes to later demand for SEND support. A retrospective case series was conducted using 100 EHCNA records from a local authority, examining children’s prior experiences of adversity as recorded in Children’s Social Care (CSC) records.
The study highlighted how linking CSC and SEND data can offer a fuller picture of children’s needs and the importance of using such data to inform service planning and early intervention strategies.
Impact and Implementation
Following the study, findings were presented to directors and councillors within Children’s Social Care, leading to discussions about how to incorporate adversity data into local service planning. This resulted in a commitment to review the research and consider its inclusion in the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) for the area. There is also interest in sharing findings more widely with Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) to inform commissioning decisions and future service provision.
The research has prompted a follow-up study in Oxfordshire’s public health team. This expanded work is using ten years of social care and SEND data to compare children with and without Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), aiming to support the design and delivery of Family Hubs. This represents a step towards integrated, data-informed services that better address the needs of children and families at an earlier stage.
Additionally, the project has led to active engagement with healthcare professionals. A training session has been booked with paediatric services to help clinicians recognise and respond to early adversity in their practice. The study was also showcased at an ARC event, generating further interest from service leads and policy stakeholders.
Collaboration is expanding nationally, including with the Centre for Young Lives, a policy organisation led by the former Children’s Commissioner for England. The research team has been invited to join their Early Advisory Impact Group to further explore the use of CSC data in shaping future policy. The approach developed through this project has wider potential, including applications in tackling issues like school absenteeism and children’s mental health, and supporting the integrated care agenda.
Next Steps
- Ongoing public health research will examine the long-term economic impact of adversity.
- Conversations are underway with think tanks and policy leaders to influence national strategies.
- A potential Freedom of Information (FOI) approach may be used to gather wider local authority data.
- A PubMed publication on Investigating child-facing practitioners' understanding of adversity and its impact on children's development and service provision.
Project lead / contact: Emily Smout- Emily.Smout@Oxfordshire.gov.uk
ARC theme: : Social care, mental health, public health
Completed Project
Key Findings
- Of 100 children studied, 54 had been previously known to Children’s Services.
- 79% of adversity cases were documented before the age of five.
- Common adversities included domestic abuse, parental mental illness, and parental separation.
- There is currently a lack of routine comparison between CSC and SEND datasets, missing critical patterns that could help identify early need.
- The study underscores the underuse of adversity data in planning for children’s services, suggesting a more integrated approach is needed.
ARC OxTV Associated Project
The Lead contact Emily Smout undertook this project during the ARC Internship Social Worker (2021–2023)