Short breaks

Southwark is ambitious for its children, young people and families. Our Children and Young People's Plan makes it a priority to increase the independence of children and young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, and their families.

This includes promoting the welfare and quality of life of children and young people with learning, physical and sensory disabilities or with complex and enduring health needs.

The plan also looks to enable them and their families to lead more independent lives and make better use of the opportunities available to them. This includes providing a range of short breaks services which will enrich the lives of disabled children and provide support to their parent-carers. 

This is the first short breaks services statement produced by Southwark Council.

It sets out what services are available, the eligibility criteria for these services, and how services are designed to meet the needs of local families with disabled children.

It affirms partners' commitment to provide the short breaks that families value and which are of a high quality, safe, reliable, accessible and responsive to the needs of children and their families.

The 'local offer' of short break services

All disabled child are entitled to access support from short breaks services.  For more information view the Definition of short breaks services and short breaks statement. 

Since the launch of the Aiming High for Disabled Children programme in 2008, services providing short breaks for disabled children and their carers in Southwark have undergone considerable development and transformation.

There has been significant investment in expanding the range of support on offer; developing partnership working across statutory, voluntary and independent providers, and increasing and embedding consultation with and involvement of disabled children and young people and their families.

The level of support a child and their family is entitled to depends on the severity and nature of the child's disability. This support is categorised into three levels:

1. Universal provision: This includes any activities available to all disabled children in mainstream and universal settings
2. Targeted provision: This provision has criteria set by the provider or local authority, such as being targeted at children with a diagnosis of Autism; it can be accessed by self-referring or being referred or signposted by your child's school or local authority support services
3. Specialist provision: This is accessed following an assessment of need by the children with disabilities and complex needs team; a case coordinator will develop a care package that meets the child's needs and incorporates the views of the child and family. Services provided at this level are agreed at a resource allocation meeting chaired by the service manager, will be subject to regular reviews and may be provided on a time-limited basis

We recognise that families may move between tiers of service at different stages in a child or young person's life or when family circumstances change.

There is a broad range of provision available in each level. Download the short breaks summary.  This shows the services available and known to the authority. We will work with families and providers to develop and define this list over the coming months.

Support services

In addition to providing short breaks, families can also get help to facilitate access including:

• Management of direct payments
• Information and signposting: The Family Information Service and Parent Participation Service provide advice and information; Contact a Family also runs a free helpline, website, directory and publications
• Transition: The integrated child support service provides support in the early years, both in transitioning in and out of early years provision, while the transition team provides support to young people preparing for adulthood

How was this statement developed?

The participation and involvement of children, young people and families is central to service development and delivery, and services constantly strive to improve the experience of and outcomes achieved for children, young people and families. One of the mechanisms through which parents can support, review and challenge service delivery is Southwark's Parent Carer Council, a borough-wide forum set up five years ago by Contact a Family in Southwark with local authority support and funding.

To develop this statement, children, young people, parents and carers, service providers, practitioners and partner agencies were consulted in August and September 2011 about the range of short breaks on offer. This information was collated and used to inform this statement in terms of the current programme on offer and shaping future service delivery.

This feedback confirmed that children, young people and their families value their short breaks very highly. Families see these breaks as essential as they provide much-needed support as well as ensuring that children and young people have access to positive social and recreational activities away from home.

Families also told us that, although they recognise the high quality of support on offer, we need to make it easier and simpler for them to access this support. We therefore intend to review and revise this statement over the winter and spring 2012, with the intention that the services families receive from summer 2012 are easier to access and better targeted to support their needs.

How will the statement be reviewed?

The service review will build on the outcomes of the consultation and will involve further consultation and collaboration with families, services and providers.

This will define and test simpler, more transparent criteria and ways to allocate resources, and assess the impact of any changes. We also intend to work with providers to ensure they supply regular data and evidence of the outcomes delivered by their short breaks services.

We intend, therefore, to publish a revised statement no later than 31 May 2012. We will then review it annually in collaboration with stakeholders and partners in time for the outcomes to inform our commissioning decisions for each financial year.

Complaints

We want to resolve concerns about the type or level of service on offer quickly and effectively. In the first instance, please contact the team manager for an informal discussion. If there are continuing concerns, the council has a formal complaints process, which can be initiated by contacting us on 020 7525 0042, via complaints@southwark.gov.uk or through the online complaints form.

Contact us

Children with Disabilities and Complex Needs Team
Children's Services
Southwark Council
Sunshine House
27 Peckham Road
London
SE5 8UH 

Tel: 020 3049 8250