Aug
08
New
Online Support for Parent / Carers
Mencap,
the learning disability charity, has launched a new website
with a section dedicated to providing essential information
and support to the families and carers of children with a
learning disability.
As
well as guides on key topics such as assessments, leisure
and choosing a school, the ‘ages and stages' section of the
site gives parents an insight into what to expect at each
stage of their child's life.
The
site also has a new discussion forum, where families and carers
can share their experiences, ask questions and find advice
and support.
“There
was just so much information. Because we were coming to terms
with having a child with a learning difficulty, it was actually
too much to take in,” said Jo Yarnell, mother to five-year-old
Hannah.
“As
soon as I spoke to other parents, they just said ‘yes, what
you are going through is normal - that is exactly how we felt'.
It just took an absolute weight off my shoulders.”
For
more information visit
www.mencap.org.uk/families
Have Your Say
on the Future of Adult Social Care!
The Government are currently asking for comments...
You can help to ensure that people with a learning disability
have a good quality of life.
This is your chance to tell them what you think the future
of social care should look like for people with a learning
disability and their families.
Have your say at www.careandsupport.direct.gov.uk
You can have a look at the Learning
Disability Coalition website to see what they are saying.
Their general message:
- We support the vision of choice, independence, rights
and inclusion for people with a learning disability
- However, it needs to be backed up with enough funding
to make it really happen.
- At the moment the funding is just not keeping pace with
demand.
Urgent call
for families with disabled children to get advice on their
benefits and tax credits entitlements
Contact a Family has
identified that some families with disabled children could
lose out on vital income due to imminent changes in benefit
rules. From 27 October 2008 Incapacity Benefit and income
support for people with health problems will be replaced by
Employment Support Allowance (ESA).
Families with a disabled
teenager born before 27 th October 1992 have a choice – they
can either claim the existing benefits now or wait and claim
ESA at a later date. Some will be worse off on the new ESA
depending on individual circumstances.
Contact a Family working
with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), has also identified there
are 28,000 families in the UK who are missing out on much
needed extra income through additional tax credits. Families
who have not informed HMRC that they receive Disability Living
Allowance could be missing out on this additional income,
which is paid in addition to existing tax credits they may
already receive.
If you feel you might
be affected by either of these issues or
simply want to check that you are getting all the money you
are entitled to, telephone the Contact a Family helpline -
0808 808 3555
The helpline is staffed
by benefits experts and trained parent advisers who can help
to maximise a family's income.
Jul
08
LSC
staff worry for vulnerable
Joseph Lee
Published: 27 June 2008, Times Educational Supplement,
FE Focus
Staff
of the Learning and Skills Council, which is due to be replaced
within two years, claim new funding arrangements for teenage
and adult education will involve too much red tape and neglect
vulnerable people.
An internal consultation of the 3,200 LSC staff at the LSC
revealed concerns about replacing it with two new national
bodies.
The draft report, obtained by FE Focus and expected to be
sent in its revised form to ministers at the end of the month,
is the LSC's only response to its own demise.
Mark Haysom, the chief executive, decided it would be inappropriate
for the council to formally comment on the changes, preferring
instead to give staff the chance to understand what the proposals
might mean and share their ideas and views on how they might
be developed and implemented.
The report said: At this stage in the machinery of government
proposals, there are many areas where there is little or no
detail and this has, inevitably, resulted in staff raising
a number of fundamental concerns. It said the comments should
not be seen as negativity because staff had an uncertain future,
but reflected a genuine effort to make the proposals work.
Under the changes, about £7 billion of funding
will go to local authorities to fund education for teenagers,
overseen by a Young Peoples Learning Agency. Funding for post-19
education will be handled by a Skills Funding Agency.
The shake-up is intended to help make the funding of schools
and colleges more equal for 16- to 18-year-olds by establishing
a common system. Colleges have long protested it was
unfair that their students could expect about £400 less
each year than a school sixth form student.
But LSC staff said there was no planning role for the new
funding bodies, which are supposed to respond to demand, so
they doubted the agencies ability to make the most of finite
resources.
Jun
08
New
Telephone Support for Carers dealing facing challenging behaviour
Families
caring for sons/daughters with severe learning disabilities
can now receive individual telephone support around understanding
and managing challenging behaviour for the cost of a local
call.
Some children (and
adults) with severe learning disabilities typically display
behaviour which may put themselves or others at risk, or which
may prevent the use of community facilities or an ordinary
home life. This behaviour may be in the form of aggression,
self injury, stereotyped behaviour or disruptive and destructive
behaviours. Whilst anyone may at times display challenging
behaviour, the work of the Challenging Behaviour Foundation
is aimed at helping those with severe learning disabilities.
Severe learning disability (sometimes referred to as severe
intellectual disability or severe mental handicap) is a developmental
disability and refers to individuals who have either no speech
or limited communication and require support with daily living
skills such as dressing and eating. Family carers experiencing
these issues can now access individual information and support
from the Challenging Behaviour Foundation Family Support Worker
on 0845 602 7885 . Originally started by
a parent to provide help and information to other parents,
the Challenging Behaviour Foundation's expertise is now recognized
by a growing number of learning disability professionals.
Jan
08
Commission for Social Care Inspection
(CSCI) attack restriction of social care
The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) has produced
its latest report on the state of social care in England.
The report stresses that the tightening of eligibility criteria
is leading to suffering and a lack of independence for people
with learning disabilities. In response to the report, Ivan
Lewis, the Social Care Minister, announced a review into eligibility
criteria, saying that we need a 'fair and sustainable funding
system for the future.'
