Your views on changes to the way we assess and deliver Short Breaks for families
Overview
Norfolk County Council is committed to making Norfolk a county where businesses, organisations and communities continue to thrive together. Our Better Together, For Norfolk strategy sets out the council’s five, interlinked, priorities:
- a vibrant and sustainable economy;
- better opportunities for children and young people;
- healthy, fulfilling and independent lives;
- strong, engaged and inclusive communities;
- and a greener, more resilient future.
The council, along with its partners, has an ambition that Norfolk is a place where all children and young people can flourish and where the needs of families are supported early to prevent or reduce crisis.
As part of this ambition, and to comply with our statutory duty, we provide Short Breaks for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
Short Breaks offer an opportunity for children with SEND to take part in out of school activities and provide opportunities for respite for their families.
Specifically, Short Breaks include after-school clubs, summer clubs, weekend activities, days out, specialist support and care, personal assistants and overnight/residential stays. Children with SEND can receive Short Breaks at home, at centres and in the community. The type of activities and services a child engages with, or receives, depends on their needs and preferences.
The service enables children with SEND to have fun experiences, establish friendships, and develop confidence, independence, and the social and emotional skills to enable them to transition to adult life successfully.
While children are enjoying their Short Breaks, their families can have time for themselves knowing their child or young person is safe and having an enjoyable experience.
Background
Short Breaks is a £2.4 million a year service currently supporting around 1,700 families. Short Breaks are for children and young people with SEND aged from five to 17 with a physical or mental impairment that is substantial and has a long-term negative effect on their ability to do normal daily tasks.
In the last five years, there has been a 75% increase in applications. To make sure we can continue providing Short Breaks against a significant increase in demand, we have been considering ways to improve and modernise our processes to ensure the Short Breaks service is sustainable and able to support all the children with SEND and their families who need it. This is in line with our ongoing plan to move to a more inclusive care approach for children and families.
We want to improve the range of activities on offer in all localities across the county as well as give more flexibility for families, if they so wish, to use their Short Breaks funding for activities they can enjoy together as a whole family unit. We have recruited Short Breaks inclusion co-ordinators to helps us do this and we also want to better use our budget to support more children and young people with SEND closer to their homes in the face of growing demand.
We have been reviewing feedback from families who use Short Breaks and talking to our partners about how we can ensure better delivery, particularly focusing on adapting the service for more families. Feedback from our partners, colleagues and importantly children and young people with SEND and their families, has highlighted that providing the right opportunities, at the right time, in the right place is key.
The Children’s Act 1989 highlights the duty for local authorities to provide Short Breaks. The Breaks for Carers of Disabled Children Regulations 2011 sets
out how local authorities must provide Short Breaks and what they should provide.
Why your views matter
We have and continue to talk to families and parent carer groups through working groups and surveys to develop our proposals for change. We really want to hear from many families using the service to tell us what they think of our ideas so far.
We are asking for your views on:
- A proposal to change the way we assess the day-to-day needs of a child or young person with SEND by using a new framework called Circle of Support rather than the existing Resource Allocation System (RAS) questionnaire. This is outlined in our draft strategy, along with ideas for delivering the service in a different way. The draft strategy can be viewed here. It can also be downloaded at the bottom of the page.
We are consulting through:
- This online consultation, which is also available as a paper copy
- Writing to families who currently use Short Breaks
We are consulting from 27 June to 2 August
- Please note that if we receive any consultation responses after 2 August we cannot guarantee we will be able to take them into account.
We will feed back the findings from our consultation to our county councillors as part of the evidence to help them come to a decision.
If you need a copy of this consultation document in a different format please email haveyoursay@Norfolk.gov.uk, call 0344 800 8020 or Text Relay on 18001 0344 800 8020 (textphone) and we will do our best to help.
The consultation should take between 10 to 15 minutes to complete.
A PDF version of this consultation along with the Easy Read and Large Print versions of this consultation are available to download at the bottom of the page.
You can find out more about our drop in events at the bottom of the page or here:
Events
-
Drop in event - Fakenham Library
From 17 Jul 2023 at 10:00 to 17 Jul 2023 at 13:00For families wanting more information or support to complete the consultation.
Oak St, Fakenham NR21 9DY -
Drop in event - King's Lynn Library
From 17 Jul 2023 at 15:00 to 17 Jul 2023 at 18:00For families wanting more information or support to complete the consultation.
London Rd, King's Lynn PE30 5EZ -
Drop in event - Great Yarmouth Library
From 18 Jul 2023 at 10:00 to 18 Jul 2023 at 13:00For families wanting more information or support to complete the consultation.
Tolhouse St, Great Yarmouth NR30 2SH -
Drop in event- North Walsham Library
From 18 Jul 2023 at 15:00 to 18 Jul 2023 at 18:00For families wanting more information or support to complete the consultation.
New Rd, North Walsham NR28 9DE -
Drop in event - Thetford Library
From 19 Jul 2023 at 00:00 to 19 Jul 2023 at 00:00For families wanting more information or support to complete the consultation.
Raymond St, Thetford IP24 2EA -
Drop in event - Diss Library
From 19 Jul 2023 at 15:00 to 19 Jul 2023 at 18:00For families wanting more information or support to complete the consultation.
Church St, Diss IP22 4DD -
Drop in event - Dereham Library
From 20 Jul 2023 at 09:30 to 20 Jul 2023 at 12:30For families wanting more information or support to complete the consultation.
59 High St, Dereham NR19 1DZ -
Drop in event - The Millennium Library, Norwich
From 21 Jul 2023 at 10:00 to 21 Jul 2023 at 13:00For families wanting more information or support to complete the consultation.
The Forum, Millennium Plain, Norwich NR2 1AW
Areas
- All Areas
Audiences
- Children
- Parents and carers and guardians
Interests
- Children and young people
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