Childcare for teen with special needs

[CatchingBabies]

I'm struggling to find childcare for my teenager that has special needs and therefore cannot be left home alone.

Until now he has been collected by a family member after school until my partner is home from work but that is no longer possible.

It's only 3 hours after school that we need but it's too long for him to be left as mentally he is much much younger and would not be safe.

We have no room for an au pair and cannot afford a nanny, there are no after school clubs available. Is this something that a childminder would consider? Any other ideas I may not have thought of?

My cousin had the same issue with her son with special needs. Childminders wouldn't accept him due to his size as they felt he would be more difficult to care for than a younger child with the same needs. Also there was a risk to the other children (and possibly to the childminder) as he was much bigger than the rest and could lash out. She was advised that he needed one-on-one care from a trained adult carer. If he's disabled you should be entitled to some sort of benefits to pay for someone to look after him?

The problem is he's disabled enough to not be able to be left but not disabled enough to get enough DLA to pay for childcare. He's on lower rate only which is £22 a week. I need 3 hours after school on 3 days a week. Can't see a specialist carer being happy to work for just over £2 an hour.

I can afford a childminder but a nanny or a specialist carer is out of budget. I don't know what they expect people in my situation to do. The only other option is my partner leaving work as I am the main earner but that's a big drop in income which would be a struggle.

Does the person need training or could you advertise for a student from a local college who would be able to do the job?

No special training no, he's not particularly hard work just mentally he's more like a 6 year old except he's 14 so people have to bear that in mind. I suppose a student could it, wether or not any of them would be keen on babysitting a 14 year old is another matter.

Put some ads somewhere and just see who applies, the library, gumtree, childcare.co.uk, post office window...could all be potential options.
You'll need to pay min wage though, but surely that would be cheaper than your partner giving up work completely.

My partner is on minimum wage so it will mean that some hours she is working for nothing but overall we would better off. I think we're going to look into requesting a change in hours from her work and see how she gets on.