Information for professionals

Q: What kind of information advice and support can you give?

We can offer the following. Online information . Our website has more than 40 topic areas covered, including SEN Support in schools, EHC plans and reviews and working with professionals. It’s based on the questions parents and young people ask us every day and has its foundations in the law. You can help parent carers and young people navigate the website and find what they need. Many professionals find it useful too. Email information and advice. We have a contact form on our website and many parents use this to ask for advice and have their questions answered. Telephone advice and support . Our enquiry line is open Monday to Friday 10am – 3pm. It’s staffed by a knowledgeable and legally trained team of staff. Calls can take anywhere between five minutes and an hour and as much as we can, we try and deal with each enquiry there and then. Parent carers and young people came back when they next need advice or information, whether that’s the next day or in six months. A small amount of face to face support . Like all services we have limited capacity. But we do offer some longer term or more in-depth support, helping families who most need it. That may be where a situation is complex or difficult, or where the family’s needs are significant, and they are unable to advocate for themselves. We decide this on a case-by-case basis. We usually end support when an issue has been resolved or the parent or young person can advocate for themselves. We are not able to offer open-ended, ongoing generic support.

Our service

DIAS (Devon Information Advice and Support) provides information, advice and support on special educational needs and disability (SEND).

It is a statutory service, which means it must be provided by law. Every local authority in England has this type of service and what they provide is shaped by chapter 2 of the SEND Code of Practice (2014).

Our main activity is to provide an information, advice and support service to children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, aged up to 25, and their parents or carers. We give support around SEND issues at every stage of a child’s education, including into further education and adulthood.

The service offers:

The purpose of our service is to help promote independence and self-advocacy for children, young people and parent carers. We do this to help parent carers, children and young people take part as fully as possible in the decision-making processes around education, health and care.

We provide advocacy support for individual children, young people, and parents. This empowers them to express their views and wishes and helps them to understand and exercise their rights in matters including exclusion, complaints, SEND processes, and SEND appeals.

The important things to know about the DIAS service

It’s confidential. We do not share anything a parent tells us, unless it’s a safeguarding issue or they have given us permission. That means if you ask us whether we are working with a particular parent, or ask us what we have discussed, we can’t tell you unless we have permission from them.
It’s impartial and arm’s length. We aim to give parent carers and young people information about the options available, then it’s up to them to make the decisions. We won’t recommend or promote one option over another, unless there’s no alternative. Although we are part of Devon County Council, we operate as a distinct and separate service from their other SEND services and departments.
It’s free of charge.
We talk directly to parents, carers, guardians, children and young people. You can ask us to talk to someone and give them support, and as long as they have agreed and they want the support, we can do that. Filling out and sending in our contact form with the parent is the easiest way to do that. If a parent carer or young person doesn’t want our support or advice, that’s up to them.
We have children and young people’s workers. They work directly with young people to help them share their views and take part in the decisions made about their lives and education.
Anyone can access the service. If someone has communication or learning difficulties or English as a second language, we will always do our best to arrange the right support.
It’s based on the law. All our staff have training about the legal areas of SEND support, EHC Plans and issues such as exclusion. Our DIAS Officers can also support parent carers and young people at mediation, tribunal and at other legal proceedings such as Independent Review Panels.
We operate on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. We run our service in a helpline type model. People calling or contacting us through the website are given the advice and information they need there and then, in the order in which they contact us. Most of the time, our users will be able to speak to or hear from someone the same day that they contact us.
We are trained to use a solution focused approach. We work with enquirers to help them understand their situation and then take a positive step forward with whatever problem they come to us with on that day. They can come back to us whenever they need more advice or information.
We offer support based on need. We mostly offer information via our website and publications, and advice via our telephone and email enquiry service. For a few families, where need is greatest, we also sometimes give longer term support.
It’s for anyone living in Devon. If a parent carer or young person lives in Torbay or Plymouth there are Information Advice and Support services for each of those areas. If a parent carer or young person lives in Devon, but goes to school in another local authority, we can still support them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you give support at meetings?

Yes, we do, in two ways:

We help the parent carer or young person to prepare so they feel confident and ready to get the most out of the meeting. We have lots of resources on our website to help, including a meetings form, questions to ask and top tips. We can also talk them through what will happen, what to expect and how to manage best in the meeting.
We sometimes support directly at meetings, usually virtually but sometimes face to face. We don’t go to every meeting as a matter of course and we can only go if the parent carer or young person wants us to be there. We have a small team of volunteers as well as staff, and at meetings we take a supporting role. That means we are there to help the parent get their views across and ask questions.

Can you act as a key worker for a family or take a lead role?

No, we can’t. Our role is different from many other professionals. We work alongside the parent carer or young person as their advocate. We don’t have access to Right for Children, and we aren’t, and shouldn’t be, automatically invited to meetings.

Can I refer a parent carer or young person to you?

Yes, you can, as long as they have given permission. The easiest way to refer is to fill out the contact form on our website, preferably with the parent and/or young person so that they can see what you’ve said. You can also call our enquiry line or email us.

If you do refer a parent, please make sure they know why they’re contacting us and the kind of support we can give. We also need to know that they have given consent for you to contact us on their behalf.

What kind of information advice and support can you give?

We can offer the following.

Online information. Our website has more than 40 topic areas covered, including SEN Support in schools, EHC plans and reviews and working with professionals. It’s based on the questions parents and young people ask us every day and has its foundations in the law. You can help parent carers and young people navigate the website and find what they need. Many professionals find it useful too.
Email information and advice. We have a contact form on our website and many parents use this to ask for advice and have their questions answered.
Telephone advice and support. Our enquiry line is open Monday to Friday 10am – 3pm. It’s staffed by a knowledgeable and legally trained team of staff. Calls can take anywhere between five minutes and an hour and as much as we can, we try and deal with each enquiry there and then. Parent carers and young people came back when they next need advice or information, whether that’s the next day or in six months.
A small amount of face to face support. Like all services we have limited capacity. But we do offer some longer term or more in-depth support, helping families who most need it. That may be where a situation is complex or difficult, or where the family’s needs are significant, and they are unable to advocate for themselves. We decide this on a case-by-case basis. We usually end support when an issue has been resolved or the parent or young person can advocate for themselves. We are not able to offer open-ended, ongoing generic support.

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Page reviewed: April 2024
Page due for review: April 2026