S a f e i s n o t S p e c t a c u l a r !
Sign up and download your FREE copy of the Protocol today!
The SEND HANDOVER Protocol
To help families, caregivers, and organisations support children with additional needs more effectively, the SEND HANDOVER Protocol® is available as a free editable document.
The protocol is designed to help ensure that essential information is accurately shared when a child moves into the care of another person, whether for a short period, an emergency, respite care, education, travel, or a longer-term placement.
Because every child and every situation is different, the document is fully editable, allowing you to adapt it to your own circumstances. Completing it thoughtfully can help reduce misunderstandings, minimise risk, and provide caregivers with the information they need to support a child safely and confidently.
Simply download the document and tailor it to your family's needs.
PLEASE NOTE: The SEND HANDOVER Protocol® is intended as an informational tool and does not replace professional medical, legal, or safeguarding advice. Users should review and update the information regularly to ensure accuracy and completeness.
The Special Needs Handover Toolkit
For families who would like additional support, the SPECIAL NEEDS HANDOVER Toolkit® is available separately. The Toolkit includes the HANDOVER Protocol and an editable collection of templates, checklists, action plans, quick‑reference cards, and planning documents that can be tailored to a child's individual needs.
Here's the complete list of documents comprising the Toolkit. Each plays a distinct role in the safety chain. Together, they create a complete, end‑to‑end system for safe temporary care.
A. HANDOVER Protocol Template: The full framework – the backbone of the entire system.
B. HANDOVER Pocket Booklet – The ultra‑portable version for caregivers.
C. Condition‑Specific Quick Reference – One‑page condition summaries.
D. Caregiver Readiness Questions – Caregiver‑facing: “Do I understand this child well enough to say yes?”
E. Sample Completed Protocol – Shows parents what “good” looks like.
F. Emergency Envelope Kit – The crisis‑ready pack.
G. Emergency Card – First‑response guidance.
H. Emergency Log – Records incidents for future updates.
I. Caregiver Debrief Form – Caregiver‑facing: lived feedback after a placement.
J. Placement Preparation Checklist (Caregiver) – Caregiver‑facing: “Can I safely meet this child’s needs in my environment?”
K. Action Plan Template – Condition‑specific emergency instructions.
L. Medical Consent & Temporary Authorization – Legal and medical authority for caregivers.
M. Placement Preparation Checklist (Parent) – Parent‑facing: “Have I prepared everything the caregiver needs for safe care?”
N. Quick Reference Cards – Immediate accessible guidance for caregivers.
The Toolkit is particularly valuable for children with multiple conditions, complex support needs, or situations where information must be coordinated across several caregivers, family members, schools, respite services, transport providers, or community organizations.
Rather than starting from scratch, parents can customize the documents, keep them updated over time, and create a complete care package that grows with their child.
The Toolkit is available for purchase from our Beacons Store which you can access here.
The Special Needs HANDOVER Manual is a published book and the umbrella resource of the system.
Every day, parents hand their children over to grandparents, friends, babysitters, respite providers, school staff, transport services, and community organizations. Most caregivers are willing, kind, and doing their very best. Yet they can only act on the information they are given.
The problem is not a lack of care but one of communication. Drawing on lived experience and real-world case studies involving allergies, autism, sickle cell disease, sensory overload, wandering, impulsive behaviours, outdated emergency information, and other hidden risks, this book reveals how easily important details are missed and how serious the consequences can be when they are.
At the heart of the book is the SPECIAL NEEDS HANDOVER Protocol®, a practical framework that helps parents communicate the information caregivers actually need to keep a child safe.
Inside you'll discover:
✔ The complete HANDOVER Protocol® and its eight essential components
✔ Twelve powerful case studies based on real situations
✔ Guidance for communicating medical, sensory, behavioural, and safety needs
✔ A complete toolkit of forms, checklists, templates, action plans, emergency documents, and caregiver resources
✔ Practical guidance for parents, caregivers, schools, respite services, transport providers, and community organisations
✔ Strategies for reducing risk and improving temporary care through clear communication
✔ A framework that helps parents and caregivers work together with confidence.
Whether you are managing autism, ADHD, sensory processing differences, medical complexity, behavioural challenges, developmental disabilities, chronic health conditions, or multiple diagnoses, the HANDOVER Protocol helps transform lived experience into practical information caregivers can actually use.
Clear information. Confident caregivers. Safer children.
Because safer care begins with better communication.
Ideal for:
→ Parents of children with disabilities, additional needs, allergies, autism, ADHD, sensory differences, or chronic medical conditions
→ Caregivers, babysitters, grandparents, and family members
Respite workers and support staff
→ Teachers, school staff, transport providers, camp counselors, and youth leaders
→ Social workers and care professionals.
The manual is useful for temporary care, respite care, school transport, after-school activities, overnight stays, extended family visits, camps, community programmes, and any situation where responsibility for a child passes temporarily from parent to caregiver.
Because caregivers should never have to guess, and children should never have to bear the consequences when they do.
The Special Needs Handover Manual
