Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council. Short Breaks Services Statement

Transcription

1 Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council Short Breaks Services Statement

2 Background Section 25 of the Children and Young Persons Act requires local authorities to provide short breaks for families with disabled children. Regulations relating to this duty came into force on the 1 st of April The Regulations require each local authority to produce a short breaks services statement so that families know what services are available, the eligibility criteria for these services, and how the range of services is designed to meet the needs of families with disabled children in their area. How the statement was prepared. The statement was circulated to the Doncaster SEND Partnership Board, which has representatives from Doncaster Council, Doncaster Children's Services Trust, Health services, schools, parents/carers and the voluntary sector. It was also published for consultation on the DMBC Local Offer website - Who is responsible? The lead officer responsible for preparing this statement was Michael McGuigan (SEND Service Manager) who reports to Mary Jarrett (Head of Service, Strategic Commissioning). The statement was approved by the Learning and Opportunities: Children and Young People Senior Leadership Team. The statement was last amended in March 2012 and last reviewed in August This is the 2015/16 version of the statement and will be reviewed in January 2016 with a view to a further amended version in April Eligibility Any label does not paint the full picture of a child or family and individual circumstances must always be taken into account. However, we believe that there are key groups of disabled children who need different types of targeted support and these groups must be described in some way. For these purposes Doncaster uses 3 broad categories within the Short Breaks remit. Group A Children and Young people with the Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who also have an additional impairment such as severe learning disabilities or behaviour which is challenging or other children and young people whose challenging behaviour is associated with other impairments such as having a severe learning disability. Group B Children and young people with complex health needs including those with a disability and life limiting conditions and or those who require palliative care and or those with associated impairments such as cognitive or sensory impairments and or have movement/handling needs and or require specialist

3 equipment/adaptations. These children and young people may be referred to as having multiple impairment or profound and multiple disabilities (PMLD). Category C Children and young people who do not fall into Categories A and B but are nevertheless disabled under the Children Act 1989 (which the Short Breaks Regulations state should be used with the context of the short breaks duty). Definition in the Children Act A child is disabled if he is blind, deaf or dumb or suffers from a mental disorder of any kind or is substantially and permanently handicapped by illness, injury or congenital deformity or such other disability as may be prescribed. Please note that, while, in keeping with the Regulations, we use the 1989 Act definition in this Statement, membership of TIE (the Together Information Exchange DMBC s voluntary register of disabled children) remains open to anyone meeting the definition of disability under the Equality Act As of August 2015 there are 1107 children on the TIE register. How short breaks are accessed Group based activities are currently available, without a formal referral system, CAF etc, to children of all three categories, although some group based activities will be targeted at categories A or B specifically. It would be expected that Category C children would most easily be accommodated within Universal Services as they become more inclusive. The Aiming High team would continue to seek feedback from the families of such children via the TIE register even if they cease to access services directly commissioned via the Aiming High budget It would also be expected that requests (via formal referral/caf) to the SEND Panel for individual packages of support would primarily relate to children in Categories A and B. It is, of course, recognised that Category C children may be in need of a package depending on wider family circumstances, such as parents' own health needs or number of siblings. A further guide threshold is provided by a score in the Resource Allocation Questionnaire. Any request for individual support should demonstrate that all the services in the Local Offer have been considered and accessed where appropriate. Most recipients of individual short breaks will have an Education, Health and Care Plan and increasingly the EHC planning process will be the means of allocating and monitoring short breaks. However, it is expected there will be a small minority of cases where short break provision is in operation without an EHC plan being required. Needs Assessment

4 Doncaster s current best source of information about families with Disabled Children is the Together Information Exchange register, which as of August 2015 has 1107 of children registered. It is also relevant to note that at the same date there are 1,281 CYP with either a statement (1,235) or an Education, Health and Care Plan (46). Parents who are on the TIE register are regularly asked for feedback on what services Aiming High has commissioned are working well or not so well, what services they are accessing successfully which were not arranged by Aiming High and what other services they would like to see in place. Of course, most of these children, while their disabilities need to be recognised, will not need individual short breaks. Range of Services The short breaks regulations state In performing their duty under paragraph 6(1)(c) of Schedule 2 to the 1989 Act, a local authority must provide, so far as is reasonably practicable, a range of services which is sufficient to assist carers to continue to provide care or to do so more effectively. In particular, the local authority must provide, as appropriate, a range of (a) day-time care in the homes of disabled children or elsewhere, (b) overnight care in the homes of disabled children or elsewhere, (c) educational or leisure activities for disabled children outside their homes, and (d) services available to assist carers in the evenings, at weekends and during the school holidays. This statement indicates how we meet the requirements above (a) day-time care in the homes of disabled children or elsewhere, Within the family home these service would be provided via direct payments support or sessional staff sourced from a range of private and voluntary sector providers. Outside the family home, this can be via direct payments, sessional work, childminders, or daycare in a residential setting. (b) overnight care in the homes of disabled children or elsewhere. Overnight care is provided by residential homes (in particular DMBC's specialist facility Oaklands), foster carers, sessional workers or via direct payments. (c) educational or leisure activities for disabled children outside their homes.

