This document has been drawn up by local carers for the benefit of other local carers. It will always be open to change and addition as people contribute to it further from their own experience. If there is something that you think could usefully be added - no matter how large or small - do contact Mark Feeny (01924 496095 or [email protected]). The document will always be more useful if people add to it from their own experience.
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Documents
Category: General
The national Family Carer Support Service has recently published a guide to the Care Act 2014 and other laws that govern assessments of need. It is an easily readable guide to how to ensure that you get the right support from your Local Authority.
Following a period of consultation, in which many carers played a part, the Council has now approved a new policy on Direct Payments.
The link to the new Direct Payments policy is as follows
Prof Luke Clements has developed a problem-solving toolkit which aims to support disabled people and their carers who are encountering difficulties with statutory agencies in respect of health, social care, and education support services. It is highly accessible, very practical, and very easy to use. It includes examples of the kind of disputes that regularly arise and some of the tactics employed by the agencies. It puts forward a wide variety of things that you can do to move things on to a resolution.
'Who will care after I'm gone?'
19 November 2015, FitzRoy, 2015
While researching a previous report, a number of parents FitzRoy spoke to were so profoundly worried about what would happen to their son or daughter when they were no longer around to look after them, that they sometimes hoped their children would die before them. This sentiment had been heard before and it seems that this isn't unusual.
This is a recent report (December 2014) published by the European Network on Independent living, with the aim of clarifying issues about independent living, and answering some of the myths that hold people back from considering it.
This guide has been produced by the Foundation for people with learning disabilities in response to what people with learning disabilities, their parents, and siblings have been asking for years : what is going to happen in the future, and how can we shape it ? The project work that led to it was originally called 'When I'm gone' , but this was changed to convey that the best solution is to plan for the future and put as much as possible in place whilst you still have energy and time.
South and West Yorkshire Foundation Trust are planning a radical transformation of their services. The poster gives details of remaining events, including a newly arranged meeting in Batley on 19th November 2014
Analysis in a new report shows that government cuts target people in poverty, disabled people and their families. The report, written by Simon Duffy on behalf of the Campaign for a Fair Society, shows in detail how 50% of £75.2 billion in cuts fall on just two areas, benefits and local government - despite the fact that together they make up only 26.8% of cental government expenditure. In other words, the cuts are not fair. Visit www.campaignforafairsociety.com
Category: Local
The latest leaflet prepared by local carers for other local carers is now available on this website and in printed form. Local carers who have recently been through the process have pooled their thoughts about what they think others need to know about it. A key concern is that we as carers can be the biggest block to getting started, because we cannot face planning for a time when we are no longer around....and yet that is exactly why it is worth doing now, while we are still around to offer support and to resolve issues as they arise. Please have a look !
Following the success of the Carers Guide to assessment, and in response to regular concerns about the ground-rules for direct payments, a small group of carers have prepared a 'Guide to Direct Payments' which is now complete. Written copies are available from Maureen Connor.
Late in 2011, when the Council was considering reducing the criteria for guaranteed support to 'critical needs' only, a group of carers for adults with learning disabilities decided that there was a need for carers to be far better informed about the assessment process so that we could make sure that the person we care for got the best outcome from the process. The Council information gives a detailed factual account of the complete process. This guide doesn't repeat that, but concentrates on helping you to be best prepared for using the process.
Category: National
Following a number of events about Personal Independence Payment (PIP) (the new benefit replacing Disability Living Allowance), Hft’s Family Carer Support Service has made a series of short videos about PIP.
Rules and how people are assessed
How to fill out the form
The Draft Care and Support Bill alters the whole framework for social care, replacing lots of overlapping and sometimes contradictory laws that have been in use over the last 60 years. The Bill is now going through pre-legislative scrutiny and the Joint Committee on the Draft Care and Support Bill, chaired by Paul Burstow MP, has set up a web forum to hear the views of family carers. Not sure how long this opportunity lasts, so take part as soon as you can !
You may have already picked up in the press that there have been some important changes to the timetable for those currently on Disability Living Allowance who will be reassessed for Personal Independence Payments. At the same time the government has also announced the proposed rates for PIP, and published their response to the latest consultation on the assessment criteria. The attached letter gives you the relevant information. Also attached is a new quick guide that was published yesterday to take account of the changes.
This document, from the Carers UK website, summarises the main provisions in the draft Care and support Bill that relate to carers.
This version (updated in July 2012) of a document to inform people how to use the law to fight cuts in services is likely to remain important for a long time to come, as Local Authority budgets continue to be under threat, and services remain vulnerable to cuts. This is not a light read – it cannot be if it is to represent the complexity of the law – but it is comprehensive, and contains a list of law firms with expertise in lodging legal challenges to cuts in services.