Short Breaks Services Statement Review

for Children/Young People who are Disabled and/or Sensory Impaired and their families

July 2012

Introduction

Since 1 April 2011, each Local Authority is required to produce a Short Breaks Services Statement so that families know what services are available to them; the eligibility criteria for those services and how the range of services is designed to meet the needs of families with disabled children in their area. This applies to children 0-18yrs.

Lincolnshire County Council’s original Short Break’s Services Statement was published on line in October 2011following consultation, and can be found at

This is the first of the annual reviews we are required to undertake.

Short Breaks Services Statement Review

Before publication we have shared this review with the following groups;

  • The Lincolnshire Parent Carer Council
  • The Lincolnshire Parent/Carer Working Group
  • The Lincolnshire Parent Partnership
  • Total Voice
  • The Personal Budgets Consultation Group
  • The Young People’s Shadow Transition Board
  • Action for Children
  • Children with Disabilities Team
  • Sensory Education Support Service
  • Early Support Care Coordination Team

The contribution of these groups has helped to shape this final review document and to ensure that it is user friendly, jargon free and easily understood for all.

What are Short Breaks?

Short Breaks are for children and young people and their families to enjoy breaks together, as well as for children and young people to have time away from home that enables them to have fun and time with their peers while at the same time giving a break to parent/carers from their caring role.

These can include day, evening, overnight, weekend or holiday activities that take place in the community, in the child or young person’s own home, the home of an approved carer, or a residential setting. They may also be at the heavily LCC subsidised holiday venues located in the county.

Short Break services should:

Enable parents and carers to;

  • Feel supported and to experience reduced levels of stress due to caring
  • Have clear information on their entitlement and know what is available to them
  • Be confident that their child is having a positive experience
  • Have a range of services from which they are able to make choices
  • Have trust in the Short Break provider and to know that carers are trained, skilled and understand their child’s needs

Enable disabled and/or sensory impaired children and young people to;

  • Enjoy the experience and try new things
  • Share fun times
  • Have an opportunity to be with or make friends
  • Take part in activities which help their development
  • Have some choice and control over what they do
  • Know what to expect and to feel safe

Enable brothers and sisters to;

  • Be able to have time with their parents that is not taken up with caring issues
  • Know that their brother or sister is enjoying their Short Break
  • Be able to have their friends to visit
  • Be able to do homework, or other activities or just have some time for themselves
  • Be able to join their brother and sister for some Short Break activities

This review of our original Statement is set out in four sections;

Section 1:Access criteria

Section 2:The current Short Break opportunities

Section 3:Delivering Short Breaks in the future

Section 4:Meeting the Needs (Eligibility Criteria)

Section 1 – Access criteria

The government legislation and guidance says that we must have a range of short break services and activities for the following groups of children, young people and their families;

  • Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who have severe learning disabilities or behaviour which is challenging
  • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
  • Severe learning disabilities and/or those children and young people whose challenging behaviour is associated with other impairments
  • Complex health needs including those with disability and life limiting conditions, and/ or those with associated impairments such as cognitive or sensory impairments and/or have moving/handling needs and/or require special equipment/adaptations

Section 2 - The current Short Break opportunities

The Lincolnshire Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership hasidentified five principles that set out the aspirations for the future, its plans to improve what is available to children, young people and their families and the difference it aims to make.We will measure the implementation of the Short Breaks programme against these principles and monitor and the outcomes for children and young people who are disabled and/or sensory impaired.

These principles are;

  1. Early intervention and protection

Strong universal services, providing early action and intensive support to vulnerable children and young people.

  1. Safeguarding and best start in life

Ensuring children are safe in every environment

Encourage community responsibility for safeguarding

  1. Aspiration and well-being

Ensuring all those who work with children champion the importance of aspiration.

Develop self-esteem, self belief and resilience in all children, young people and their families.

  1. Learning and achievement

All children being the best that they can be.

Closing the gap between vulnerable groups and children living in disadvantaged communities.

  1. Best use of resources

Integrating delivery with a focus on outcomes, life chances and opportunities.

Effective use of resources to provide better services locally.

Empower communities, creating opportunities for them to engage.

The original Statement detailed the planning and development of Short Breaks in Lincolnshire based upon what parents and young people said that they wanted.

