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Contents

1. Who is Eligible for Social Care and Short Break Services?
2. What are Short Breaks?
3. Eligibility Criteria

1. Who is Eligible for Social Care and Short Break Services?

Disabled children are by definition Children in Need in terms of the Children Act 1989 and entitled to an Initial Assessment. Additionally, their parents and carers are entitled to a carer’s assessment. When we assess the needs of disabled children and young people we take into account the needs of their parents and other children in their immediate family.

Those children assessed as having a substantial disability are eligible for support through the Children’s Disability (social work) Team. This may include specialist family support, residential short breaks, family based care or Direct Payments. Families who are not eligible for services through the Children’s Disability Team may be eligible for services from our neighbourhood teams; or can be supported through advice and guidance to access services locally that are available for all families.

2. What are Short Breaks?

Short Breaks are designed to support disabled children and their families, enabling children to experience new relationships, environments and positive activities whilst giving families a break from their caring role. They are preventative services that form part of the support received by disabled children. These include day, evening, overnight or weekend activities and take place in the child’s own home, the home of an approved carer, a residential or community setting.

Provision of short breaks and family support is based on an assessment of the whole family, addressing both their personal and social needs; and are part of an integrated programme of support which is regularly reviewed.

Short break and family support services in categories a, b and c of Luton’s eligibility criteria are additional services required to support disabled children and their families and are over and above the universal services expected and available to all families.

3. Eligibility Criteria

Luton’s eligibility criteria:

1. Is informed by the local authority’s powers to meet the needs of disabled children and their families under the Children Act 1989, and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (section 49A);
2. Sets out a fair, understandable and transparent approach that enables short breaks and family support services to be used as a preventative service and does not restrict provision to those threatened by family breakdown or other points of crisis;
3. Enables access to a wide range of local short break and family support provision, tailored to families assessed needs and allowing families to move between bands if needs or circumstances change;
4. Is based on a staged approach that is informed by an assessment of the child’s needs and takes account of parenting capacity; the needs of the child; the environment and other factors; the wishes and feelings of the child and his parents.

There are two key ways that disabled children and their families can receive support:

1. For disabled children and their families the eligibility for specialist social care and short break services is applied at levels a, b and c on the needs grid following an initial assessment of their needs, and if appropriate a more detailed Core Assessment. Having completed the assessment, a multi-agency Resource Panel next considers what services or support can be offered.
2. The needs of some disabled children and their families – at levels d and e on the needs grid – will best be met by the provision of information, advice and guidance to families and through supporting them to access universal services that are available to all families locally. Luton Borough Council is funding a Disability Information Officer within the Child and Family Information Service whom families with disabled children can contact themselves. Disabled children and their families may also be referred, through the Common Assessment Framework (CAF), to a neighbourhood multi-agency family support panel. This allows families to access services in the community without unnecessary assessment and social work activity.

End