Is this legal?

[garrison]

I have posted in the past about one of our children who has downs syndrome and is constantly biting other children and staff. We have lost 2 children already because of this.

We have since put him on 1-1 care but as a PVI we cannot continue to fund this. He now has a statement to cover 10 hours but it doesn't cover all our costs.

We have asked the parents to pay for the extra costs incurred to provide the 1-1 care - they are now challenging this and saying what we are doing is illegal.

We have tried getting advice from various agencies but no one seems to be able to help us

can anyone help????

[Jeany]

I have posted in the past about one of our children who has downs syndrome and is constantly biting other children and staff. We have lost 2 children already because of this.

We have since put him on 1-1 care but as a PVI we cannot continue to fund this. He now has a statement to cover 10 hours but it doesn't cover all our costs.

We have asked the parents to pay for the extra costs incurred to provide the 1-1 care - they are now challenging this and saying what we are doing is illegal.

We have tried getting advice from various agencies but no one seems to be able to help us

can anyone help????

This is such a grey area. My understanding is that if you can show that there is a financial need to incur addittional charges then you are 'allowed' to do so, but for the 10 statemented hours you can't charge additional costs. So if he is taking 15 hours you could ask for a payment towards the 1/1 care for 5 hours.

[Upsy Daisy]

I think you have a responsibility under the Equality Act 2010 to not treat him less favourably because of his disability.

Could you work with his parents to get his funding increased?

Does he have a statement? If so they can ask the LA to increase the funding and appeal if they refuse. IPSEA offer great advice and support for parents doing this.

They can also approach your local Parent Partnership service who may be able to direct them to sources of funding.

[narnia]

I also think you have a responsibilty........and I think that if you chose to place him with 1:1 care, then you will have to bear the cost. Did his parents know about it and agree to it?? Though even if they did, I can't really see how you can expect them to pay staff wages for this. Have you contacted your SENCO to see if any more funding is available??

[Guest sn0wdr0p]

As the owner of my own nursery I was always concerned about this and at a recent training event was told by the early years advisor that we could say no - so many of us attending were very confused about this area and rather relieved to hear it.

It really comes to a safety issue really doesn't it , that if we cannot guarantee the safety of children in our care we have a right to say no - be this the child concerned or others. We were told that parents should pay for the extra from their DLA. The Disability Discrimination Act states that we have to take 'reasonable adjustments' and I am pretty sure that no other business sector would be expected to loose money to accomodate a 'customer' with a disability.

I have never turned away a child who needs more support but as my business is not making any profit (not even enough to pay myself) if I had a child who needed one to one I would have to say no if no additional contribution was available.

[Wildflowers]

It really comes to a safety issue really doesn't it , that if we cannot guarantee the safety of children in our care we have a right to say no - be this the child concerned or others.

We had a boy doing dangerous things to others in a very small group a long time ago. I had to close the setting and look after the remaining few children for free for a term. SENCo support was useless. My understanding was that no one could be excluded if we received funding.

[diesel10]

I think you need to be really carefully because of the disability. Has the health visitor suggested anything? Presume he is already having speech and language support.

 

In my area there is two 'pots' of money one for inclusion and the other for one to one support. Not that I have been able to access it but I know others that have. I thought support for downs syndrome was straight forward, its everything else we have trouble with !

I bought the 'teeth are not for biting' book on Saturday and read it to our little biter today. It worked today.........

In TTS they sell 'chews' but only to be used with professional support. Maybe worth a try.

Good luck

[Campervanjane]

Under the Equality Act childcare providers should not treat a disabled child less favourably than other children. This means that a child with additional needs should have the same play and learning opportunities as other children and that parents should not be charged more for offering the same service to a disabled child as to other children. However, if the childcare provider needs to employ extra staff, it may be reasonable for them to charge parents slightly more.

http://www.daycaretrust.org.uk/pages/i-am-looking-for-childcare-for-disabled-childrenchildren-with-special-needs.html

[Wildflowers]

Which rights do we have not to be inclusive, if any, if a child's behaviour makes other children unsafe, physically and emotionally? Small under-subscribed settings may not be able to afford a loss of children or reputation in the area.

[garrison]

We have exhausted all areas of possible funding and yes he does have a statement but only for 10 hours and his parents want him to attend for 18. Parents are going through appeal process to get this increased

We have a chew toy but success has been moderate - the only thing working is the 1-1 support to physically move him when he goes to bite someone.

We aren't treating him less favourably - in fact I would argue he is getting better treatment as he is getting a 1-1.

we are really at our wits end with this - we have supported this family with all 4 of our children and have bent over backwards with them regarding this child and to be threatened with legal action is really disheartening - it makes us not want to take SEN children.

Thanks for all your replies