Shared Services Meeting

Short Breaks Consultation

Professional Feedback Questionnaire

Please let us have your views on the proposals for Short Breaks in Wakefield

If you would prefer to complete this questionnaire online you can visit

We will be collecting feedback from families until midnight Sunday 21st February2016.

Section One –About You

1.Are you? (please tick ✔one box only)

2.In your current role, do you support children and young people with disabilities to access a Short Break?(please tick ✔one box only)

Section 2–About Community-Based Groups

Proposal

We are proposing to make it easier to find groups and activities that are available to children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) on the Local Offer.

We are also proposing to give children and families more choice about the Short Breaks they access by making sure there are more community-based groups that can be accessed without any referral.

We are also looking at gaps and seeing if we can support new groups to set up to help meet more of the needs families tell us they have.

Questions

3.What do you think are the advantages of the proposal to have more open access groups and activities for children and young people with disabilities, that can be accessed without any referral?

1. Do you think there are any disadvantages?

1. Overall, how would you rate the impact of this proposal onchildren and young people with disabilities?(please tick ✔one box only)

1. Please tell us the reason for your rating.

1. Is there anything we need to change to make sure this proposal has a positive impact children and young people with disabilities?

Section 3–About Eligibility

Proposal

We are proposing to focus more on on assessing and identifying the needs that cannot be met through open-access groups and activities. To do this, we are proposing to set a minimum threshold that children, young people and their families must meet in order to be considered for a needs assessment for specialist Short Breaks.

This minimum threshold is based on an understanding that individuals will have considered all of the activities and groups in the Local Offer first as some of these may be suitable for your child and family.

We have included some case studies to help families understand the proposed new minimum threshold.

Questions

8. What do you think are the advantages of the proposal to have a new threshold for a Specialist Short Break assessment for children and young people with disabilities?

1. Do you think there are any disadvantages?

1. Overall, how would you rate the impact of this proposal onchildren and young people with disabilities?(please tick ✔one box only)

1. Please tell us the reason for your rating.

1. Is there anything we need to change to make sure this proposal has a positive impact children and young people with disabilities?

Section 4–About the Level of SupportNeeded

Proposal

If you meet the eligibility for Specialist Services (as outlined in section 3), we are proposing to carry out a more detailed assessment to help us work out how much support you and your child are likely to need to meet your personal circumstances. We are recommending that this is done using a fair, transparent and consistent Resource Allocation System (RAS) based on questions you answer with a key worker.

For example, with the current system, a child might be eligible for a standard package of 4 hours a fortnight of Short Breaks (non-residential) but they only need 2 hours and another child might be eligiblefor 4 hours a fortnight but need 6 hours. We want to be able to meet both children’s needs fairly and so we need to use a different process than the one we currently use.

This Resource Allocation System will also make it easier for families to know what the Personal Budget is for their child and may help some families to be more flexible in how they plan and access the support they need.

We are proposing that families already accessing specialist Short Breaks (and Home Based Breaks) will be reviewed between April and September 2016 and will go through the allocation questions with a key worker. For some families this may mean that the amount of support they get increases, for some families there may be a decrease and, for some families, the support they get from specialist Short Breaks might stop and they will be supported to access other groups and activities in their local community. We are proposing that this is done over a period of several months to help families transition.

Questions

13. What do you think are the advantages of the proposal to have a more detailed needs assessment to work out how much support children and young people with disabilities (and their parent carers) are likely to need?

1. Do you think there are any disadvantages?

1. Overall, how would you rate the impact of this proposal onchildren and young people with disabilities?(please tick ✔one box only)

1. Please tell us the reason for your rating.

1. Is there anything we need to change to make sure this proposal has a positive impact on children and young people with disabilities?

Section 5–About Entrance Fees and Refreshments

Proposal

Children and young people with disabilities and their parents/carers should be able to take part in activities just like their non-disabled peers. The additional support a child with a disability may need, to be included in community activities, should not be an extra cost to their family. However, some activities and services have a cost, which we are proposing families should be expected to pay whether or not a child has a disability.

Currently, families accessing the Council’s Short Break Service are asked to contribute to entrance fees or refreshments.

We are proposing that families would always pay the same entrance fees to groups and activities as non-disabled children and either provide refreshments for their child or make sure their child has some money to buy refreshments.

Families will not be expected to pay for the cost of any support workers, the entrance fees for support workers or for any support worker refreshments.

If this proposal is agreed, we will give all families at least a 6 week notice period before any changes are made.

Questions

18. What do you think are the advantages of the proposal to ask families to pay for entrance fees and refreshments?

1. Do you think there are any disadvantages?

1. Overall, how would you rate the impact of this proposal on children and young people with disabilities?(please tick ✔one box only)

1. Please tell us the reason for your rating.

1. Is there anything we need to change to make sure this proposal has a positive impact on children and young people with disabilities?

Section 6–About Transport

Proposal

Currently, families accessing the Council’s Short Breaks Service do not have to contribute to transport.

We want to make the best use of public money and also ensure there is transparent, fair and equal access to short breaks so that all families have the opportunity to access services of their choice in their local area.

We recognise that there will be circumstances when a child may need to have specialist transport provided, however we are proposing to stop providing transport automatically and instead encourage families to transport their child to local activities. Transport might include using public transport, walking to groups or paying for car mileage (where a personal assistant is provided).

If this proposal is agreed, we will give all families at least 6 week notice period before any changes are made.

Questions

23. What do you think are the advantages of the proposal to ask families to transport their child to activities or to pay for transport?

1. Do you think there are any disadvantages?

1. Overall, how would you rate the impact of this proposal for children and families?(please tick ✔one box only)

1. Please tell us the reason for your rating.

1. Is there anything we need to change to make sure this proposal has a positive effect on families?

Section 7–Any Other Comments

1. Is there anything else you want to tell us about any of the proposals or anything else you want us to know about?

Thank you for completing the feedback questionnaire.

Please return it in the Freepost envelope provided or email it back to

If you don’t want to complete a questionnaire you can still have your say by sending your comments in the post or by email to:

If you need any assistance completing this questionnaire please call (01977) 723236.