no respite care,no school,no money

[davidsotherhalf]

my 17yr old dd has been diagnosed with aspergers,asd,apd,and ptsd...schools can't cope with her needs.she gets 6hrs home tuition a week and i have to sit in the room with them as my daughter only gets 6hrs education a week this means that my child benefit has stopped due to this all other benefits have stopped, i was told we have to live on carers allowance £53 a week i'm not entitled to any other benefit as my dd should be in full time education.
I have begged ss for respite care for over a year now all i get told is she's your dd get on with it, my dd social worker just laughs if i ask for any support i have explained i can't cope any more and he said well you get paid £53 a week carers what more do you want just get on with it it's not my problem. i'm at the end of the road and ready to walk out the door..... is it only me that's in this sittuation?

This is awful and to be honest I dont know where you stand benefit wise. But if your dd didnt have any medical issues she would be entitled to unemployment benefit of sorts (dont know what it is called now) if she was out of education and not working whilst they help her find a job. If she went college they would support her too.

Do they supply the 6hrs education or do you have to pay for it?

Only thing I can suggest is contacting your local MP and maybe he can help out in some way with your HORRIBLE social worker!

my dd isn't allowed to claim benefits as she's classed as in education but because she's not getting 12hrs a week then benefits stop this is supplied by staffordsire education she has just started her gcse work all over again as the lea lost all her work when we moved from nottingham...as for the mp i contacted him last september but all i get is letters saying i have highlighted loop hole in the law and it will be years till it will be sorted if ever. as for the social worker i have made several complaints but nothing happens

If you are a lone parent and have no other money coming in then you are entitled to income support for yourself to make up the amount the law says you need to live on,
income support takes into account your carers allowance and makes up the difference to around £97.00
if you have anyone else apart from yourself and DD living with you then this will be taken into account and you will get less.
A personal advisor at the job centre or someone from the carers centre should be able to tell you exactly what you are entitled to, or you can use an online benefit calculator.
is your DD under childrens or adults services ? if under childrens then maybe you should request that she gets passed over to adult sevices, then at least you will get a new SS who might be more helpfull, if already in adult services and you are not satisfied then maybe you could find out who the SS team leader is and contact him direct ( i did this and got a new SS because my old one never even bothered answering my calls )
dont give up and keep on fighting for the respite, also you could ask SS for an assesment of your needs ( i had to ask about 5 times but kept on hasseling them )

meant to say anyone living with you who earns a wage and contributes to bills etc.

You are entitled to homeschool her, can you not officially request to homeschool her yourself, thereby she gets the 12 hours (done as and when you and your daughter choose during the week) and then you get all your benefits back?

I'm sorry you're in such a tough situation. I would contact the NAS and maybe ask for more info on 'officially' homeschooling and maybe also ring the people at Education Otherwise.

Am not sure if your daughter's age is a barrier to this but its perhaps something to look into.

Your social worker doesnt seem sympathetic at all. I would go to Jobcentre and get someone there to go over what benefits you are entitled to. I would also get onto ss and speak to supervisor in order for them to help with other services like respite and maybe day centre or something that would give you a break. Good luck.

Ok:

1: If your dd is legally supposed to receive a minimum of 12 hours education per week, then it is the responsibility of the council to provide the additional 6 hours. Or could you look into home schooling as Eloise73 has suggested?

2: Why have you not been told that your dd is entitled to put in a claim for DLA as an adult? DLA is non means tested and is not based on whether a person is working or not working, in education or out of education.

3: What is apd please?

ok im going to sound stupid now (ha so whats new) but do you think with only 6 hours help shes likely to pass the gcse's?? if not and dont get me wrong if you think shes going to do well great but if not is it really worth continuing, pehaps she would be better off if these bloomin red tape /lea ect and social workers are not going to help you stopping gcses and looking into leaving education getting yr finances back on track as then you would get help and then going for Adult education to pass exams or courses shes interested in ?...just a thought prob stupid

auditory processing disorder bullet

Thank you Betty.

sorry i just assumed your DD was getting DLA since you get a carers allowance,
Also if you are getting any maintenance or live with a husband or partner who works or recieves benefits for you both then this will be taken into account and you wont be able to claim IS for your self,
dont know much about home schooling but Betty makes a good point.

Useful link about legal entitlement to education for children with medical needs unable to attend school.www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationdetail/page1/DFES%2f0025%2f2002

Key points:Legal minimum is 5 hrs per week but providing your dd can cope with more despite medical needs, she is entitled to more. She is entitled to access to a broad and balanced curriculum and to have any special educational needs met.

If she had been excluded from school she would be entitled to 25 hours per week - although this might be in a pupil referral unit rather than via home tuition.

Can you get advice on benefits from local cab?

IPSEA has info on minimum schooling as well

Can't help with the schooling thing but have you had a play with www.entitledto.co.uk you can see exactly what you can claim for,