What has happened so far

  • Lincolnshire County Council commissioned a wide range of Short Break services to enable young people and their families to enjoy breaks together as well as encouraging young people to enjoy activities independently in their community.
  • Children and young people who are not eligible to receive specialist Social Care services are able to access a range of breaks without a prior assessment to give them more freedom and choice.
  • Capital projects including The Thomas Centre near Louth, two caravans at Butlins, Skegness and the forthcoming cottages at Frieston have allowed families to self refer to bespoke breaks specifically developed with the variety of complex needs in mind to allow a relaxing time for the whole family.
  • Families have been able to apply for an individual budget to use for a Short Break activity or to buy equipment to facilitate a Short Break activity for the child. The Individual Grant scheme was a one-off scheme, which will be evaluated in Autumn 2012
  • There are 16 venues with Changing Places status across Lincolnshire to allow families to enjoy full days out together knowing they have access to changing facilities to meet the needs of children and young people with complex care needs.
  • We have in place a range of support services to assist families which is itemised within this review.

In our original Short Breaks Services Statement we identified what we planned to achieve. We can now report on the following progress:

Data collection – we have used data collection to continue to improve our Short Break opportunities. These statistics are available on request by emailing

Training – we have offered, and continue to offer, staff training and events for providers to continue to develop their knowledge and skill.In addition a significant number of parents, carers and staff are working on modules using the e-learning programme

Information – We publish good quality information about Short Breaks in a number of different ways and formatssuch as the 4All magazine, the web pages ( and the Family Information Service ( We are raising awareness of the free concessionary bus pass, for children and young people who are disabled, to enable them to use public transport to get to activities. We are also promoting our local Call-Connect transport service.

Support – this is now well established in Lincolnshire as is detailed in thesignpost leafletshown above; this informs families of all self-referral support available. In addition we have supported all providers to achieve compliance with the Equality Act 2010 and also develop their Safeguarding processes.

Section 3 - Delivering Short Breaks in the future

Short Breaks will continue to be offered and contribute to the Council’s preventative and early intervention strategy.They provide support for vulnerable groups including children and young people who receive services at a targeted level as well as those who are in receipt of more specialist services.

This includes the following groups of children who are disabled and/or sensory impaired;

  • Children and young people with autistic spectrum conditions or social communication difficulties particularly associated with other impairments such as challenging behaviour and learning difficulties.
  • Children and young people with complex health needs, often associated with other physical, cognitive or sensory impairments.
  • Children and young people with mobility impairments and moving and handling needs.
  • Children and young people with severe learning difficulties, often with associated challenging behaviour.
  • Disabled young people in adolescence that require services that are age appropriate.

Short Breaks activities are provided by a range of organisations who received a small grant from Lincolnshire County Council to enable them to ensure their activity is inclusive for children and young people who are disabled and/or sensory impaired.

In addition Action for Children, a well established charity with a wealth of experience of working with children who are disabled and their families, successfully tendered for the contract to provide a range of support services including Community and Youth Groups,Buddying and After School and Holiday Clubs..

Lincolnshire’s Children with Disabilities Commissioning Strategy sets out a four year plan which states how theCounty Council aims to ensure that children and young people who are disabled have the same opportunities as other children, and that they receive the best possible servicesfrom a workforce that works alongside them to help and support them to access appropriate services.

Lincolnshire is currently developing the Personal Budgets programme which will enable families to have more choice about the services they buy in order to support the needs of their child. Information about the implementation of Personal Budgets can be found at There will be a gradual implementation of Personal Budgets over the next 2 years giving families more choice and control. We see these complimenting current Short Break provision as well as helping to develop the market place in terms of new providers giving greater choice to families. The Government are introducing a range of changes which are documented in Next Steps Green Paper which can be found on our webpages. This document will influence Lincolnshire County Council in how they develop services.

Section 4 - Meeting the Needs (Eligibility Criteria)

We offer Short Break services at three different levels. These services are called;

  • Universal
  • Targeted / Preventative
  • Specialist

Universal

These are services available to all children and young people, such as education or health services. They include activities at Youth Centres, Sports and Leisure Centres, After School Clubs, and Children’s Centres.

Universal services will be the first point of contact for many families. Our aim is to promote inclusion and support universal services to meet the needs of disabled and/or sensory impaired children and young people.

