Case Officer roles and responsibilities

• Gathering information, advice and reports from families, settings and professionals about children and young people going through an Education, Health, and Care (EHC) needs assessment. Or where there is a request for a change in provision.
• Giving information, advice and reports to multi-professional Education, Health, and Care plan Governance Boards (EGB) or other relevant panels to help decision making.
• Combining the advice, reports and information gathered through assessment to create the initial EHC plan. When this is agreed in collaboration with the family, child or young person and professionals.
• Communicating the decisions made at panels to families and professionals involved with the child or young person. Including supporting the young person and their family to understand the reasons for the decision and what happens next.
• Attending EHC plan reviews when there is a phase or key stage transfer (KST). Or when there is an issue that needs their involvement, for example a change of placement has been requested. Providing information and guidance on the law, the process, and roles of individuals to make sure everyone knows what their responsibilities are. Case Officers are not decision-makers, but they will record what is said so that it can be submitted to EGB who will make recommendations on decisions. They can also provide information and suggest further support.
• Processing annual reviews, submitting the case to EGB where needed, and issuing a response or decision on whether the plan will be kept the same, changed or stopped.
• Changing an EHC plan where there is agreement to do so.
• Liaising with the Commissioning and SEND Admissions teams to secure placements for children and young people if a change of placement is needed, including for KST.
• Working with families, professionals, and education and training providers about all aspects of the EHC needs assessment and EHC plan.
• Dealing with any work that arises throughout the statutory processes and the life of the EHC plan. For example requesting updated advice from professionals.

When a decision is needed, for example to issue an EHC plan or change provision, Case Officers collect information and give this to the Education, Health, and Care plan Governance Boards (EGB). This is a multi-professional panel who meet to give guidance on matters relating to EHC plans based on the evidence submitted to the EGB.

Sometimes a decision might be deferred pending additional information or clarification that is needed. In this situation the Case Officer will explain the situation to the family, get what is needed and resubmit the case.

Case Officers are not able to make decisions. The EGB will make recommendations on decisions, but the Local Authority (LA) are responsible for all decisions.

The education setting (nursery, school or college) holds the annual review meetings. Those who know the child or young person best and are involved with them day to day will carry out the review meeting. Case Officers carry out the annual review process regardless of whether they attend the meeting.

The Case Officer will complete the review process for the LA, see below. This will be recorded on the review documents and sent to the Case Officer in line with the legal framework that allows the LA to delegate these responsibilities. However, there are times when there is a role for the Case Officer at the review meeting and they will attend these. This includes when there is a transition review for a phase transfer, or if there are any concerns raised about the provision in the EHCP or education placement.

All annual reviews meeting recommendations are reviewed by the authority and a decision will be given to the family within 4 weeks of the meeting.

You can contact your SEND Case Officer by phone or email, using the details they have given you. If you do not have contact information for your Case Officer, you can contact the Learners Single Point of Access (LSPA) who will be able to assist you. You can also contact the SEND area teams directly.

The Case Officer's line manager (Senior Case Manager) oversees their work and will make sure urgent work is covered when one of their Case Officers is absent. They will decide how to cover the case work depending on the length of time they are away and whether this is planned or not.

If a Case Officer is absent unexpectedly any urgent actions will be dealt with by a duty Case Officer. If a Case Officer will be away for a longer period, their work may be temporarily reallocated to a specific Case Officer to oversee. In the case of a reallocation the Case Officer taking over will tell the family and school where appropriate.

Where a Case Officer is on planned leave, they will manage their work to take account of their leave or refer work to the duty Case Officer to complete. If there is active case work underway the Case Officer will advise those involved, including families, of their intended absence and who is covering their work.

The duty Case Officer takes any telephone queries for Case Officers who are not working.

As Case Officers spend a large part of their working week in meetings. They are not always available to speak to immediately.

However, you can leave a message for them and they will return calls within two working days. They will reply to emails within five working days. If they do not have the information to answer your query straight away, they should let you know when they need more time to respond.

We know that it causes a great deal of frustration when you can't contact your Case Officer, so we have a duty Case Officer and the Learners Single Point of Access (LSPA). They will help answer your queries when your Case Officer is unavailable.

The L-SPA are also an excellent source of information. They have lots of information and guidance and can access specific case notes. This means they can deal with most queries. If the L-SPA cannot deal with your query fully, or if you want to speak to your specific Case Officer, the L-SPA can request the Case Officer to call you back.

If you are continually struggling to get responses from a Case Officer, you can escalate this to their manager.

Case Officers record their work on Surrey's record keeping system. This shows any past assessments, correspondence, case notes and future actions. All Case Officers on duty have access to the case records.

The senior case manager helps decide what needs to be prioritised when one of their case officers is off unexpectedly. This can include all aspects of case work, preparing cases for EGB, writing plans, and dealing with general enquiries.

The duty Case Officer will manage calls and deal with any urgent work where the allocated Case Officer is on leave or absent from work. They will record any work, actions or communications on the system and update the absent Case Officer on their return to work.

We carefully recruit the best candidate for the job. We expect all Case Officers to understand the SEND system and law, and preferably have some experience of SEND. Many of the staff in Surrey have personal experience of the SEND system which supports their knowledge and understanding.

Once employed Case Officers complete an induction programme, including compulsory training relevant to their role.

The standard qualification for Case Officers is the National Award for SEN (NASEN). Since 2020-2021 all Case Officers have been working towards or have achieved the NASEN qualification. It is offered to all new staff as part of induction.

Class-based training takes place on some aspects of case work, for example plan writing. We hold regular webinars on specific topics of importance, for example changes in law or process. There is also ongoing mentoring and coaching using a system of shadowing and buddying within the teams, so that Case Officers can learn and improve in their day-to-day practice.

Within the four areas teams or 'quadrants', Case Officers are line managed by Senior case managers, who are in turn line managed by the area SEN managers. The area manager reports to the area's Inclusion and Additional Needs Service manager, who reports to the area Assistant Director.

All Case Officers have regular supervision with their line manager. They get specific guidance and coaching on their case work and identify any additional training needs.

Quality Assurance is carried out in several ways. Including line managers overseeing Case Officers' plans and case work, and providing feedback, guidance, and training to them as needed.

We also have a dedicated team of quality managers that carry out termly audits. Case Officers receive focused feedback, and any training needs are addressed. The quality assurance allows us to create specific programmes of training and guidance, based on any emerging themes.

Any concerns can be raised through Surrey County Council's Children's social care, education and SEND complaints.