This Direct Payment Agreement is made on (date)………………………. and is
Between
The person with parental responsibility on behalf of (disabled child’s name)
………………………………………………………………………….
Address of disabled child (if different to that of the person with parental responsibility.)
………………………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………..
Name of person with Parental responsibilityAddress
And
Derbyshire County Council
Name of WorkerPosition
Work Base
1. Derbyshire County Council (DCC) has carried out an assessment of your disabled child’s needs for services and has determined that the services set out in your disabled child’s Assessment or Child’s Plan should be provided. Where the direct payment is given under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, the aim of the direct payment is to safeguard and promote the child’s welfare. Your disabled child is under the age of 18 years.
2. Your disabled child is receiving a service from CAMHS (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services) and DCC has carried out an assessment of need, in consultation with appropriate CAMHS staff. The assessment has determined that services set out in your disabled child’s Assessment or Child’s Plan should be provided. Where the direct payment is given under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, the aim of the direct payment is to safeguard and promote the child’s welfare. Your disabled child is under the age of 18 years.
3. You are the person with parental responsibility for the disabled child and have consented to receive your disabled child’s assessed needs as a direct payment and are willing and able to secure the services outlined in the Child’s Plan.
4. You are a young person between the age of 16 and 18 years and you have been assessed as having eligible needs and assessed as being able to consent to the making of a direct payment either to you, with or without support, or to a nominee on your behalf. You and/or your nominee will need to sign a separate Direct Payment agreement.
5. When a young person reaches 16 years of age their DCC Worker will liaise with Adult Care services as appropriate. This could result in a re-assessment of Direct Payments by the Adult Care Worker to determine whether the young person is eligible for direct payments in their own right post 18 years. If this is the case then a new agreement within adult services will be drawn up and signed. (See the section headed ‘Termination of a Direct Payment’ at the end of this Agreement)
Derbyshire County Council Agree to:
1. Give you a sum of money every four weeks in advance to enable you to buy support for your disabled child. This money is provided to meet your disabled child’s assessed support needs as outlined in their Assessment or Child’s Plan and agreed with your DCC Worker. It is your choice and responsibility how you use the direct payment to meet your disabled child’s assessed needs.
2. Make four weekly payments into a dedicated direct payment account via bank credit transfer, in advance. (This could be a managed bank account via DCIL (Derbyshire Coalition for Inclusive Living) /Paypacket/Other). You will receive notification of these payments via the Payment Summary.
3. Send you out a payment summary detailing what has been paid to you. This summary will also inform you of any changes to your payments.
4. If, at a later date, you become incapable of managing the payments on behalf of your disabled child and DCC is satisfied that this is only temporary, DCC may continue to make payments.
5. DCC May provide you with additional funds, when agreed by the DCC worker.
6. Arrange for the CRB enhanced check to be carried out on the Personal Assistant. The DCC worker will also check the ISA (Independent Safeguarding Authority) Register. This is paid for by DCC.
7. Work with you in reviewing the assessment of the Child’s Plan at agreed times. Any changes to the Child’s Plan and the money you receive will be agreed with you and you will receive 4 weeks notice of this in writing.
8. Review the Agreement and direct payments if either your disabled child’s or your circumstances change. More frequent reviews may occur as the needs of the disabled child change or as the disabled child gets older. This may result in payments being decreased or increased.
9. Provide you with adequate support and/or information about where you can obtain help that DCC is unable to provide. This will ensure you have the necessary support in order to spend your direct payments appropriately.
10. Provide you with a Starter Pack of information “Direct Payments for Disabled Children” in an appropriate format, to help you manage the direct payment. DCC recommends that you seek independent advice if you need help to manage your direct payment. Your DCC worker will sign post you to appropriate services.
11. Provide extra help if you are struggling with managing your direct payments. You must contact your DCC Worker if you need extra support, who will be able to direct you.
12. Provide you information in a format that enables you to access the information given.
13. Deal with your direct payment enquiries and complaints in a timely manner.
14. Work with you to try and resolve issues which arise before terminating this Agreement.
DCC agree to commence payments once:
· a personal assistant has been identified and following the successful process of the personal assistant’s recruitment. This includes satisfactory references, a satisfactory CRB (Criminal Record Bureau) check and that the Personal Assistant is registered with the ISA
(Independent Safeguarding Authority) to undertake a regulated activity and are not on the ISA barred list. Nor listed in the List in the Regulations that excludes certain persons from being able to manage direct payments (Reference to Schedule 1 of the Community Care, Services for Carers and Children’s Services (Direct Payments) (England) Regulations 2009.
OR
· in the case of services proposed to be delivered by an agency or organisation, once the resource has been identified and checks have been carried out as to the suitability of the staff concerned. This process will ensure that they have current and satisfactory CRB checks in place and are registered with the ISA (Independent Safeguarding Authority) to undertake a regulated activity and are not on the ISA barred list. And the agency or organisation are registered with CQC (Care Quality Commission) or Ofsted.
OR
· A combination of the above.
DCC reserve the right to :
· Veto a chosen personal assistant or organisation if in the opinion of DCC the service provider is either not able to provide an adequate service or is unfit to provide a service.
· Terminate Direct Payments if a safeguarding conference considers your disabled child is at risk of abuse or has suffered abuse and if the direct payment is not safeguarding or promoting the child’s welfare where the payment relates to services under section 17 of the 1989 Act.
