NewcastleCity Council Children’s Services Social Care

Short Break Statement for Disabled Children

Introduction

  • Paragraph 6 of Schedule 2 to the Children Act 1989 requires local authorities to provide a short break service designed to assist individuals who provide care for disabled children.
  • This duty and the Breaks for Carers of Disabled Children Regulations 2011 came into force on the 1 April 2011.
  • 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 short breaks is designed to meet the local needs of families with disabled children.

Definitions and Context

  • Disabled children and young people are defined by a range of statutory provisions. For example, they may be disabled as defined by the Children Act 1989 or by section 6 of the Equality Act 2010.
  • A Short Break provides disabled children and young people with an opportunity to spend time away from their parents, relaxing and having fun with their friends. In addition to giving families a break from their caring responsibilities they can offer families the means to spend quality time together to have enjoyable experiences as a whole family.

The preparation of the statement

  • In Newcastle this statement has been prepared in partnership with parents from the Parents Short Break Advisory Group, the Children with Disabilities Special Needs Management Partnership (involving professionals from Social Care, Health and Education) and the Short Break Reference Group (involving professionals from Social Care, Mental Health, Community Nursing, Play Service, Leisure Service, Sure Start, Education, Parent Participation Officer and a representative from the Voluntary sector). In addition, there will be consultation with the Transitional Steering Group which membership also includes Adult Social Care, Children and Young People representation and a lead specialist for Commissioning and Learner funding.

The responsible lead.

  • The lead officer responsible for preparing this statement is Pat Thompson, Service Manager for Children with Complex Needs, who reports to the Director of Children’s Social Care and Safeguarding.
  • The statement has been the subject to consultation over the summer of 2011.
  • Following an initial approval by partner agencies, as represented in the Children with Disabilities Special Needs Management Partnership, the statement has been presented to the Children’s Trust Board for consideration and final approval was sought through the Children and Young People Overview Scrutiny Panel prior to the publication in October 2011.

The purpose of the statement

  • The statement will be the foundation of the Service and Commissioning delivery plans over 2012-2013 and they will be reviewed to ensure any provision is reflective of need and value. Parents, Disabled Children and Young People will continue to be involved in the process. An example is that the Short Break Advisory Group will be the driving force behind the sustainability of a holiday accommodation, commissioned through the Aiming High funding.

Publication and Review.

  • The Short Breaks Service Statement will be published on the Local Authority website and disseminated to families of disabled childrenby means of the Newcastle Disabled Children’s Register’s newsletter and be made available through the Families Information service.
  • The Children Trust arrangements and the partnerships across all Children’s Services (including Education, Play, Youth, Leisure,Early Intervention and Targeted Support) and Voluntary sectors will ensure copies of the statement will be readily available.
  • The statement will be reviewed initially at 6 months (to reflect proposed changes to any relevant statutory guidance) and thereafter annually in partnership with parents and monitored through the Children with Disabilities Special Needs Management Partnership.

