1. What support is available for children with multi-sensory impairment in the area the Local Authority covers?
a) From the Local Authority’s Sensory Services team
b) From other teams within the Local Authority
Rehabilitation Officers for Visually Impaired Children (ROVIC) service undertake local authority responsibility in adhering to Deafblind Policy Guidance in relation to the following –
identify, make contact with and keep a record of all Deafblind people in their catchment area (including children with multi/dual sensory impairment)
ensure that when an assessment of needs for care and support is carried out, this is done by a practitioner specifically trained and with expertise relating to Deafblind/multisensory impairment – in particular to assess the need for communication, one-to-one human contact, social interaction and emotional wellbeing, support with mobility assistive technology and habilitation/rehabilitation
ensure services provided to Deafblind children and young people are appropriate, recognising that they may not necessarily be able to benefit from mainstream services or those services aimed primarily at blind people or deaf people who are able to rely on their other senses
ensure that Deafblind children and young people are able to access specifically-trained one-to-one support workers if they are assessed as requiring one
provide information and advice in ways which are accessible to Deafblind children and young people
ensure that a Director-level member of the local authority senior team has overall responsibility for Deafblind service
ROVIC service provide Habilitation/Rehabilitation assessment and skills training (orientation & mobility and independence/social skills development) for Children and young people with Deafblind/Multisensory impairment and their families/carers/educational support & settings
ROVIC Service provide assessment / skills training (habilitation/rehabilitation) for Children and Young People with Deafblind/MSI across all setting (i.e. Home, Community, Educational and health settings).
Devon County Council also commission Babcock LDP to deliver agreed multi-sensory impairment (MSI) services
2. Does the Local Authority currently employ any multi-sensory impairment teachers or practitioners?
Yes – Devon County Council ROVIC Service employ Practitioners specialising in Deafblind/ MSI and Habilitation Officers specialising in skills development
Babcock LDP also employ MSI teachers / practitioners to deliver work commissioned by DCC.
3. If yes to Question 2:
a) Please indicate how many employees have these roles.
Devon County Council employ 2 Practitioners and 5 Habilitation Officers (dedicated to visually impaired/deafblind and MSI children & young people)
Babcock LDP employ 3
b) Please indicate the average weekly working hours of these employees (e.g. 20 hours, 35 hours a week).
c) Please indicate the salary band this role falls into.
Due to the small numbers of identified employees, both for Devon County Council and Babcock, who could potentially be identified by reference to their job roles, this information could therefore be considered as disclosure of personal information, as described by the first data protection principle of the UK- General Data Protection Regulation. This information is therefore exempt from disclosure pursuant to s.40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.