Funding for Short Break Services – Aiming High for Disabled Children

Aiming High for Disabled Children Local Offer

Aiming High for Disabled Children is a national initiative designed to enable disabled children and young people to access short breaks.

Wiltshire Council has launched their ‘Local Offer’ to all children living in Wiltshire who meet their criteria.  Families will not have to undergo any assessment to access this.

Children aged 0-3 years who are not yet in receipt of Free Entitlement funding and who have been identified as having additional needs through a Common Assessment Framework (CAF) will receive funded sessions at a District Specialist Centre or Early Years setting.

Children aged 3-4 years who are in receipt of Free Entitlement Funding* who attend a District Specialist Centre or who receive (or have been assessed as requiring) additional resources in their nursery setting who receive Inclusion Support funding in their early years setting

and

children aged 4-7 who attend a special school (in or out of county) or attend a mainstream school or unit and receive a minimum 25 hours per week 1:1 support or the equivalent are able to access the following:-

• A core offer payment of £600, payable to families to enable children to access services or support of their choosing;

or

• Supported Fund of £600, administered by Wiltshire Council to provide financial or staffing support to enable children to access short break opportunities of their choosing.  

Please note that children who will be 3 after the 1^st April 2012 will not get Free Entitlement funding until September 2012 and therefore will only be eligible for the pro-rata payment of the Local Offer.  For more information on when your child will become eligible for Free Entitlement please click here

Children aged 8-17* who attend a special school (in or out of county) or attend a mainstream school or unit and receive a minimum 25 hours per week 1:1 support or the equivalent are able to access either of the above options or

• 90 hours of regular activity or holiday clubs provided by Barnardo's.  

or The Combo

• £300 as a direct payment plus 45 hours of Barnardo's holiday clubs.  (Please note this will not include Saturdays).  This option is only available with applications made before 18th May 2012 and will not be offered after this date.

* A young person is no longer eligible when they turn 18, therefore a pro-rata offer may apply.

How does it work?

A leaflet ‘Aiming high for disabled children’ has been sent to special schools across Wiltshire.  This is also available to download from the Wiltshire Parent Carer Council website http://wiltshireparentcarercouncil.co.uk/en/The_Local_Offer  The leaflet includes a registration form for parents/carers to choose which option they would like.  On receipt of the registration form, Wiltshire Council will contact parents/carers to discuss their chosen option, or in the case of the 90 hours Barnardo’s activity clubs, contact will be made by Barnardo's.

In order to benefit from the full entitlement, applications should be made before 18th May 2012, after this date, a pro rata entitlement will be allocated as follows:

• Local Offer payment and Supported Funding will drop to £400 (£200 in June and £200 in September).

• The number of hours from Barnardo's clubs will drop to 60 from 1st June.

Parents/Carers wishing to take advantage of the £600 direct payment

On receipt of the registration form, Wiltshire Council will contact parents/carers with details of how the payment is made.  Compass Disability Services have been commissioned to provide this service.

Payments will be made twice in the year - £400 initially and £200 after 1st September.  The first payment is higher to provide more opportunities over the summer break.

There is some small print:

• parents/carers must have a bank account for the funds to be paid into;
• a monitoring form must be returned to let Wiltshire Council know how the money has been spent. There will be 2 forms – one to be completed by end of August and the second by end of February.  The receipt of the August monitoring form will trigger the second payment of £200;
• parents/carers can choose to use the £600 to employ somebody to act as a carer – if they choose this option they take on the legal responsibilities of being an employer (as with normal Direct Payments). Compass Disability Services can help and support with this option but parents/carers should be aware this is not a free service offered by Compass.

Parents/carers not wishing to take the £600 as a direct payment

The Supported Fund is designed to help parents who feel that they need assistance or advice in arranging additional activities for their child.  The fund is managed by Wiltshire Council on your behalf and there would be regular discussions with a member of staff about what provision is required who would then arrange both the short break provision and payment.

Barnardo's activity clubs – 90 hours

The services offered by Barnardo’s are:

• holiday club up to 15 days (6 hours) during school holidays and Saturday clubs - families have the flexibility of booking onto 3 hour or 6 hour sessions.
• all sessions will have a session charge; £5 for a 3 hour session and £10 for 6 hours.  Families may also be required to contribute towards additional costs for a special day trip out.

Children’s Disability Team

Children and young people who already receive respite or services via the Children’s Disability Team will continue to do so and will also be able to access this new offer.  Parents/carers who already access Direct Payments will also continue as usual.  

For families with a child who may have more complex needs it may be possible – via a CAF – to make a referral to the Children’s Disability Team (CDT).  It must be identified that the impact of the child’s impairment is too great to be addressed by universal or targeted services alone or if there are concerns as to the child’s safety and or welfare.

If a family is successfully referred to the CDT, an assessment will be made which will include a carer’s assessment. They may then be offered a variety of services, one of which may be Direct Payments. 

Further information can be found on the Wiltshire Parent Carer Council website – http://wiltshireparentcarercouncil.co.uk

Wiltshire Council have put together some information on short breaks, including all the Barnardo's groups, visit  www.onestopwiltshire.co.uk for more information.

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