5 Children access educational and leisure activities via group-based work primarily in school holidays. Such services can be provided by accredited providers from the private and voluntary sectors and by schools. We aspire to universal services increasingly carrying out this function for disabled children and have re-launched the "Including You" programme to promote this. Children can also be supported to access such activities in universal settings with the help of a sessional worker or direct payments. (d) services available to assist carers in the evenings, at weekends and during the school holidays. An extensive range of play and activities for the children during school holidays takes place and most of these allow the carer to have a break by leaving their child in the setting. DMBC also funds after school and weekend groups. Sessional workers and direct payments can also be provided in evenings, weekends and holidays to give parents a break. Information An Information and Communications Strategy Group is now operating, aimed at harmonising information on SEND issues, including Short Breaks, and overseeing the Local Offer. This group includes representatives from public, private and voluntary sector groups. Impact on short breaks can include professionals and carers becoming aware of the range of short breaks available and how to access them. Also, as awareness is raised of universal services providers with an inclusive approach to disabled children, the need for specialist short breaks for some children can be diminished. Parental Involvement We seek to routinely involve parents via feedback (questionnaires etc) and representation via the Doncaster Parents' Voice Parent s Forum. The forum is represented on such bodies as the SEND Partnership Board, Play and Activities Group, Information and Communications Strategy Group and various timelimited task and finish groups. Requests for individual short breaks must include the parents' views. Children and Young People's Involvement Children and Young People's views are a mandatory field on any Short Breaks referral and are requested as part of evaluations of group based activity.

6 The Aiming High team facilitates the LADDER group (Learning about Disability, Difference, Equality and Rights) which allows Children and Young People a collective voice within Doncaster. It should be noted, however, that the group does not just feed in to issues relating to Aiming High and Short Breaks but is available to contribute to any consultation within the Borough. Outcomes Where short breaks are provided on an individual basis, the lead professional seeking the short break on behalf of the family must specify to the Panel what outcomes are expected to be achieved within a clear timeframe of support. The Panel will receive periodic updates on what outcomes are actually being achieved. Further work needs to be done to clarify what constitutes an outcome as too often there has been a misunderstanding that the break is itself the outcome. Where short breaks are provided in group settings, the providers conducting those groups will agree outcomes with the Aiming High team. The team will monitor these outcomes by consulting with the providers and users of these services. Universal Services Universal Services are services that non-disabled young people expect to attend as a matter of course, but which historically may have not catered for disabled young people on a regular basis. Universal Services will be expected to increasingly include disabled young people. The Aiming High team will promote an Including You tool to allow Universal Services to assess how well they meet the needs of disabled children and how they can continue to improve. The Aiming High programme has provided a range of capital items and equipment to such services and will continue to monitor how these are being used to break down barriers to access. Gaps and Areas for Improvement The Together Information Exchange has over time developed three functions. Firstly, a means of giving and receiving information, secondly a gateway for accessing group based activities and thirdly a means of obtaining the TIE card which allows discounts at certain venues in Doncaster. The initial focus on merely providing and receiving information lead to a fairly "open door" approach to registration. However, the second and third functions now require us to have a tighter focus on seeking proof of disability. Discussions with the Parents Forum have led to discussions on a number of options, including having a two tier registration, whereby those with a clear diagnosis or other evidence of disability will receive

