Direct payments??

[anniebear]

I asked Ellies DR if we could be referred to Social services for a social worker who could maybe help us get these direct payments.

After waiting three months already we got told that it could take at least 6 months!

Am I best waiting for a Social Worker, would we be more likely to receive the payments with one helping us fill in the forms or Can I just apply for these myself?

If so who exactly do I ring?

Thanks

Hi anniebear - AFAIK getting direct payments isn't really the case of filling in a form but a social worker would come and assess your needs and then suggest that you get x amount of hours of help a week, which is then translated into dp's.

You can self refer to SS - just phone them up and ask for the child disability team. Say that you would like them to come and assess Ellie's needs (and yours). You have the right to ask them to do that and I believe they have to do it within a certain time frame. You certainly shouldn't have to wait 6 months for the assessment, though I guess it may take a bit longer to actually get payments in place.

When i called SS, a social worker visited us within 2 weeks. I haven't pursued dp's at the moment as feel we don't really need them but if at any point in the future I think we do, Dd is now on file.

you have to be assessed by a social worker who will send it to panel , after having someone come round and do an financial costing, based on the amount of hours they say you require. You are placed into three categories, a, b or c, a being priority. Then the panel decide if you qualify or not. We were placed into b category and refused. They couldnt understand why a family with four children, one in a wheelchair and a hundred appointments ,no time to have a wee, let alone five minutes, a mum with epilepsy,and only one driver to do the schlepping about, with no family support , would possibly need respite care once every 3 weeks.

I haven't bothered to appeal, he will be starting school part time in september, and i suspect it would take almost that long to get to sorted.

Can you tell i am fed up?

WHen we did it I wasn't aware of any panel or categories but that doesn't mean that isn't what happened, maybe I just didn't know! This really does seem to depend a lot on where you live and what the Soc Svs Dept is like. Ours is very good, not just because they give me money but just things like, if you phone them, not only do you get answered but its always a social worker who answers the phone. Its worth a try and, as HITC says, you can ask for an assessment yourself and they must do it in a certain time (but don't know what it is, sorry).

we got this news about a week ago davros. assessment went on in november

Hi anniebear... I asked my dh if he wanted to add to this thread as advising on direct payments is his job. over to him:

Direct payments are in place of existing social services - the advantage is that they allow parents more flexibility over the services they receive. For example you can employ your own care assistants and that enables continuity of care for your child and more flexibility over the hours they are coming in.

You will however need to see a social worker before you can get one. Direct payments are calculated on the basis of assessed need, so unless your child has an assessment you won't qualify. If your child is assessed as needing a service you are eligible to recieve a direct payment. However, as mentioned by a previous respondent it depends on how high a priority your child is as to whether you get one. Local authorities since April 2003 have had a duty to offer direct payments to parents of disabled children. You may be able to access local independent sources of advice and support - they can help with telling you what it's like and giving advice on your rights. You can find out about local support services through the National Centre for Independent Living - www.ncil.org.uk

hope that helps.

Lou - that's terrible . Utterly unreasonable. Really sorry you haven't been offered the support you so obviously deserve.

Thanks to Spots DH! Although I think DPs are great and its worth trying for I have to say that I regret saying as much to a friend. She got terrible service from her Social Worker who knew nothing about DPs, kept her waiting for ages, offered to refer her DS to a Saturday club he was already attending instead of DPs and then just said NO, she couldn't have any support and there were people worse of than her. She had a really bad experience and I felt guilty about encouraging her. She lives in a different Borough to me (she's in Barnet).