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The Future of Services for Disabled Children: Best Practice and Support

22nd September 2010 in Central London

With a new Government in control, keeping services for children with
disabilities on the political agenda must be a priority. Both nationally and
locally there is a commitment to achieve this: a commitment confirmed
in the NHS operating framework, the Child Health Strategy, Healthy lives,
Brighter Futures and in the Children’s Plan. Currently 7% of children in the
UK are disabled and steps must be taken to close the gap in achievement
between disabled children and their peers. We cannot let the progress
made over the last few years which has sculpted and transformed services for disabled children disappear. It is widely acknowledged that the Aiming High for Disabled Children programme and Healthy Lives Brighter Futures strategy, both launched in 2007, were a real jump in the right direction and have successfully ‘Improved service provision across the board for disabled children and their families, enhancing equality and opportunity for them’.

This unique one day conference explores issues such as how to enable parents, the voluntary sector, health services, education and social services to work with each other effectively and also how to achieve efficiency in commissioning. Delegates will be briefed on the latest policy and legislative developments, and essential advice on how to ensure partnerships between local services and organisations are effective. Senior speakers from across the sector will address these issues in an open and welcoming environment.

This conference will also assess progress to date in providing disabled children with the best possible services in order for them to achieve their full potential.

Speakers Include:
Hardip Begol, Department for Education
Richard Hawkes, Chief Executive, Scope
Professor Geoff Lindsay, Director, CEDAR , University of Warwick
Liz Sayce, Chief Executive, Radar
Kate Martin, Making Ourselves Heard, Council for Disabled Children
Esther Burridge, Daycare Trust
Richard Selwyn, Commissioning Support Programme
Tim Swingler, Project Director, Soundbeam
Lucy Aston, Senior project worker, The Children’s Society’s Disability Advocacy Project
Sutton Disability Partnership
Philippa Stobbs, Principal Officer, Council for Disabled Children

Shape are holding free information sessions for disabled young people aged 14-19 years interested in working in the creative industry, parents and organisations to find out more about our exciting new youth projects and how to get involved.

Wednesday 30 June and Tuesday 20 July 2010

5 July 2010, Central London, 9am - 1pm (Lunch Included)

The Council for Disabled Children (CDC) have organised this unique seminar to explore both the legal and practical implications of the Equality Act 2010.

This seminar has been developed in response to colleagues from the sector identifying a general lack of information on what the Equality Act will mean for disabled children, young people and their families.

Why Attend
The Equality Act is a significant piece of legislation which will bring in some major changes to disability discrimination law including: new protection for parents and carers; a change in duties for schools regarding ‘reasonable adjustments’; and a change in the way public bodies are required to promote disability equality.

It is important that the third sector is aware of these changes and this seminar has been designed specifically for the disabled children’s sector.

During the seminar participants will:
* gain a clear understanding of the legal changes that the Equality Act will bring in and look at how the law might be used in practice;
* learn about the role of the Equality and Human Rights Commission in relation to monitoring the Equality Act; and
* explore what the public sector duties might look like and find out ways to influence their development.

Outputs
A key output of the seminar will be a briefing that incorporates the key learning points from the day, sent out within a week of the event. On the day you will be provided with PowerPoint presentations, speakers’ biographies, and attendee list.

How to Book
This seminar is open to all interested in the Equality Act 2010.

Tickets cost £80 per person. This fee reflects your status as CDC and/or network members (i.e members of the Transition Information Network) and a discount has been factored in.

Places are awarded on a first come, first served basis – don’t miss out.

For any enquiries email Louisa Imanene on limanene@ncb.org.uk or call 020 7843 1900 or visit the event web page.

This seminar has been organised by CDC in partnership with its networks: Making Ourselves Heard, National Parent Partnership Network, Special Education Consortium, and the Transition Information Network.

Making Choice a Reality:
Foundation Learning and Apprenticeships

Wednesday 7 July 2010, London

Skill’s summer seminar is aimed at practitioners and operational managers in schools, colleges, training providers, Connexions and Local Authority Transition and Children’s Services, specialist colleges, adult and community learning and adult guidance workers.

The aim of the seminar is to provide up-to-date information and practical tools for staff who work with disabled people to prepare and support them through transition from school to post-16 and adult opportunities with a focus on Apprenticeships and Foundation Learning.

Key topics to be covered during the day include:
• Apprenticeships: How do you help your students into Apprenticeships? Understanding the offer, the barriers and practical strategies on increasing Apprenticeship opportunities for disabled people of all ages
• Progression options post-16 and post-19: including Foundation Learning and funding.

By attending this seminar, staff will be armed with the most up-to-date information to ensure learners and families can make informed progression choices and develop employability skills.

For further information on this event and to add your details to the mailing list please contact Sally Hayward, at Skill, email: sally@skill.org.uk

The Autism Act was the first piece of legislation designed to set out the requirements and provisions for adults with autism. The strategy paper published in March and delivery guidelines published in April, set out a number of key areas where local authorities and other service deliverers will be required to act. A further guidance paper will be published in December 2010 to assist local authorities and primary care trusts to implement strategy.

There is a statutory requirement for this to be rolled out at a local level, with a focus on key areas such as health, social care, employment, training and housing.

This conference looks at the likely future demand for services, the areas around which the strategy is focused, next steps and a case study highlighting best practice and a service of excellence already in operation. There will also be an exploration of the commissioning process for local level services.