Torbay Short Breaks Services Statement
www.torbay.gov.uk
Background This information is for families living in Torbay who have a disabled child aged 0 to 18 years. The statement will be published so that children and young people together with their parents/carers and families can find out about their eligibility for an assessment to use short break opportunities available in Torbay. The statement also covers how they can access these short breaks as well as how to find out other useful information. Torbay Council will use this document to help support commissioning plans for short break services for the year 2014/15 and beyond. This will ensure that the authority buys and provides the range of short breaks that families will value and need. Parents, children and young people will continue to be fully involved in this process, helping to decide who should deliver our short breaks in Torbay. Parents and young people will help to monitor the quality of all Short Breaks opportunities and help decide what changes, if any, need to be considered.
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1. What is this Short Breaks Statement for? Following the national Aiming High for Disabled Children Programme which officially ended in March 2011, Torbay Council has committed to “Keep Aiming High for Disabled Children�, and as such is continuing to work towards enabling children and young people with disabilities and their families to live ordinary lives as a matter of course. The purpose of this statement is to give information about Short Breaks, including what they are, how families can access them and how individuals can get involved in influencing what types of short breaks are provided to families in Torbay in the future.
2. How was this short breaks statement prepared? This statement has been prepared by the members of the Short Breaks Steering Group which is a partnership between parents and young people’s forums, professionals/stakeholders from social care, health, education and the voluntary sector. This statement will be reviewed biannually. The Short Breaks Steering Group would like to hear from you if you have any comments, suggestions or feedback about how we can improve this statement to make it more useful. Please refer to section 12 for contact details.
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3. Who is responsible for this short breaks statement? The lead officer responsible for preparing and maintaining this statement is the Day Care Services Manager within the Children’s Disability Service who reports to the Head of Service (Special Educational Needs and Disability). To ensure that as many families as possible had a chance to comment on this statement, consultation originally took place during the summer and early autumn of 2011. The Statement was presented to the Director of Children’s Services. A review of this statement was undertaken in July 2014.
4. When and where will it be published? The authority will ensure the Short Breaks Statement is published on the Local Authority website. In addition it will be made available through the Parent Participation Forum, a copy will be available in all of the Torbay special schools, and copies will also be given to the SENCOs in all of Torbay’s schools and academies with a request that they provide them to parents. The Short Breaks Statement will also be made available on the Children’s Disability Service record within the Torbay Local Offer. If families cannot access the statement through these means, they can contact Torbay’s Family Information Service who will be able to send one out in the post. Please refer to section 12 for contact details.
Breaks Statement continues to reflect the needs of all the different families living in Torbay who have children with disabilities. The Local Authority aims to continue working with the Disability Council to produce a young people’s version of this document. If you wish to be involved in that, or would like further information please contact us. Please refer to section 12 for contact details.
In partnership with the Short Breaks Steering Group, Parent Participation Forum and with children and young people the statement will be reviewed regularly to make sure that it is reflecting all the views and choices of local families. On-going consultation will be implemented to make changes and improvements, to ensure the Short
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Short Breaks in Torbay 1. What are Short Breaks? • Short Breaks promote the health, safety and well being of children and young people with disabilities, ensuring they can fully participate in family and community life, enjoying themselves with friends and making decisions about their lives. • Short Breaks prevent family crises through the provision of the right level of support at the right time. • Short Breaks need to be fair and equitable. Short Breaks provide children and young people with disabilities with an opportunity to spend time away from their parents, relaxing and having fun with their friends. They provide families with a ‘break’ from their caring responsibilities; they give parents a chance to unwind rest or spend time with other children. Examples of short breaks include holiday play schemes and short breaks with family to family carers.
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It is important to note that whilst it is known that both local and national research demonstrates that short breaks are a priority for families with children with disabilities, they should be delivered as part of a much broader package of family support services in line with the SEND Reforms. This means that any staff who work with families will offer advice, guidance and information on other issues that are important to them.
Short breaks, together with other support packages are tailored to prevent family break down through the provision of appropriate support at the right time. Not all children and families will need the same level of support or short breaks; some will need more than others because of the nature of their child’s disability and its severity. Some families may need more support because of their individual family circumstances. This is why there is a need to ensure services provide the right level of support with short breaks at the right time through the completion of a Specialist Assessment.
