Eligibility Framework Peterborough
Children with Disabilities
This section must be completed for all documents
Lead Author/Document Co-produced by Peterborough City Council
Owner
(Commissioning, Social Care & Short Breaks service
areas) and Family Voice Peterborough
Divisional Area
People and Communities Directorate
Version Number &
Date of this version
Board approval and
Date
Publication date:
Version 3
January 2016
People and Communities DMT Board – February
2016
March 2016
Review Date:
Review By:
Distribute to:
March 2018
Team responsible for
implementation
Synopsis and
Outcomes of
Consultation
Undertaken:
Synopsis and
Outcomes of Equality
Impact Assessment:
Links with other
documents that guide
practice:
Children’s Services
Publish on the Local Offer
Publish as part of the Short Breaks Service
Statement
People and Communities Directorate
This document outlines eligibility for services to
children and young people with disabilities and their
parents/carers. It should be read in conjunction with
Peterborough’s Threshold for Intervention
document.
The content of the eligibility framework has not
changed significantly, and these documents change
the way the processes are explained to make
information clearer for professionals and families.
Schedule 2 to The Children Act 1989 – Breaks for
Carers of Disabled Children.
Care Planning, Placement and Case Review,
Guidance and Regulations Vol 2, The Children Act
1989
The Equality Act 2010.
The Carers (equal opportunities act) 2004.
Peterborough Threshold Document
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Peterborough Multi Agency Strategy for Children
and Young People with Disabilities and their
families.
Peterborough Short Breaks Service Statement
The Children and Families Act 2014 – Part 3
If this document is printed into hard copy or saved to another location, you must
check that the version number on your copy matches that of the one online.
Revisions
Version
Page/
Paragraph
no.
Description of change
Date
approved
N/A
Contents
Section
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Title
Page
Introduction
Which children and young people are eligible for the 0-25
Disability Services?
Assessment and support packages
The legal status of Short Breaks
Short Break provision
Assessment processes
Advocacy
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4
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Linked document – ‘Eligibility Criteria for Children With Disabilities’ (version 2)
(Can be viewed on the Local Offer)
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1.
Introduction
This guidance document supplements Peterborough’s Threshold document and
seeks to provide additional information and guidance which should be read in
conjunction with it. This guidance should also be read alongside the ‘Eligibility
Criteria for Children with disabilities’ flowchart document.
This supplementary guidance is provided, because disabled children are children
in need in law and this document sets out which children and young people are
eligible for an assessment to establish whether additional support and services
should be provided through the 0-25 Disability Service.
Each case is considered individually and this guidance is intended to help
practitioners and families arrive at a decision about fair and equal access to
services that ensure no child or young person with a disability is disadvantaged
because of their disability or home circumstances compared to any other child or
young person without a disability.
The 0-25 Disability Service maintains strong links with other social care teams.
The 0-25 Disability Service team provide assessments and access to a range of
services for children and young people with disabilities and their parents/carers,
who meet the threshold criteria for referral. Following a children and families
assessment, a range of services may be offered according to the needs
identified.
Within the 0-25 Disability Service are specialist workers who provide additional
support to young people at significant times in their lives. With the
implementation of the care Act (2015), the social workers liaise with health
colleagues about Continuing Care and Continuing Health Care, and undertake
person centred support plans in readiness for a young person’s journey from
Children’s Services to Adults Services.
The 0-25 Disability Service team works closely with Commissioners and, where
appropriate, partner agencies in health and education, to provide outcome
focused packages of support for children and young people with disabilities.
Those disabled children and young people who are not eligible for a service from
the 0-25 Disability Service team, may be entitled to access other services, such
as short breaks available to disabled children through the locally commissioned
Short Breaks programmes and universal services – ‘Local Offer’.
This guidance also covers the legal status of children and young people who are
provided with overnight short breaks. The approach is consistent with that
suggested in the Statutory Guidance issued in March 2010 (Short Breaks:
Statutory Guidance on how to promote and safeguard the welfare of disabled
children using short breaks).
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2.
Which children and young people are eligible for the 0-25 Disability
Service?
The starting point for determining eligibility is the definition of disability set out in
section 17(11) of the Children Act 1989. This states:
‘a child is disabled if he is blind, deaf or dumb, or suffers from mental disorder of
any kind or is substantially and permanently handicapped by illness, injury or
congenital deformity or such other disability as may be prescribed’.
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 used a wider definition of disability:
‘1 Meaning of “disability” and “disabled person”.
(1)Subject to the provisions of Schedule 1, a person has a disability for the
purposes of this Act if he has a physical or mental impairment which has a
substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-today activities.’
The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 and Equality Act 2010 further clarified the
definition of disability to include conditions such as HIV and cancers.
3.
Assessment and Support Packages
Disabled children are regarded as children in need and as such are entitled to an
assessment of needs, by a social worker. More details of the assessment can be
found in Peterborough’s Threshold document.
Depending on the level of need there will be a range of services and support that
can be provided. For those children with minimal additional needs, which can be
met through community-based services, it is likely that the 0-25 Disability Service
will provide advice and refer the case to an appropriate provider, or the Local
Offer. If families need further help to access enhanced community based
support, they may do this through an Early Help Assessment and referral to the
Multi Agency Support Group Panel (MASG).
For those with significant additional, complex and acute needs, a children and
families assessment may be undertaken to identify appropriate resources and
the amount of resource required. The purpose of the resources is to meet these
additional difficulties and not to provide or replace either something the family
would normally do, e.g. clean the home; or where a service in the community e.g.
an after-school club, is already available.
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There will be some personal preferences about how the resources are designed
and delivered, to meet the child or young person’s assessed needs. For
example: children may not want to stay overnight for a short break in a children’s
home, but would enjoy going out to access activities in the community with a
support worker; the child or young person may need overnight stays, and families
may be able to choose how these nights are used.
The ways services can be provided to those children and their families who have
additional assessed needs are:
4.