7 access to activities and the card. Others may then be placed on a part of the register which only results in them receiving information. As a first step the Aiming High team are seeking to update the register and seek clarity on evidence of disability. Families will not be removed from the register without careful consideration, however. With regard to group based work, consultation with parents and carers and analysis of potential service user data flagged up gap areas, in particular services for children under 8 years old, services for more profoundly disabled children, and for higher functioning young people. The Council has sought to engage with existing providers and find new providers to meet these needs. This has seen groups of profoundly disabled children take place at Heatherwood School, in partnership with private and public sector providers. A number of activities for high functioning autistic children have been generally well received. However, take up for groups for younger children (as distinct from family events where a parent would stay with the child) has been generally poor. Choice, personalisation and direct payments How much families have a choice about the services they receive and how much they receive a personalised service as defined by their own feedback. How effective the support services are to enable families to make full use of direct payments Direct payments are a key means of providing a short break within Doncaster in terms of individual packages of support. Doncaster is also an early adopter of social care personal budgets. It is important to note that personal budgets do not necessarily mean the family organising the financing themselves. Even if all the provision is organised on the family's behalf by DMBC or a third party, the support is still a personal budget if the family is able to make personalised choices regarding the provision, within a plan to meet assessed needs. Work is ongoing to align and ultimately pool personal budgets across Education, Health and Social Care within the context of an EHC plan. However it remains possible for a social care personal budget (which is likely to primarily in relation to short breaks) to be in place without an EHC plan. There is a separate Personal Budgets Policy [insert footnote] We will continue to work with the social enterprise In Control to adopt best practice in this field. Choice is promoted by encouraging a variety of providers with regard to group based work, sessional work etc. This is consistent with ensuring that when the spending power is in families own hands there will be a genuine choice. The Council now works with the Active Independence charity, who help parents recruit and train personal assistants where they wish to be the employer. It is not best practice for Direct Payments to be used to help parents access work as there are other mechanisms for childcare support. In exceptional circumstances, where a family agrees with the lead professional and that the care plan should

8 include childcare help and this fits within their overall RAS assessed budget this may be implemented if a case is made that child care via the early years service is not appropriate to the individual circumstances. Families can arrange support themselves via direct payments (with advice from the Aiming High team, using a managed account or an Advanced Purchase System). The Aiming High team also provides a brokerage service to help families source individual workers (where they do not wish to be the employer) and other types of support. How far suitable transport supports access and promotes greater degrees of independence where appropriate Transport needs to be provided fairly but not unnecessarily. Where families receive DLA Mobility allowances the onus will be on them to transport their child to short breaks other than in exceptional circumstances. Emphasis will also be placed on improving independent travel skills, co-ordinating this with school based independence work and where appropriate supported by the direct payments or sessional support worker where a young person has such a service. How services promote transition to adult services for disabled young people Where a young person is 14 or over a referral for an individual package of support must include outcomes around how the short break can contribute to transition to adulthood Harmony House is a key facility allowing promotion of independent living skills within a home-like environment. The progress of personalisation is being informed by the experience of introducing similar personal choice in Adult Services, while also recognising the differences in legislation and best practice associated with services to disabled children. What are the priorities for improvement to promote better outcomes for families? More co-ordinated work with Adult Services via a combined all-ages Carers Strategy. Parents have flagged up the need for a siblings support group as a priority, this to be explored with the hope of beginning in April Increased range of providers of short breaks, to ensure choice, is a goal but needs to fit within corporate procurement procedures. A re-tendering of the provider list in 2014 for both group-based and individual service providers via corporate system

9 produced no net increase in the number of providers but a full commissioning cycle is underway as of August 2015 with a view to having a new Dynamic Purchasing System with new providers in place by 1 April Overnight respite to remain valued but only to be used when chosen within the resources of the indicative budget or when a family s need for short breaks cannot be met by other means. Increased inclusion of disabled children within universal settings and groups, leading to a reduction in disability-specific services over time. Increased co-ordination across Education, Health and Social Care. What is being done to improve the skills of the workforce? Within this context, the workforce includes all those engaged in providing short breaks for Doncaster s disabled children and young people. The Aiming High administers a range of suitable e-learning, which is currently available to workers and providers from all relevant sectors. It would be expected that in the future providers, from whatever sector, will consider catering for disabled people as a core part of their business and thus maintain and improve the skills base of their workforce accordingly. Charging policy Parents and carers may have to pay the element of a group based activity in a manner consistent with what families of non-disabled children would normally be charged for accessing similar types of groups or schemes. This will be consistent with the Aiming High aim of families leading ordinary lives, with budgetary realities and will help address the consistent problem of families repeatedly booking things and then not taking up the booking. Publication This statement is published on Doncaster Council s Local Offer - Copies have been sent to all special schools and to the SENCO s of mainstream schools and all of Doncaster s accredited short breaks providers. Copies will also be sent to all families registered on TIE and to all Children s Centres.