2. Who are Short Breaks for? Children and young people are eligible for short breaks when they have a profound and complex physical or mental impairment, which has a substantial and long term effect on their ability to carry out day-to-day activities. This may include for example, a physical or learning disability, a hearing or visual impairment, children with autism and Asperger’s Syndrome and children who may have challenging behaviour as a result of their learning disability. It also includes children who have complex needs and who may have palliative, life limiting or a lifethreatening condition.
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Threshold Criteria for access to Torbay Children with Disabilities Social Care Team Criteria for Assessment The criteria for the Children with Disabilities Social Care Team establishes the threshold at which a referral in relation to a child with a disability will require a specialist assessment. The Children with Disabilities Social Care Team will offer an assessment where the child has: A condition diagnosed by a Doctor or Consultant which is substantial, long lasting, permanent, physical and/or learning disability or a life limiting, life threatening condition. These may include: • Severe learning disabilities • Severe physical disabilities • Severe developmental delay in motor and or cognitive functioning • Profound multiple disabilities • Severe sensory impairment (registered blind and profoundly deaf) • Complex and severe health problems that arise from the disability, that are life threatening,
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degenerative illness or organic disorder resulting in severe disability • A diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Condition with an associated learning disability and where the condition severely affects day to day functioning. (When making reference to a “Learning Disability” the definition applied is the same that is used for the Children’s Learning Disability Team criteria of Learning Disability.)
Assessment of Children The Children Act 1989 places a duty on Torbay Children’s Services to provide or co-ordinate the provision of services to all disabled children. The overall provision of these services is a responsibility across all areas of Children’s Services, and associated health and voluntary sector services. The Children with Disabilities Social Care Team has been established to provide a more specialist service to a defined group of children and young people up to the age of 18 living in Torbay.
Definitions of a disability The Children Act 1989 defines disabled children as “children in need” if: “A child is disabled if he is blind, deaf, or without speech or suffers from a mental disorder of any kind or is substantially and permanently disabled by illness, injury or congenital deformity or such other disability as may be prescribed”. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 defines a person as having a disability if he or she has a “physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effects on his or her ability to carry out normal day to day activities”
services including prioritisation, level and type of resource provision will be determined once the assessment has been completed with contributions from a range of information gathered from colleagues in Torbay Health Care and Education Services. Where the assessment identifies that specialist services are required, the local authority has a duty to provide services designed to: • Maximise life opportunities and participation of disabled children; • Give disabled children the opportunity to lead lives which ensure they reach their potential.
Assessments are completed with The Special Education Needs and children, families, carers and other Disability Act 2001 defines a disabled professionals to identify individual pupil as “a school pupil who meets the needs, overcome problems definition of disabled person under the and reduce risks. If required the 1995 Act” identification of intervention, service provision and support needs will then The Children’s Disability Short form the basis of a child in need care Breaks eligibility criteria is in place plan. Please refer to the Short Breaks to determine a threshold, which Pathway flow chart (p8). needs to be met in order for a child or young person to be considered These tasks are integral to an for a specialist assessment from effective social care response, but the Children’s Disability Social Care do not all have to be carried out by Team. The actual provision of any Social Workers. Some tasks can be
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appropriately shared with or delegated to other social care staff under social work supervision. The criteria for referral and assessment from the Children with Disabilities Social Care Team would not include a child or young person with the following diagnoses (unless they have other conditions that meet the criteria as detailed above): • ADHD • Emotional & Behavioral difficulties • Dyslexia • Dyspraxia • Mild Autistic Spectrum Conditions including Asperger’s Syndrome • Obsessive / Compulsive Disorder • Mild physical disabilities • Speech and Language difficulties • Oppositional Defiance Disorder • Mental Health Conditions • Mild Global Developmental Delay • Mild Learning Disability • Mild sensory impairment.
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Where services are not required, advice or referral to other services or signposting will be offered.
