Eligibility Framework for Disabled Children

This guidance document supplements Cambridgeshire’s Disabled Childrens Eligibility Criteria and provides additional information and guidance about the services for Disabled Children and should be read in conjunction with it.

This supplementary guidance is provided, because disabled children are children in need in law and this document sets out which children and young people are eligible for an assessment to establish whether additional support and services should be provided through the Disability Social Care Service 0 – 25 children’s service.

Each child is considered individually and this guidance is intended to help practitioners and families arrive at a decision about fair and equal access to services that ensure no disabled child is disadvantaged because of their disability or circumstances compared to any other child without a disability.

The Disability Social Care 0 – 25 children’ teamsprovide assessment and access to a range of support and services for disabled children, their parents/carers and siblings, which meet the threshold criteria for referral. Following an assessment  range of information, signposting, access to universal activities and support, support or services may be offered according to the needs identified.

The Learning Disability Young Adults Team is part of the Disability Social Care Service 0 – 25 and provide a planned and smooth transition to adult social care support for those eligible.

The teams works closely with partners in health, education and community provision to provide support and/or care to meet assessment needs for disabled children.

The Disabled Childrens Short Break offer is part of the Disability Social Care 0 – 25 Service.

This guidance also covers the legal status of children who are provided with overnight short breaks. The approach is consistent with that suggested in the Statutory Guidance issued in March 2010 (Short Breaks: Statutory Guidance on how to promote and safeguard the welfare of disabled children using short breaks).

The starting point for determining eligibility is the definition of disability set out in section 17(11) of the Children Act 1989. This states:

'a child is disabled if he is blind, deaf or dumb, or suffers from mental disorder of any kind or is substantially and permanently handicapped by illness, injury or congenital deformity or such other disability as may be prescribed'.

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 used a wider definition of disability:

'1 Meaning of "disability" and "disabled person".

(1)Subject to the provisions of Schedule 1, a person has a disability for the purposes of this Act if he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.'

The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 and Equality Act 2010 further clarified the definition of disability to include conditions such as HIV or cancers.

Disabled children are regarded as Children in Need and as such are entitled to a Child and Family Assessment of need, by a social worker.

The Short breaks duty statement outlines how Cambridgeshire meets its duty to provide short breaks for disabled children.

Families can access short breaks through self referral if their child receives high-rate Disability Living Allowance care component or enhanced rate Personal Independence Payment or, if eligible, through a disability social care assessment.

For some a Child and Family Assessment may be undertaken to identify appropriate resources and the amount of resource required. The purpose of the resources is to meet these additional difficulties and not to provide or replace either something the family would normally do, e.g. clean the home; or where a service in the community e.g. an after-school club, is already available.

There are three main ways support can be provided to children and their families who have additional assessed needs:

• Through a Direct Payment, where the family decides the best way to use the budget available to them to meet the assessed needs;
• Direct provision of support by or on behalf of the local authority;
• A combination of the two above options.

Cambridgeshire County Council provides a range of support to meet the assessment needs of disabled children.

Community Support Service

• Cambridgeshire Online | Community Support Service;
• CamPlay clubs and groups;
• Support in the home or community;
• Family and parenting support;
• Sleep programmes;
• Positive behaviour support.

Residential children’s homes

There are three residential and short break Childrens Homes They provide overnight short breaks and longer term support for disabled children and young people aged  8-18 age.

Link Foster Care

The LINK service provides short breaks in the foster carers family home. They are skilled and trained carers.

Other Support

There are a also a range of universal clubs,activities after school clubs and a range of creative and sporting activites that can be accessed by children and young people, that provide enjoyable and stimulating activities for children as well as a short break for parents and carers.  

There is specialist support, activities and support providers commissioned by Cambridgeshire and provided by a range of external providers details of which can be found at Cambridgeshire Online | Short Breaks price guide - clubs, holiday clubs and community support.

In March 2010, the Government issued Statutory Guidance (Short Breaks: Statutory Guidance on how to safeguard and promote the welfare of disabled children using short breaks - DCFS - March 2010) to help local authorities to decide whether short breaks should be provided under s17 or s20 of the Children Act 1989.

Previously, some local authorities accommodated almost all children under s20 and as such they became 'looked after' by the local authority, while they received short breaks. Some parents and young people saw this as an intrusion into family life and many felt stigmatised as a result. Others treated almost all as s17 and as a result some important safeguards for the child, such as the case being reviewed independently, were lost.

The Guidance set out factors to be taken into account when making the s17/s20 decision (paragraph 2.8) and these are explained here:

Over time the circumstances of the child and family may change. For example a child whose family found it very difficult to cope with challenging behaviour, might receive short breaks under s20, because they need the local authority to help them look after their child, when they are at the short break provision; but if the challenging behaviour subsides over time and the family's capacity to cope increases, they may then be able to retain responsibility for their child while they are receiving a short break. Under this circumstance a review might decide to recommend a change in the legal status to s17.

Where the short break is provided under s.17, the suitability of the provision of short breaks or the amount or type of short break provided will still be reviewed, as part of the regular reviews of the Child in Need Plan every three months. The legal status of the placement will be considered at each review and should a decision be made to alter the legal status to s20 an Independent Reviewing Officer will be appointed and a first review held by the Independent Reviewing Officer within 20 days of the start of the first placement being made.