direct provision of services by or on behalf of the local authority;

through Direct Payments, where the family decides the best way to use
their allocated budget available and directly manages the responsibility for
recruiting and employing people to provide the services to meet the
agreed outcomes.
The Legal Status of Short Breaks
In March 2010, the Government issued Statutory Guidance (Short Breaks:
Statutory Guidance on how to safeguard and promote the welfare of disabled
children using short breaks – DCFS – March 2010) to help local authorities to
decide whether short breaks should be provided under s17 or s20 of the Children
Act 1989.
Previously, some local authorities accommodated almost all children under s20
and as such they became ‘looked after’ by the local authority, while they received
short breaks. Some parents and young people saw this as an intrusion into family
life and many felt stigmatised as a result. Others treated almost all as s17 and as
a result some important safeguards for the child, such as the case being
reviewed independently, were lost.
The Guidance set out factors to be taken into account when making the s17/s20
decision (paragraph 2.8) and these are explained here:
Over time the circumstances of the child and family may change. For example a
child whose family found it very difficult to cope with challenging behaviour, might
receive short breaks under s20, because they need the local authority to help
them look after their child, when they are at the short break provision; but if the
challenging behaviour subsides over time and the family’s capacity to cope
increases, they may then be able to retain responsibility for their child while they
are receiving a short break. Under this circumstance a review might decide to
recommend a change in the legal status to s17.
Where the short break is provided under s.17, the suitability of the provision of
short breaks or the amount or type of short break provided will still be reviewed,
as part of the regular reviews of the Child in Need Plan. The legal status of the
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placement will be considered at each review and should a decision be made to
alter the legal status to s20 an Independent Reviewing Officer will be appointed
and a first review held by the Independent Reviewing Officer within twenty days
of the start of the first placement being made (reg.48(d)(i)).
The guidance below sets out factors that should be taken into account when
making the s17/20 decision about what section a child or young person receives
short breaks under:
Section 17(6) child
Section 20(4) child
Section 20(4) child
Has a continuous period of
more than 24 hours in
placement
Has a continuous period of
care of more than 24 hours
Has a continuous period of
care of more than 24 hours
Short breaks are preplanned and in the same
place
Short breaks are preplanned and in the same
place
Short breaks may be with a
range of providers
No break lasts more than
17 days
No break lasts more than
17 days
Total does not exceed 75
days in one year
Total does not exceed 75
days in one year
AND
AND
AND
The 10 key questions do
not significantly impact on
the child
The 10 key questions do
significantly impact on the
child
The 10 key questions do
significantly impact on the
child
The child is not looked after
The child is looked after for
the period that they are
accommodated
Parental responsibility is
not affected
The child is looked after for
the period they are
accommodated
Parental responsibility is
not affected
Parental responsibility is
not affected
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Breaks can exceed
timescales of 17 days or
exceed 75 days a year
The ten key questions for the panel to consider when making a decision

