Plans for supported internships for SEND children

Children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), their families and caregivers will be better supported with respite care and internship opportunities.

Councils will be funded £30 million for the next three years to set up more than 10,000 additional respite placements, helping to provide positive opportunities for disabled children and young people and to give family carers a break so they can look after vulnerable children better in the long-term.

All local authorities which contain one of 12 of the government’s Opportunity Areas will be designated as Education Investment Areas, set out tomorrow, and so will benefit from these interventions. Opportunity Areas have been and continue to be effective, with their funding extended up to the end of August 2022.

The new funding for respite and Supported Internships come alongside more than £45 million of continued targeted support for families and parents of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

These programmes will target support to improve monitoring, support and intervention for local authorities and local health and care partners’ delivery of statutory SEND services, with a focus on underperforming areas and sharing best practice.
    
It will improve participation and access for parents and young people for high quality advice and support, and will directly support schools and colleges to effectively work with pupils with SEND, for example through training on specific needs like autism.