Short Breaks Services for Disabled Children

Information Statement

Background

  • This information is for families living in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne who have a disabled child aged 0-18 years.
  • Short breaks have changed substantially since the publication of the Children Act 1989 Guidance with a shift away from longer periods in residential or foster care to shorter periods often in the child’s own home or community. This was developed through the use of direct payments by parents and carers for disabled children and young people, following the Carers and Disabled Children Act,2000. Aiming High for Disabled Children: Better Support for Families, 2007, and the Aiming High for Disabled Children programme contributed to this change by increasing the choice of short breaks available to disabled children and their families. The drive was to deliver a “Full Service Offer” which was to set out a menu of activities.This was supported through the Newcastle pilot for Individual Budgets, where the focus was to enable disabled children, young people and their families to have control over their short break provision. This captured the concept of the Personalisation Agenda, Personalisation Department of Health 2010,where personal choice and flexibility in meeting the needs of disabled people was promoted.
  • A short break is part of a continuum of services which support disabled children and their families. Newcastle City Council Children’s Services vision is that through the short break development it will strive to enable disabled children and young people to lead ordinary lives.Disabled children will be able to choose from a full range of services; activities including specialist provision, accessible universal and targeted provision.
  • A responsibility in both the Aiming High programme and the Individual Budgets pilot was to make high quality activities available to disabled children. Newcastle is amongst the most exciting cities in the United Kingdom with a huge amount for young people to do. The range of activities that young people can engage in is enormous with a dazzling array of sports from surfing to paintballing and artistically there are many offers to young people. There are many spaces where young people gather at the weekend and the Play and Youth services organise co-ordinated events and partnerships which bring young people together.
  • A key gap in provision highlighted in the Aiming High Needs Analysis, 2008-2009, was access to mainstream opportunities for disabled children and young people. Barriers identified werefamilies’perceptions that thestaff in mainstream settings were not confident in providing the necessary support to enable disabled children and young people to access the activities. In recognition of this,a series of discussions within Newcastle City Council took place and the development of the “Get Connected” programme was established with significant leisure organisations. The aim was to provide easy access to any chosen activity a child or young person might want to do by involving key agencies to welcome disabled children and young people and by so doing raise the volume, quality and choice of short breaks for disabled children. This was published through the Families Information Service to raise awareness of the inclusive opportunities for disabled children.
  • The “Get Connected” programme involves Leisure Services (offering sports access through the disability sports advisor), Play Service (offering access to play and Play Centres), Youth Service (offering access to Youth Clubs and Youth Services), The City Arts team (providing the Arts Choice Project), Jambalaya Arts (providing the Dance Connect Project) and The Sage Gateshead (providing the Integration Station Project). Each organisation has developed in a slightly different way. For example in the arts, “Dance Connect” emphasises direct connection of individual children, “Arts Choice” provides many tasters trying out the arts and is training several cohorts of staff teams at cultural venues. “Integration Station” emphasises group work prior to linking into the wider community.
  • There has been active engagement of parents, carers, disabled children and young people involving partnerships with services, providers and voluntary organisations in developing and increasing the range of services available and promoting choice through the Personalisation Agenda and Individual Budget implementation. The consultation arrangements will continue in the shaping and delivery of short break provision
  • There is recognition that families have varied and different needs to each other.

Short Breaks available in Newcastle

  • Short Breaks available cover a range of services, organisations, providers across the voluntary,public and private sector. This mixed economy reflects the diverse needs of disabled children and young people and their families in the city of Newcastle. The below list is not exhaustive but includes the following:
  • Family support in the home
  • Individual one to one support in the home or the community
  • Befriending
  • Holiday activities both inclusive and specialist
  • Out of School activities during the week and weekends both inclusive and specialist
  • Overnight Short Breaks
  • Family activity holidays
  • Family days out

Feedback from parents about the Calvert Trust Lodge funded by the Aiming High Grant

Feedback about Scotswood Play Centre from one carer was:

Feedback about Paddy Freeman Park from one parent of a disabled child was

The drive to increase inclusion of disabled young people in local amenities through Aiming High led to funding being awarded to Newburn Leisure Centre which has had significant outcomes.

Access to Short Breaks

  • Short Breaks are for everyone. Children’s Service providers in Newcastle actively promote the inclusion of disabled children and young people enabling them to achieve a Short Break. They can range from activities(e.g. swimming, trampolining, cycling, basketball, football,dance etc.) social clubs (e.g. youth clubs, play schemes) to family holidays (Calvert Trust, Kielder, Northumberland). Specialist equipment and support in these universal settings pave the way for disabled children and young people to have the same experiences as their non-disabled peers. Details are available from Families Information Service who will be able to advise and signpost accordingly. Families can access these activities and services themselves.
  • Disabled children, young people and their families may require assistance to identify the most appropriate resource to meet their individual support needs. Access to the full range of Short breaks for disabled children and young people and their families is dependent on their needs. Short Breaks may be delivered as part of a broad package includingtargeted support from within a multi-agency framework. There is recognitionand a commitment to early intervention by services.A meeting may be convened by someone who knows the disabled child, young person (a Lead Professional) to ensure the right people share information and organise support. This meeting will involve the family.
  • The identification of a child’s and family’s needs is established through an assessment. The assessment can be undertaken by either a lead professional under the Common Assessment Framework or by a social worker as an Initial Assessment under the Framework for the Assessment of children in need and their Families (DOH 2000) depending on the family situation. The disabled child, young person and their family will be part of the assessment process which will inform the package of support. This will be reviewed to ensure the disabled child, young person and their families changing needs continue to be matched carefully.
  • The Children with Disabilities Social Care Team provide services designed to meet the needs of disabled children and young people who have complex disabilities. The provision is based on a careful assessment either by means of an Initial Assessment or a more in depth assessment known as a Core assessment, which helps social work staff to reach decisions about what services are to be provided.
  • Disabled Children and Young People whose needs are assessed asmore complex requiring specialist services in securing short breaks will be provided with a specialist service.The short break package may include community based family support service, overnight stays either in residential accommodation or specialist foster carers.
  • There are different means of providing families tailor made packages of support, to promote and increase choice in the provision of short breaks.They include Direct payments where the family arranges their own short breaks through employing services. These may include
  • child minding
  • nursery provision
  • day care
  • domiciliary support
  • sitting services
  • play schemes
  • overnight care to enable disabled children and young people to have “sleepovers”
  • the employment of a personal assistant.