3. How do families in Torbay access Short Breaks?
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In Torbay, parents or carers of children and young people with disabilities (see definition of ‘disability’ in Section 2 above), can access Short Breaks in the following ways: I. For general advice and information about clubs, groups, societies and activities in Torbay, families can call the Torbay Family Information Service. This service provides information about what activities available as locally as possible. They will post out or email any details if required. Please refer to section 12 for contact details. II. Should the level of the child’s disability or the impact of the disability on family life be such that a more complex/larger package of support is required, a referral for ‘an assessment of need’ can be made into the Children’s Disability Service. The referral can be submitted by the parent/carer, a family member or by someone already working with the family. To make this referral, contact the Children’s Disability Referral Coordinator. Please refer to section
III. At this point some basic information will be requested about the child and their disability. If appropriate, the case will be allocated to an appropriate member of staff who will be given some basic information about the referral. An appointment will be arranged to meet with the family, usually in their own home. If the Professional identifies that some support to access short breaks would be beneficial for the child and family, the completed assessment will be used to identify what level and type of short breaks a family may need to support them in their caring role. A discussion will take place on the short breaks options available to the family and choose one or more that best meet identified needs from services available under the local offer. Should the family feel that nothing on offer meets their needs, they can discuss other options with their Professional and together can design a bespoke, package of short breaks. Please refer to the Torbay Short Breaks Pathway (overleaf).
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Torbay Short Breaks Pathway
5. How are Short Breaks paid for?
Referral received by Referral Co-ordinator and information gathered Senior Practitioner holds an allocation meeting with Social Workers and Community Care Workers where each case is discussed
No Does the referral meet Children’s Disability Team accessibility criteria? Yes A Social Worker visits the family and gathers more detailed information as part of an Initial Assessment Does not meet Children’s Disabillity Team criteria
Community Care Worker or Social Worker allocated
Short Break package amended to be resubmitted to access to resources panel
The family and allocated worker choose the Short Breaks service(s) that meet the families’ needs and a short breaks care plan is created with clear outcomes for the child / young person / family
No Short Breaks package reviewed every 6-12 months or as needs change
Refer to the Local Offer for details of Universal, Targeted and Specialist services offering support to children with SEN and/ or a Disability
Access to resources panel decides if the short breaks care plan is appropriate Yes
Services start (or continue)
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Direct Payment set up if required (refer to CDS Direct Payment Process)
Signposted to other service / support
When the family and Professional decide on the best Short Breaks to meet the family’s needs, there are two options available in terms of how they are paid for. Torbay Council can put the short break in place and pay for it directly; alternatively, a family can choose to have a “Direct Payment”. Direct Payments provide families with money “in lieu” of short breaks and they are therefore an alternative means of providing families with short breaks. This means that a family can buy their own short breaks thereby entering into contracts or becoming an ‘employer’. For example a family may employ their own home sitter. It is possible to have a mixture of direct payments and direct services and some families may just have direct payments.
6. How many children in Torbay already access Short Breaks? The Local Authority is currently providing a variety of short breaks to approximately 184 children in Torbay. National and local statistics tell us that there are potentially 1,140 children and young people with some additional needs in Torbay, 280 of these children have severe disabilities, so we still have some way to go to ensure all families are receiving the right level of support. The Local Authority will continue to work with individual families to access their ability to take their children or young people to and from their short break.
Families in Torbay will be offered the opportunity to have a Direct Payment in place of a direct service and will be offered a full package of support to ensure that they can confidently use and benefit from Direct Payments. Torbay employs a Direct Payments Officer to support families with all aspects of Direct Payments, should they choose to have one.
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7. What have Torbay already done to improve the quantity and quality of Short Breaks on offer?
• Offered local Childminders training and support
In consultation, families said that they want us to consider the following when planning and commissioning short breaks for their children:
• Improved links with Bowel and Bladder Specialist
• Now have a Direct Payments Officer • Developed a service specification for children with complex health needs
• Closer links with Children’s development Team Torbay Hospital
The ongoing consultation with parents, children and young people has • Increased referrals to Sleep Clinic enabled Children’s Disability Service • Contract carers (salaried foster in partnership with our voluntary sector carers) for children with physical and colleagues to assess and plan for the behavioural disabilities (with adapted needs of our local population ensuring homes) we have a full range of high quality short breaks which have all been • Outreach workers to take agreed and identified through our children out consultation. • Day and night nursing home based Short Breaks in Torbay now include the care following: • Day Care Opportunities for those • Home Care with high level physical disabilities with complex medical needs • Home Sitting • Increased family based respite
• Single provisions that meet physical, behavioural, medical and social needs. • Expand choice through the continued use of Direct Payments As a result we…
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8. What about emergencies?
colleagues in Adult Services to ensure that where possible and where appropriate young people are supported to become independent travellers.
