Direct Payments ConsultationNOVEMBER 2019
Direct Payment's NEW POLICY Consultation
There are 4 proposed consultation events for a new Direct Payments Policy
Consultation Direct Payments Launch Events
Thursday November 14th
10am – 12pm & 6pm - 8pm
Cypriot Centre Earlham Grove London N22 5HJ
The event will cover; How your short breaks budget is assessed for and reviewed, what you can use your money for, how to find good respite providers and who can help you to find them. There will be two more sessions to feedback your views on the new policy, run in the local Special Schools.
Special School Events
Direct Payments Consultation @ The Vale
Tuesday, November 19th
10:00 – 11:30am
The Vale Special School, Secondary Dept
Trulock Road,N17 OPG
To attend this event you need to email: office@vale.haringey.sch.uk to book a place
Direct Payments Consultation @ Riverside
Tuesday, November 21st
10:00 – 11:30am
Riverside Special School
Wood Green ILC
White Hart Lane, London UK N22 5QJ
To attend this event you need to email: admin@riverside.haringey.sch.uk
to book a place
Haringey's "Pre-Consultation" Presentation
Parents Stories about Direct Payments
Parents questions, concerns and stories about Direct Payments
A single parent who spoke to us has three children, two of whom have social disabilities. One of her children is at a residential school. Neither are in mainstream.
I use my personal budgets to pay for someone to take my child out. It is a family member because my child cannot cope with change.
My children have very complex needs and one of my children is in a residential school to meet his complex needs.
When he is away he maintains contact with his two brothers through gaming and gaming machines. They are connected to each other through their games machines. Sometimes all three play against each other - the two at home in their separate bedrooms and my other son about 150 miles south west of here! This is who they are and how they can cope with social interactions.
I did pay for these machines using The Family Fund, but I am wondering when I come to replace them, can I use my personal budget to meet this need for social interaction?
A parent spoke to us about how it would be helpful to be able to use her direct payments to take her child home to Africa so that she can have some respite
Haringey Children’s Social Care Personal Budget Update
(November 2016) says that I can spent the budget on support so that you can spend time with other children or family members.
I used to save the budget to pay for my son's flight to Ghana. I would pay for my own flight with my own money (I would never take his money from him). But now a social worker has told me that I cannot do this and I cannot understand why.
When I at home with my husbands family I get a proper rest. I do not have to worry about my child because I am enveloped in their love and support. I feel safe and I know that my son is safe.
My son is a 'runner'. I havenot found anything here in Haringey to meet his identified needs. I was spending the money to meet an identified need. Why can I not use it on a flight home for my son?
A dad told us about how his direct payments are an utter life as he goes about caring for his child who has with very complex needs
We used to have continuing health care. Its not like my son got better. Its just like the goal posts got moved and we are not eligible any more. In our house we use our direct payments for many things.
In the main we insist on doing our son's care ourselves because we love him best. So we have domestic help about the house. This is essential because we both work full time and schedule our work around our sons needs.
I also use some of it for after school clubs at his school and for a play scheme for Easter and in the summer holidays. These activities are becoming increasing expensive and we top up a big chink of the price. The play schemes are £110 a day!
A mum who recently returned to the work place explains her fears that her future ability to codesign will end and services will not be designed to meet her needs
I love the principle of codesigning local services to meet the needs of local people. It seems obvious really that this is what should be done! But I find that I cannot participate in the way that I want because I work full time and all of the meetings are in the day time and of an evening I have my caring duties.
I would have thought that as a mum of a child with very complex physical, health and social needs I would be the sort of person the local authority needed to talk to.
I don't want to fill in another survey form. These are not a great way to get across personal experiences and you loose control of your own story.
Parents not from Haringey have contacted us via twitter about how pre-payment cards for direct payments have not worked in their borough
In other boroughs parent carers have been issued with pre-payment cards. This is where your budget is put on a special card that is not a bank card not a debit card not a credit card. It is a pre-payemnt card with your budget loaded onto it. It does not really do any more than be a very restrictive debit card. Parents have reported that they are not universally accepted; users are ear-marked out as 'different' and 'poor people' (which was we know from pre-payment cards for electricity, or hire purchase arrangements for goods, this can lead to users having to pay higher prices than the non 'poor people''). Through contact with a barrister who is a specialist in the field of social care, in his opinion, there is no basis in law that allows local authorities to force parent carers to take direct payments on a pre-payment card.
