Looking after children and young people is incredibly rewarding, moments of pride are precious and every smile and milestone is held close and cherished, but at times life can also be stressful and exhausting!

Challenges are ever present and those milestones and smiles are hard fought for when your child or the young person you are caring for has special needs, day to day life has the added responsibility and time commitment of seemingly never ending medical appointments and assessments.

When problems are encountered with accessing additional support from statutory services that adds to the burden and can be time consuming and emotionally draining. Navigating the complex and lengthy rules, regulations and legislation that you need to understand to ensure that you are able to uphold the rights of your child becomes almost impossible.

There is a lot of information and helpful resources out there that you can use to try to resolve any issues encountered on your own but finding and searching through all of that to identify what is useful and relevant in your particular circumstances adds another time burden.

At Access to Public Law, we are specialists in education law, our team is led by Imogen Jolley, a recognised expert solicitor with over 20 years of experience of assisting families to access the support that children and young people require to enable them to flourish and live as full and independent a life as is possible. Imogen’ s vast experience enables her to swiftly unpick complex issues and cut through to the core of a problem, she delivers straight forward, plain speaking advice and practical solutions and is valued by her clients for her unnerving support and incredible empathy during difficult times in their lives. You can read what Imogen’s clients say about her here .

We are in a unique position as we also have an expert solicitor in Community Care law, Imogen and Melanie Varey work alongside each other to identify and resolve issues that may arise as young people are transitioning into adult services or lack capacity to make their own decisions as an adult and may require applications to the Court of Protection.  We can help you prepare for any foreseeable challenges.

How we can help

We are a small, niche practice so can offer access to support quickly and without the need to navigate call centres or automated services. If a problem arises, we are able to quickly arrange a call with you to understand your situation and quickly cut through to what the legal issue is and set out your options for resolution. Our aim is always to work with you to develop together the best tactical plan to resolve the issues or any dispute quickly, ensure access to the right kind of support and provision and avoid lengthy Tribunal processes. We will always be by your side supporting you and can take away the burden of understanding and navigating the law and communicating with statutory services. If you require support and assistance we suggest contacting us as soon as a problem arises or a decision you have been given seems unfair, wrong or not what you expected. We can also help prepare you in advance of decisions being made and are able to offer advice at various stages throughout the process.