· Terminate Direct payments if there is evidence that payments are not used to meet the assessed needs of the child.
I………………………………………………. being the Person having parental responsibility
on behalf of (disabled child’s name)…………………………………………
Agree to:
Financial and Monitoring Requirements
1. Spend the money on meeting my Disabled Child’s, Child’s Plan as identified through the Assessment or Child’s Plan.
2. Open a bank account specifically for direct payments or organise a managed bank account specifically for direct payments. I agree not to use this account for any other purpose.
3. Keep all records (bank statements, timesheets and/or invoices, receipts for permitted items or permitted cash expenditure, etc.) about the direct payment and financial transactions for a period of six years. Provide details of the transactions on the DCC Expenditure Summary form and make them available for inspection by DCC. Provide copies of these records at 4 weekly intervals unless agreed otherwise.
4. To take responsibility for any bank charges or HMRC charges
5. To inform DCC if my disabled child’s has not received a service for more than 4 weeks.
Be a Good Employer
I understand that the arrangements for employment between me and those people I employ to provide a service, is a private arrangement and DCC is not involved in that arrangement and bears no responsibility to me or the staff that I employ with regard to the employment relationship. I understand that I need to ensure that the personal assistant has the appropriate skills and a current and valid CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check and are registered with the ISA (Independent Safeguarding Authority) to undertake a regulated activity and are not on the ISA barred list before agreeing to employ them. I understand that it will be illegal for any barred individual to undertake, or attempt to undertake, this kind of activity and they will be informed of this when they are barred. I understand that if I employ someone who is barred then I could be fined. Derbyshire County Council will not pay the fine.
I specifically agree to:
1. Abide by the Equal Opportunities Legislation when recruiting and employing staff as far as is consistent with meeting the needs of my child.
2. Ensure that I comply with employment legislation and I understand that Derbyshire County Council has recommended that I seek independent advice in order to achieve this.
3. Not employ a member of my family directly living in the same household unless there is an “exceptional circumstance” to which DCC has agreed.
When Contracting with a Service Provider
When I contract with a service provider to meet my disabled child’s assessed needs I understand that the contract is a private arrangement and DCC is not involved in that arrangement and bears no responsibility to me or the organisation with regard to the contract.
I specifically agree:
1. That when I contract with an organisation on behalf of my disabled child I will ensure that the staff have current and satisfactory CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) checks and are registered with the ISA (Independent Safeguarding Authority) to undertake a regulated activity and are not on the ISA barred list.
Repayment of Funds
1. To notify DCC immediately of any changes to my disabled child’s circumstances that may affect their assessment of need, child’s plan or their entitlement to a direct payment.
2. To repay any unauthorised use of the direct payment.
3. To repay the direct payment where there is more than a four week surplus and it is not needed to secure the relevant services set out in my disabled assessment of need or child’s plan.
4. Not to use the direct payment for any other purpose than meeting my disabled child’s assessed needs.
5. In the event of the disabled child/young person’s death, DCC will carefully consider what contractual responsibilities were in place when determining what balance of the Direct Payment is to be repaid to DCC.
Suspending the Agreement
DCC may temporarily suspend this Agreement if:
· My circumstances or those of my disabled child’s circumstances change.
· If I or my disabled child are at risk of abuse pending the outcome of a safeguarding conference.
· If I or my disabled child goes into hospital.
Termination of the Agreement
Before terminating this agreement DCC shall endeavour to provide any appropriate support for you to continue to receive a direct payment.
Either party may terminate this agreement by giving the other party 4 week’s notice in writing. When the Agreement terminates, DCC will provide and/or arrange the care services directly to the disabled child, should the disabled child continue to be eligible for services provided by DCC. Both parties will take account of the employment responsibilities of the direct payment recipient when serving notice of termination.
Despite the usual 4 weeks notice and after discussions, I understand that DCC may terminate this Agreement if any of the following situations occur and then DCC does not have to give 4 weeks notice:
For example:
· A breach of the conditions of this agreement.
· The direct payment is used for fraudulent purposes
· The direct payment is used for purposes which do not meet my disabled child’s needs or promote my disabled child’s welfare.
· I become incapable of managing the direct payment (even with support).
· As a result of a change in circumstances, my disabled child falls outside the eligibility criteria
· My disabled child goes into a foster placement( excluding short break care as agreed in the assessment or plan)
· My disabled child goes into a residential educational school or college
· My disabled child has a child protection plan
· A safeguarding conference considers that my disabled child is at risk of abuse or has suffered abuse
· The direct payment is not/no longer safeguarding or promoting my disabled child’s welfare when the payment relates to services under section 17 of the Children Act 1989.
I understand that DCC will terminate this agreement once my disabled child reaches 18 years of age. However if my disabled child as been assessed by a Adult Care Worker in respect of a Direct Payment in their own right post 18 years then a new agreement within adult services will be drawn up and signed.
Comments, Complaints and Compliments
You have the right to complain under DCC Complaints Procedure about any issue in this Agreement
I have read and understood the contents of this Agreement
Signed………………………………………………………………………
Person with Parental Responsibility on behalf of (name of disabled child)
Date………………………………………………………………………..
Signed……………………………………………………………………..
Derbyshire County Council
Position……………………………………………………………………
Date……………………………………………………………………….
Disabled Children Direct Payment Scheme 2010