This method of self directed support has been progressed through the Personalisation agenda and the introduction of Individual Budgets. Individual Budgets empower the disabled child, young person and their families to have more control in the identification and assessment of their needs, selection of services/providers, the organisation and the delivery of the supports they receive.


Case Study Example

The Equalities and Diversity Officer, Raising Participation, reports

Peter is a 13 yrs old lad and has cerebral palsy. Peter attends BenfieldSchool and it was here that I first met him 18months ago.At this time, Peter didn’t take part in sports, but now due to increased opportunities in disability sport around Newcastle, he regularly attends the Benfield After School Multi sports club. Peter is also about to take up a new sport called ‘Running Bikes’ at Newburn, near to where he lives.

However, Peter has shown a real flare and talent at an Athletics event called ‘Club Throwing’. Inspired by Stephen Miller, the current British Paralympian Club Thrower;

Peter said, “I have met Stephen a couple of times and I was really impressed.” During his most recent encounter with Stephen, Peter said, I’m gonna be better than you one day!

Peter recently won the Silver in the Distance Club Throw for his age group at the National Junior Athletics Championships Blackpool in July 2011 after beating off fierce competition in the regional finals held at Gateshead Stadium May 2011.

As Peter, says,“Since I joined the after school club I started doing more sport and it has really changed my life. I really enjoy club throwing and I can’t wait to compete in the nationals at Blackpool”

Peter, is an inspiration, sport has brought out his confidence and given him a new lease of life.”

Transport

  • Transport is required by many families in order for their children to access their short break. Transport is expensive and time consuming. Every effort will be made to ensure families have the necessary advice to claim welfare benefits and access school transport as appropriate.
  • Young people should have the same opportunities in accessing ordinary public transport according to their needs
  • Transport will only be considered if identified and assessed as a need in the support plan. This may include discussions with providers and colleagues in partner services to promote where possible independent travel.

Transition

  • Transition from Children’s Services to Adult Services should be a process not an event. Planning and preparation should have followed the pathway which allows for the sharing of information, assessments and identification of future provision on reaching the age of 18 years. The disabled young person and their family will be the centre of the planning and decision making. There will be a lead professional who will be able to advise and guide as necessary.

The priorities for improvement to promote better outcomes for families in Newcastle.

  • Newcastle Children and Young People’s Plan 2011-14 sets out how partners will work together over the next 3 years to make a difference to the life chances of all children and Young People living in Newcastle. In the development of the plan there has been 3 priorities established:
  1. Keeping children and young people safe (SAFE)
  1. Reducing inequalities and promoting equality (EQUAL)

3. Raising aspirations, achievements and opportunities (ACHIEVING)

  • Each relevant partner will set out in its own strategic plans and how it will deliver against the outcomes.
  • Children Services Social Care, Children with Disabilities Service, has a Service Delivery plan 2011-2012, which highlights the expectations and the duty to deliver short breaks. This will be monitored and reviewed to achieve the priorities.
  • In promoting a partnership of inclusion there has been widespread disability training of professionals and within wider organisations. In addition the Children and Young People Workforce Strategy 2010- 2013 through Newcastle Children’s Trust is taken forward locally in the Workforce Reform agenda to improve and enhance the skills of the workforce.

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Approved November 2011 to be reviewd June 2012