Disabled children will not need an assessment to access universal services, apart from any criteria set by individual organisations.

Targeted / Preventative Services

These are services that provide some extra support. Families will have some additional needs if they are bringing up a disabled child and the child or young person may need some extra support too, either in the short or long term, to be able to take part in activities. Services at this level aim to offer support to prevent difficulties building up and to enable children and young people to try new things.

Short Break targeted/preventative services are specifically for disabled and or sensory impaired children, young people and their families. Access is not necessarily dependent on a formal assessment of need, although each service may operate its own criteria. Some services may be available to children assessed through, and part of, the Team Around the Child (TAC) process – or, families that receive a service from the Early Support Care Coordination Team (ESCO). The ESCO service is now extended from 0-18 year olds and can be accessed via contacting the Customer Service Centre (01522 782111) or through going to a local ‘drop-in clinic’.

Key user groups will be children attending specialist school provision who are recognised as having autistic spectrum condition, particularly with associated challenging behaviour or learning difficulties and those with sensory and/or physical impairments.

Short Breaks will also be available through Children’s Centres and Targeted Support teams.

Children and families experience a range of needs at different times in their lives. All children including children who are disabled and / or sensory impaired require access to high quality services that are available to all families. However, some may require extra support from a range of different agencies and would benefit from the Team Around the Child(TAC) approach. This involves help from a group of professionals working together with the family and who can provide different services to meet the identified need(s) of the child or young person.

Specialist Services

These can beaccessed via contacting the Customer Service Centre (01522 782111) who may then refer the family to the Children with Disabilities Team (Children’s Services) for an Assessment of Need. These will be children and families with the most complex needs. The outcomes may include services in or away from the child’s home and could be with family carers on an individual support basis.

Following this Assessment of Need, some families choose to obtain their own services through a Direct Payment, which enables them to employ their own carers or contract an agency to purchase a break. The Council has a contract with Pendrels Trust, a support service that provides advice to families to manage the issues relating to direct payments, such as employment responsibilities.

Lincolnshire NHS Trust commissions specialist palliative care health services for children and young people with limiting or life threatening conditions. These include short breaks at Hospices as well as an overnight service in the child’s own home. The service offers its own referral criteria and can be contacted by families directly.

Specialist services are allocated in accordance with the Council’s policy on Eligibility which considers the impact the child’s disability has on the family; the child’s level of need arising from their condition; whether the services are needed in order to promote the child’s safety and well-being in the family and /or whether the child and family’s needs cannot be met without support from a specialist Social Care disability service.

The Local Authority is committed to families having choice and will support families to receive a Direct Payment in lieu of a Social Care service following an assessment. It will be extending choice and flexibility through the gradual introduction of Personal Budgets over the next two years.

Information about Direct Payments is via the Customer Service Centre – Telephone 01522 782111

A combination of Services and Activities

Many children will access a mixture of services, some specialist, provided through an assessment, and some accessed through targeted provision or Short Break activities commissioned through the voluntary and independent sector. Some children will be able to access universal Short Break services with or without inclusion support.

However, where there is high demand, preventative activities which are funded to offer Short Breaks may prioritise children who do not receive specialist services; this is to ensure that breaks reach a wide range of children and are distributed to as many as possible.

Promoting transition to adulthood

Young people who are preparing to leave school and take the next steps into their adult life are supported with age appropriate Short Breaks through universal services such as Youth Clubs and targeted groups which arrange activities for teenagers, in order to promote confidence, raise aspirations and help prepare young people for independence.

How will Short Breaks improve outcomes for disabled and/or sensory impaired children, young people and their families?

  • They will support parents in their caring role and help reduce levels of stress
  • By helping young people to make friends, develop and learn through play activities, and to promote their social, communication and independence skills.
  • By helping to develop self-confidence and a sense of achievement through the offer of extra curricular activities where they learn new interests and try out new activities.
  • Young people preparing to leave school and make the transition to adulthood will be supported to express their views and make choices through age appropriate activities.
  • They will allow families to spend time relaxing together and for parents and siblings to meet other families with similar experiences in order to reduce isolation and share some fun experiences.
  • Children with very complex health needs and/or life limiting conditions will be offered opportunities for Short Breaks appropriate to their needs.

Where will information be available from?