particular vulnerabilities of the child, including communication method;

parenting capacity of the parents within their family and environmental
context;

wider family and environmental factors;

the length of time away from home and the frequency of such stays; the less
time the child spends away from home the more likely it is to be appropriate
to provide accommodation under section 17(6);

whether short breaks are to be provided in more than one place; where the
child spends short breaks in different settings, including residential schools,
hospices and social care placements, it is more likely to be appropriate to
provide accommodation under section 20(4)

potential impact on the child’s place in the family and on primary attachments;

observation of the child (especially children who do not communicate
verbally) during or immediately after the break by a person familiar with the
mood and behaviour of the child (for example the parent or school staff);

views of the child and views of parents; some children and parents may be
reassured by, and in favour of, the status of a looked after child, while others
may resent the implications and associations of looked after status;

extent of contact between short break carers and family and between the
child and family during the placement;

Distance from home and the need for an Independent Reviewing Officer
(IRO) to monitor the child’s case and to chair reviews.
.
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5.
Short Break provision
The regulations define a short break as:




Day time care in the homes of disabled children or elsewhere
Overnight care in the homes of disabled children or elsewhere
Educational or leisure activities for disabled children outside their homes,
and
Services available to assist carers in the evenings, at weekends and
during the school holidays.
They provide:



enjoyable experiences for children and young people with disabilities
whilst spending time away from parents and carers
short breaks from caring responsibilities for parents and carers
access to places and activities enabling families to do more things
together
The aim is to make sure that families with children with disabilities can
experience the same quality of life as those who do not live with disability.
This is underpinned by the law and shown in the legislation described below:
In performing their duty under paragraph 6(1) (c) of Schedule 2 to the Children
Act 1989 Act (3), a local authority must:
(a) have regard to the needs of those carers who would be unable to continue to
provide care unless breaks from caring were given to them; and
(b) have regard to the needs of those carers who would be able to provide care
for their disabled child more effectively if breaks from caring were given to
them to allow them to:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
undertake education, training or any regular leisure activity,
meet the needs of other children in the family more effectively, or
carry out day to day tasks which they must perform in order to run their
household.
In performing their duty under paragraph 6(1)(c) of Schedule 2 to the 1989 Act, a
local authority must provide, so far as is reasonably practicable, a range of
services which is sufficient to assist carers to continue to provide care or to do so
more effectively.
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6.
Assessment Processes
Assessments are the process by which the Local Authority gathers together
information about children and families, so that they can help make decisions
about what support and interventions families may need and be entitled to.
A full copy of The Peterborough Threshold Document can be seen on the Local
Offer.
In Peterborough we are developing a broad range of services to meet the needs
of children and families; we are committed to supporting children and young
people to be able to remain living in their families and local communities and
reducing the need for specialist interventions by intervening early and preventing
difficulties and problems escalating.
Part of this strategy includes the implementation of resource allocation panels
where assessments of needs are taken for consideration. This enables services
to be commissioned and allocated according to need and that represent value for
money, in an equitable way.
7.
Advocacy
Advocacy services provide children and young people with information about
their rights and entitlements and assistance to enable them to use formal
complaints procedures if that is what they want, and to have a voice and be
heard when decisions are made about their lives.
The advocacy service provides a Residential Visiting Advocacy service to
residential and short breaks units within Peterborough. Children and young
people who access these units may be supported to raise concerns with the
visiting advocate or if necessary an individual advocate may be allocated to the
child or young person.
Contact details for advocacy services can be found on the Local Offer
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