Dec
07
Harrow
council defeated in court
The Public Law Project, supported by local groups including
Harrow Mencap. defeated Harrow Council in court. The judge
declared that the Council had acted unlawfully in not considering
the Disability Discrimination Act in deciding to only support
people assessed as having critical needs. It must now fully
review its decision and has said that it will not appeal against
the ruling.
Nov
07
Councils
'rationing' social care
BBC News
22
November 2007
Social care for elderly and disabled people in England is
being rationed so severely that councils are supporting only
the most needy, campaigners say. The Learning Disability Coalition
said three quarters of local authorities had decided to restrict
assistance.
Campaigners and councils say government funding has not kept
pace with growing numbers of elderly and disabled people.
But the Department of Health said councils must use "record
investment" in more innovative and flexible ways.
Vulnerable people
Any adult wanting help from their local social services is
assessed to see if their needs are low, moderate, substantial
or critical.
The coalition, which represents a group of charities, analysed
figures to find that many councils had rationed support over
the past three years.
By next April, three quarters of councils will confine help
to only people with critical or substantial needs, according
to the coalition.
Campaigners say this excludes many people whose needs may
be classed as moderate but are still vulnerable, and struggle
to do basic tasks such washing themselves, carrying shopping
or walking upstairs.
Councils accept the situation is unfair but blame central
government by saying funding has not kept pace with growing
numbers of elderly and disabled people.
'Devastating news'
The coalition's figures showed wide variations between regions,
with services in the West Midlands being the most rationed
and those in the East Midlands the most generous.
Liberal Democrat communities spokesman Andrew Stunell said
the Budget settlement for local councils could be "devastating
news" for older people and those with learning disabilities.
He said: "Even the local government minister has admitted
that next year's local government settlement is going to be
tight.
"The government must ensure that the most vulnerable
in society aren't left behind by cuts in services."
June
07
Special
pupils need special treatment
Evening
Star (extract)
19 June 2007
PUPILS
in special schools in Suffolk have very specific needs which
are looked after magnificently while they are in full-time
education. But eventually all pupils will leave school and
have to find their own way in society - and now the headteachers
of three special schools are warning that these youngsters
could fall through society's safety net. The lack of opportunities
for young people with learning difficulties as they leave
school is clearly of great concern to their families and teachers.
It is all very well for Suffolk County Council, through its
education department, to provide excellent teaching to these
youngsters, but if there is nothing for them to go on to when
they leave school there will be a huge gap in their lives.
Youngsters with special needs cannot just be abandoned when
they reach 19. They need to continue to feel that they have
a role in society.
Yet resource centres and courses that were open to them are
now being closed down and there is a real fear that youngsters
who have made tremendous progress at school could be left
without any help at the end of their formal education.
Today's warning from the headteachers should act as a wake-up
call to social services to ensure that a generation of young
people with special needs is not abandoned by the system.
Headteachers warning on pupils prospects
Evening
Star (extract)
19 June 2007
SUFFOLK
is today leaving youngsters with learning difficulties out
in the cold by limiting their prospects after they leave school,
it has been claimed.
Headteachers at the three Ipswich special schools which cater
for youngsters until their late teens today lifted the lid
on fears for their students who are held back in adulthood
because of a lack of opportunities in the county.
Suffolk
County Council's social services department said it is working
to develop opportunities for learning and within the workplace,
but the schools say more must been done to get businesses
and other sections of the community to realise the youngsters
can be valuable assets.
Sue
Chesworth, headteacher at Belstead Special School, Sprites
Lane, said: “Some students go onto college and make good progress
but then there are limited opportunities from that stage to
go on to sheltered work. The likelihood is they won't get
a job when they should go on learning and developing like
the rest of us. The children have probably achieved an enormous
amount up until that point but then, through no fault of their
own, they become more dependent on their parents or carers
than ever - when they should be becoming more independent.
Parents feel desperate, helpless, unsupported and isolated.
The school puts a lot of work into preparing students for
when they leave school, but there aren't opportunities for
us to lead them onto. While at school, we are here to advocate
for the youngsters to make sure they are getting help, but
afterwards, parents feel very much on their own.”
Many students go on to Suffolk College , Otley College or
West Suffolk College in Bury St Edmunds, or resource centres.
However, the Suffolk County Council run Rosehill Resource
Centre at Felixstowe Road , which many of the parents at Belstead
use, will stop running in July as the lease on the building
has run out.
Parents and carers are now having meetings to arrange alternative
care.
Lilian
Power, a psychologist and a governor at the school, said:
“Once children have passed through the education system, they
effectively drop into a black hole with very few employment
or further training prospects. Those who have no prospect
of employment, training or becoming active members of a community
are looked after but those who, given the right support, could
be employed or trained and have a sense of worth and engagement
outside of their families, get very little. They become effectively
invisible. And all the work that has been done at Belstead
and other places to enable them to become active rather than
passive recipients of care is effectively wasted.
SUFFOLK County Council today said it was
working with colleges and employers to increase opportunities
for young people with learning difficulties.
Cheryl Sharland, head of transitions, works to create openings
for youngsters with additional needs. She said: “Just recently
we secured European Social Funding to support 60 young people
with additional needs obtain employment over the next 18 months.”
For
full articles. click
here
and here
February 07
Although the Audit
Commission gave Suffolk County Council
a top rating in its Comprehensive Performance Assessment for
2006. it noted that areas not performing as well,
included:
- delayed discharges from hospitals,
- services for people with learning disabilities,
and
- some attainment levels at Key Stage 2 (tests in schools
for 11 year-olds).
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