Personal Budgets - children's social care:
Advice page content
Information about Personal Budgets from Social Care for children and young people aged 0-18.
In Hackney, families who have been assessed by the Disabled Children’s Service or Children Social Care teams and who have identified as in need of additional support are able to get a support package or Care Package that can be taken through Direct Payments or with an approved provider.
Hackney's Disabled Children’s Service uses a social model, not a deficit model to assess families who need additional support. The amount of money allocated for this is worked out through a social work assessment. In Hackney we assess using a Child and Family Assessment tool then we calculate the level of support needed to meet the child’s needs using a Resource Allocation System / RAS to get an indicative budget or guide amount.
Care Packages...
A care package is provided from a budget personal or managed budget.
Care packages could include the following:
- personal care - including help with washing, dressing and eating meals
- one to one personal care assistants
- short-term breaks (respite care)
- day time activities
- commissioned services from approved agencies
- overnight Short Breaks
- social activities for those who need more support than can be accessed through Short Breaks
A Care Package is intended to meet these needs in any way as long as it meets the child’s outcomes identified in their plan (usually called a Child In Need / CIN Plan).
Parents have the option to receive a Care Package as a Direct Payment.
Find out more: Hackney Council - information about direct payments
Parents / carers can also receive support for their child or young person through a framework of approved care providers see in the download section to the side of this page.
Individual Budgets...
Some families who receive Short Breaks have a Personal Budget described as an Individual Budget.
This is a cash value sum they can use to help them get the outcomes they want for their child from social and leisure activities.
Evidence of how it has been spent to benefit their child of young person must be provided for them to continue to be eligible for an Individual Budget
Pre-payment cards have been introduced to make this easier for parents and carers.
Find out more: http://www.shortbreakshackney.com/
What is the role of social care professionals?
Social workers and other care staff play a number of roles in the process of agreeing a personal budget including:
Decision-making – helping children and young people decide whether a direct payment or managed personal budget is right for them.
Assessment and resource allocation – assessing your needs and allocating a budget to meet them, based on a RAS resource allocation system.
Risk management and enablement – helping children and young people manage risks in their lives and regarding their care and support, supporting them to take appropriate risks that help them become more independent.
Support planning and brokerage – drawing up a support plan in partnership with a parent child, or young person, and providing information on or sourcing services to implement the support plan (brokerage).
Review – keeping a child or young person’s support needs under review to ensure they are successfully met.
Who do I contact if I want to know more?
Disabled Children’s Service undertakes a Child and Family Needs Assessment to better understand what support the family needs.
The outcome of this assessment could lead to a support package in the form of Direct Payments, or through an approved care agency.
Interim support can be provided during the assessment.
After the assessment families may receive:
- Help with personal care and social activities
- Help from the Short Breaks Service
e-mail: Fast@hackney.gov.uk
Phone: 020 8356 6789 or 020 8356 4865