Liz Chaplin, a full-time devoted carer from Boreham, Essex, has won her two-year court battle. She successfully pursued legal action against Essex County Council to get her daughter Ava — 10 and quadriplegic — a care package she desperately needed. Ava is impacted by cerebral palsy, severe epilepsy, and blindness, requiring comprehensive care 24/7. The arduous process took a toll on Chaplin, who described the experience as “like being locked in an abusive relationship” that she could not escape.
The SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) system in Essex is operated by the county council alongside three NHS integrated care boards. Parents such as Chaplin often describe the process of traversing this system in search of help for their children to be an exercise in “immense trauma.” Despite recent improvements, the challenges remain significant.
After successfully challenging her local authority in the courts in 2023, Chaplin was able to get the specialist care package that Ava needs. She had gone through a nervous breakdown months before. To manage the anxiety from fighting for her daughter’s care, she attended therapy herself. Chaplin shared her insights into the emotional toll faced by other parents during group therapy sessions, noting that “all the faces of the attendees looked like mine: broken women.”
Essex County Council has already invested £2.6 million on increasing its SEND capacity. Their ambition is to increase the proportion of children who are issued an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) from 1%, where it is today, to 20% by March 2026. Even with these initiatives, parents still find themselves overwhelmed by the confusing system they too often encounter.
Tony Ball, the councillor in charge of SEND services at Essex County Council, acknowledged the difficulties faced by families like Chaplin’s. He described her experience as “unacceptable” and admitted that “the complexity of the system and what she’s had to go through is unacceptable.”
Chaplin articulated her frustrations further, stating, “The stress and pressure of fighting for my child’s basic rights broke me.” She shared her frustration that the system was already focused on money-saving efforts. This approach completely overlooks the health and well-being of profoundly disabled children such as Ava.
“Not because of the challenges our children face, but because of the system’s abuse of us when we reached out for support.” – Liz Chaplin
