Short Breaks for Disabled Children (formerly Aiming High)

The Short Breaks for Disabled Children team has a variety of services to help families of children and young people who have a disability in Doncaster.

These services include -

  • Short Breaks (from caring responsibilities)

  • Children's Direct Payment Support Service

  • Holiday Activities Timetable

  • TIE - Doncaster's register of children and young people with a disability

  • TIE membership card

  • eLearning for parents and professionals

Short Break Panel

The Short Break Panel meets on a weekly basis to discuss the cases that have been referred by a lead professional on behalf of parents/carers. The cases are requests for short breaks from caring responsibilities from parents/carers who have a child with a disability.

If your case is successful, some of the outcomes may include overnight residential care, a sessional worker to work with your child or a set number of hours to be used as a 'direct payment'.

(Direct payment awards are passed across to the children's direct payment support service)

To be referred to short break panel, you would need to find a lead professional if you do not have a social worker. This could be, for example, someone from your child's school, a worker from the children's centre, health visitor - someone who is 'CAF' (Common Assessment Framework) trained and knows your family.

The first step would be to complete a 'CAF' (Common Assessment Framework) form with your lead professional and then hold a 'TAC' (Team Around the Child) meeting. Once this has been done your case for a short break can be submitted by your lead professional by contacting Short Breaks  - 01302 862332 or email ShortBreaksTeam@doncaster.gov.uk

Doncaster Council's Short Break Statement 2017

The 'Short Break Statement 2017' document that is attached to this page contains information on Doncaster's current Short Break Statement. 

Children's Direct Payment Support Service

The Children's Direct Payment Support Service (CDPSS) is there to help you use the direct payments that have been allocated to your child. Currently the hours are usually used by parents/guardians to employ a 'Personal Assistant' to look after their child in order to give them the short break from caring responsibilities that they are after.

The service is there to help you use direct payments by setting you up as an employer, to help with payroll services, insurance, any DBS (previously CRB) checks that need to be done and provide employer/employee contracts amongst other things.

For more information, please do not hesitate to contact the CDPSS (part of the Short Breaks team) - 01302 736068 or email childrensdpss@doncaster.gov.uk

Doncaster Council will be moving towards providing children and young people who need social care a 'Personal Budget'. This is not a pot of money but allows families to have more choice and flexibility where there is a need for support. However, for example, if a family insisted to continue to employ a personal assistant the cost of this would be drawn from their personal budget.

More information will be posted on this site as this progresses. In the process of moving over to personal budgets you may be asked if the Short Breaks team can complete a 'RAS' with you. This is simply a questionnaire designed to find out the needs of our child. You can find a copy of the RAS questions currently being used in the downloads section on this page.

The Holiday Activity Timetable

Short Breaks produces an activities timetable for each school holiday to offer extra support to parents and carers.

The timetable includes a variety of activities such as arts and crafts, sports sessions as well as family activities such as cinema, theatre and days out.

The timetable is sent out to special schools and children's centres - but if you are a member of the Together Information Exchange register you will receive the timetable automatically to your home address.
 

Meet the Short Breaks Team 

If you would like further information regarding Short Breaks, please contact: 

Short Breaks

Susan Sones

Team Manager

01302 735642

Susan.sones@doncaster.gov.uk

Package Queries

Direct Payments

Provider Commissioning Queries

Emily Holmes

 

Short Breaks Commissioning Officer

01302 736482

Emily.holmes@doncaster.gov.uk

Short Breaks Groups and Activities

Davina Harding

Play Activities Quality Assurance Worker

01302 737206

Mobile  07785343805

Davina.harding@doncaster.gov.uk

Parent Package Enquiries

Hayley Lindsay

Assessment Officer

01302 737115

Hayley.Lindsay@doncaster.gov.uk

 

Parent Package Enquiries

Cheryl Wallace

Assessment Officer

01302 737448

Mobile  07769 648406

Cheryl.Wallace@doncaster.gov.uk

Direct Payment Enquiries - Children’s Short Breaks Direct Payment Service

CDPSS

Helpline

01302 736068

childrensdpss@doncaster.gov.uk

 

 

Last updated: 13 July 2018 11:02:55