Locally, when a child is referred to the CWD Panel and Short Break provision is agreed, the legal status of the child will be confirmed by the panel who will have considered the guidance and ten key questions included below, as part of the needs assessment:

The ten key questions to consider when making a decision:

• Particular vulnerabilities of the child, including communication method;
• Parenting capacity of the parents within their family and environmental context;
• Wider family and environmental factors;
• The length of time away from home and the frequency of such stays; the less time the child spends away from home the more likely it is to be appropriate to provide accommodation under section 17(6);
• Whether short breaks are to be provided in more than one place; where the child spends short breaks in different settings, including residential schools, hospices and social care placements, it is more likely to be appropriate to provide accommodation under section 20(4);
• Potential impact on the child's place in the family and on primary attachments;
• Observation of the child (especially children who do not communicate verbally) during or immediately after the break by a person familiar with the mood and behaviour of the child (for example the parent or school staff);
• Views of the child and views of parents; some children and parents may be reassured by, and in favour of, the status of a looked after child, while others may resent the implications and associations of looked after status;
• Extent of contact between short break carers and family and between the child and family during the placement;
• Distance from home and the need for an Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) to monitor the child's case and to chair reviews.

In relation to the legal status of short breaks table, PCC would expect some of the 10 questions to have significance (6.8 of The Children Act, Vol 2: Care Planning, Placement and Case Review does not state that all ten questions would be need to be of significance, when assessing children and young people).

Note: "If the accommodation is provided under section 20(4) for a continuous period of more than 24 hours, then the child is looked after by the local authority for the period in which the child is accommodated. If the child is placed for a weekend short break which lasts from Saturday morning until Sunday evening, this should count as two placement days." Paragraph 2.14 statutory guidance.

In addition, Peterborough's local approach would not necessarily regard overnight provision from school and returning to school the following day as a period of 24 hours, when considering calculations of Short Break periods.

Short Breaks provide opportunities for children and young people with disabilities to spend time away from parents and carers within quality services. Short Breaks also provide parents and carers with breaks from their caring responsibilities, and facilitate quality of life by enabling families to access places and activities together.

The aim is to make sure that families with children with disabilities have access to appropriate short break opportunities, so that families can experience the same quality of life as those who do not live with disability. All families are different in that they will need different levels of support and different types of short breaks depending on the needs of the family, in relation to the ages and development of the children and young people and family circumstances.

This is underpinned by the law and shown in the legislation described below:

In performing their duty under paragraph 6(1) (c) of Schedule 2 to the Children Act 1989 Act (3), a local authority must:

1. Have regard to the needs of those carers who would be unable to continue to provide care unless breaks from caring were given to them; and
2. Have regard to the needs of those carers who would be able to provide care for their disabled child more effectively if breaks from caring were given to them to allow them to:
1. Undertake education, training or any regular leisure activity,
2. Meet the needs of other children in the family more effectively; or
3. Carry out day to day tasks which they must perform in order to run their household.

In performing their duty under paragraph 6(1)(c) of Schedule 2 to the 1989 Act, a local authority must provide, so far as is reasonably practicable, a range of services which is sufficient to assist carers to continue to provide care or to do so more effectively.

In particular, the local authority must provide, as appropriate, a range of:

1. Day-time care in the homes of disabled children or elsewhere;
2. Overnight care in the homes of disabled children or elsewhere;
3. Educational or leisure activities for disabled children outside their homes; and
4. Services available to assist carers in the evenings, at weekends and during the school holidays.

Assessments are the process by which the Local Authority gathers together information about children and families, so that they can help make decisions about what support and interventions families might need and be entitled to.

Decision making panels

• The Cambridgeshire Disabled Childrens Panel is a multi-agency panel consisting of representatives from:
• Disabled Children's Social Care and provider services;
• The panel meets monthly;
• The panel agrees overnight support packages for children with disabilities through a range of short break options or direct payments;
• All service provision is regularly reviewed to ensure the desired outcome is met for disabled children.
• The CambridgeshireJ oint Agency Support Panel (JASP): 
• panel consists of Education and Children's and Adult Social Care professionals and Health professionals;
• The panel meets monthly;
• The panel agrees joint resource allocation for accommodation or support packages for children and young people with complex and challenging needs;
• All service provision is regularly reviewed to ensure the desired outcomes are met.

Moving to Adult Social Care

The Learning Disability Young Adults Team is part of the Disability Social Care Service 0 – 25 and provide a planned and smooth transition to adult social care support for those eligible.

The children’s social worker or named worker will plan for the future with children and their families and ensure that preparing for adulthood outcomes are included in plans.

For those that may be eligible for support from adult social care the social worker or named worker will, with the permission of the young person and/or their parent/carer will make a referral to the relevant adult support team in around the age of 17 or sooner if needed. 

The children and adult worker will work together to ensure a care act assessment is completed, a plan for adult support is developed for those eligible, information is shared and that there is a smooth transition for the young adult and their parents and carers.

Please see Preparing for Adulthood Social Care Assessment Process for details of the process.

Please see Cambridgeshire Online | Support from Adult Social Care for details of the support available for young adults with SEND from adult social care.

There is a bi-monthly multiagency 0 – 25 Transitions Planning Meeting that takes a multiagency approach to planning for adult support.

Advocacy

NYAS advocacy services provide children and young people with information about their rights and entitlements and assistance to enable them to use formal complaints procedures if that is what they want, and to have a voice and be heard when decisions are made about their lives.

The advocacy service provides a Residential Visiting Advocacy service to residential and short breaks children’s homes.