Time4Me
October 2016 to September 2017
Referrer Guidance
Background
The Time4Me fund is awarded and monitored by Shared Care Scotland. It has been awarded to PKAVS to hold a central fund to provide personalised short, creative breaks for carers and their cared for across Perth & Kinross. The fund is administered by Raymond Jamieson (PKAVS Carers Hub manager) and a funding panel made up of carers, statutory and voluntary sector colleagues.
Timescale
The fund has strict time constraints therefore must be spent and the breaks taken between October 2016 and September 2017.
Using the fund
The fund is to provide creative breaks for people with caring responsibilities at home. These breaks will be different from usual home support or respite short breaks; allowing individuals to create unique and creative breaks or experiences. The fund for example can be used to provide larger amounts of home support hours to facilitate ‘one-off’ breaks that are more akin to short holidays e.g. overnight or weekend away or for individuals to pay for their holiday costs. Other examples are it could be an application to pay for a season ticket at your favourite football team, to pay for a gym membership, driving lessons or anything at all that would provide you respite from your caring role. The list is endless. The applications will be assessed by a panel that will make decisions on allocating the funds. A maximum of up to £250 for a ‘big break’ or £50 for a ‘wee break’ can be applied for but please apply for only the amount needed to cover the cost of the break as funds are very limited.
In order to ensure that funds have maximum impact to carers it is important that they are used to provide respite opportunities which the carer could not fund independently.
Application forms can be posted or emailed to Raymond Jamieson.
· Postal – PKAVS, The Gateway, North Methven Street, Perth, PH1 5PP
· Email –
Criteria
People applying for funding must meet the following criteria:
· Have not had a break in the last 12 months funded through these monies.
· Have a caring role.
· You would be unable to access the respite opportunity applied for without money from this fund.
· The break should not have already taken place.
· The cared for person must be 21 years old or above.
Applicant guidance on how to apply and what is a short break is also available.
Funding Panel
Applications received for Time4Me will be reviewed by a funding panel who will make decisions on the allocation of funding. The panel will include (but not exclusively) the following members:
· PKAVS staff members
· A minimum of one carer
· Colleagues from NHS Tayside and Perth & Kinross local authority.
Panel decisions will be based on applications meeting the criteria listed above. In cases where there are more applications for funding than funds available, the panel will award funding to the applications which, in their opinion, best fit the intended outcomes of the fund, as follows:
· Carer stress will be reduced when either they or their relative have a short break.
· Carers feel more able to sustain their caring role.
· Carers who haven’t had a break for a long period would take priority.
Those carers who have evidenced through completion of the pre break questionnaire that they are most in need of support will take priority to be discussed at the funding panels.
There will also be the option of allocating less funding to applicants than requested to allow more people to benefit.
£1250 per month will be allocated over 11 panels. This will mean that £1000 will be allocated each month for ‘big treats’ and a further £250 for ‘wee treats’.
The funding panel will convene monthly from November 2016. Applications received will be acknowledged and applicants informed of the outcome of their application. Applications may be carried over to the next funding panel. Funding will be released within a two week period of the panel decision. Please make it clear if the applicant is not the best person to contact, providing a named person (relative/referrer/other) for Raymond to contact.
Record keeping/Monitoring
A condition of us receiving the fund is that clear records of what has been allocated to whom will be kept and feedback from recipients on how the break has gone will be documented. This is essential as we have to show the outcomes of the support which should tie in with our anticipated outcomes. Permission to share information/give feedback about the break and providing receipts are requirements of receiving funding.
A short evaluation form will be completed with each recipient before and after they have taken their break.
Every effort should be made to ensure receipts are forwarded to PKAVS so we can confirm the funds awarded were spent appropriately.
It was found with last year’s fund that too often referring agents didn’t help when looking for support to have the post break questionnaire completed or for following up receipts. Please be aware that completing the application doesn’t end your responsibilities and that you should be willing to help support us get these details returned. Failure to do so could see any future applications received from you or your team being discounted for consideration.
Procedure for Payment
Once an application has been approved, Raymond will: -
· Inform the referrer of the successful application
· Contact the successful individual(s), or their chosen contact, to arrange payment
· Liaise with finance for release of funds either to individuals (by cheque), directly to holiday accommodation or directly to services chosen by you to deliver your respite.
Finally….
Please contact Raymond if you are unsure about the use of the fund, if you have any concerns or just wish to share successes. We are always interested to hear your viewpoints on how the fund works, how those you refer benefit, or ideas on how we could best promote the fund in your area.
Raymond Jamieson
PKAVS Carers Hub Manager
01738 567076
Panel meetings are expected to take place on the first Tuesday of each month.
· Please note all panel meetings will be held at PKAVS , the Gateway, North Methven Street, Perth, PH1 5PP
· Please not that applications need to be received 7 days prior to these dates to be discussed at a particular panel. This will give us time to complete the pre-break questionnaire with the applicant prior to the panel meeting.
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