All families experience crisis from time to time and may require additional short breaks to help them through the crisis. This may be because there is no 10. What about when a extended family or network of friends child reaches the age of nearby who they can call on to help. 18 years? Our aim is to support families during Torbay Children’s Disability Team is particularly difficult times in whatever working as part of the SEND reforms way is most appropriate. to make the transition from Children’s 9. What about transport to to Adult’s Services an exciting and optimistic time for young people. and from a short break? The Local Authority understands that transport may be required by some families to enable their child to get to their short break. Providing transport is expensive and time consuming so there will be some work undertaken with the Parent Participation Forum and Torbay Transport department to ensure that we provide transport fairly.
The Local Authority must support young people as they become young adults and take their place in the world. Developing positive activities for young people, allowing them to take part in local community activities will be at the heart of our continued transitions work.
• Out of School Activities –specialist – during the week and at weekends
Please refer to the ‘Preparing for Adulthood’ section of the local Part of the discussion will be to establish individual children and young offer for further information: www. torbaydirectory.com/family people’s level of mobility and their allocation of care allowances which could be used to support access to their short breaks.
• Overnight Short Breaks – with families and/or in specialist settings
The Local Authority will work with families, schools, providers and
• Befriending • Holiday Activities –specialist • Week end clubs
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11. What else is there to access in the local community?
Further venues will continue to be identified, utilising existing children’s centres, youth and extended schools provision to maximise the opportunities for inclusive activities Universal services, for example after school clubs and youth clubs are really throughout Torbay. This will reduce the need for costly transport and ensure important in ensuring children and young people with disabilities have fun the delivery of more ‘local’ provision. and enjoy themselves with friends, just Local Offer the same as other children and young Short breaks form part of the local people in their own community. offer for children and young people The children’s disability team will with special educational needs and/ continue to develop the range of or a disability within Torbay. The local short breaks including specialist short offer has two purposes: break services in universal settings. • To provide clear, comprehensive and Genuine inclusion means services accessible information about the which are designed and equipped provision available; and to enable children and young people with disabilities to enjoy the same • To make provision more responsive activities and opportunities as nonto local needs and aspirations by disabled children. The aim of the directly involving children and young work is to ensure that all children and people with SEN, parents and young people have access to the most carers, and service providers in its appropriate short break. development and review. Children and young people with palliative and life limiting care needs will be supported to participate in the full range of inclusive short breaks, ensuring they too can enjoy themselves and have fun with friends.
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For more information about what is available in the local community, please visit: www.torbaydirectory.com/ family
12. Measuring Impact The Local Authority must ensure that our Short Break Services focus on improving the life chances of children with disabilities and their families through continuing to develop our strategy with parents and young people. The views of families, both parents and children are essential for future success and must be used to inform the shape of services within Torbay. The Children’s Disability Service will therefore ensure that young people and parents are consulted both individually and by working with local organisations including the Parent Participation Forum and Disability Council.
13. What next & how can you get involved? If you would like to get more involved in shaping short break services in Torbay, there are a number of ways you can do this: Links and contact numbers: • You can join the Parent Participation Forum – email: info@torbayppf.org. uk for more details. • If you are a young person, you can join the Disability Council – email: for more details www.childrenssociety.org.uk
• To contact your Professional and give feedback about the services you receive, or tell them about There is a commitment from the Local services you think are needed, but Authority to ensure that all short breaks aren’t available in Torbay email: on offer will make a positive difference disability@torbay.gov.uk to Torbay’s young people. The views of • You can contact the Short Breaks children, parents and staff will continue Steering Group, Children’s Disability to be monitored to ensure that a cycle Service Referral Co-ordinator of continuous improvement is in place. 01803 206280 The Children’s Disability Team Or email: disability@torbay.gov.uk will provide progress reports to • Torbay Family Information Service the Children’s Services Senior 08003 285974 Management Team embedding the Or email: fis@torbay.gov.uk concept of ‘children with disabilities are everybody’s business’ developing ownership and accountability at the highest strategic level.
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Notes
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Notes
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www.torbay.gov.uk
160116/0616
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