Short Breaks Consultation

Closed 29 Jan 2018

Opened 8 Jan 2018

Contact

Abbi Faulkner

Integrated Children’s Disability Service

0115 8043248

abbi.faulkner@nottscc.gov.uk

Overview

Introduction

Nottinghamshire County Council has been working with parents and carers to coproduce a new Short Breaks offer that is sustainable at a time when the demand for services is increasing and budgets are under pressure. So far over 400 children and young people with disabilities and their families have been involved in the principles of the new offer.

A working group of parents/carers has been working with Nottinghamshire County Council and Nottinghamshire Parent Carer Forum to co-produce the new offer.

We now want to hear the views of all families on the co-produced proposal.

The survey should take 10 minutes and all answers will be treated anonymously and kept confidential.

The results of this survey will be shared on the Local Offer and will be used to shape the final model that will be presented to county councillors for their approval at the Children and Young People’s Committee in March 2018.

If you have any questions please contact Abbi Faulkner on abbi.faulkner@nottscc.gov.uk or 0115 8043248.

The proposed offer.

The underpinning principle of the new offer is to ensure those children with the most needs are able to access a short break funded by Nottinghamshire County Council. Children and young people that do not meet the eligibility criteria will receive information about short breaks providers in their local community and how they can access free provision or pay for support.

The new offer is based on 3 key elements:

1.        A clear and effective information stage

2.       An online self-assessment with clear eligibility criteria

3.       Packages of support that are reviewed annually

It is proposed that access to Short Breaks will be via an online assessment through the Local Offer. The assessment will consist of two stages:

Stage one will assess whether a child or young people is eligible to receive a short break.

Stage two will assess how many hours of support a child or young person will receive, if they are eligible. The hours a child receives will be based on their needs. This will be a move away from the current offer of a standard number of hours.

Help with the online assessment will be available through support services such as Ask Us.

How families have shaped the offer

You said We did
70% of responses said they would prefer to request an assessment online. The new offer proposes an online assessment tool.
56% of responses either agreed or strongly agreed that NCC should focus its short breaks provision on the most vulnerable children with clear eligibility criteria. The new offer proposes an eligibility criteria to ensure that families who have vulnerable children are able to receive the support they need.
71% of responses said they agreed that short breaks should be reviewed annually. The new offer proposes an annual review.
Families have told us that they have struggled to receive information about short breaks and their entitlement. The new offer includes the commitment to improve information sources such as the Local Offer, which will be developed in co-production with families.
Parents and carers have continually told us that they want Short Breaks to be easier to understand. The new offer has been designed to be clear and easy for families to understand.

 

Find out more about how we co-produced Short Breaks here: https://youtu.be/n1BBq24wo-0