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Short Breaks Consultation

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This consultation has now closed.

Overview

Short breaks are part of a range of services offered by Barnet Council to children and young people with disabilities living in the borough. The services enable children and young people to take a break from their normal routine and try new experiences, giving them the opportunity to learn new skills, develop their confidence and have fun.

The services give children and young people positive experiences, whilst, at the same time, giving a break to their primary carers. They are designed to contribute to the children’s personal and social development, reducing social isolation and preventing family breakdown.

Short breaks

Overview

Short breaks are part of a range of services offered by Barnet Council to children and young people with disabilities living in the borough. The services enable children and young people to take a break from their normal routine and try new experiences, giving them the opportunity to learn new skills, develop their confidence and have fun.

The services give children and young people positive experiences, whilst, at the same time, giving a break to their primary carers. They are designed to contribute to the children’s personal and social development, reducing social isolation and preventing family breakdown.

Short breaks are available for children and young people aged 5-18 with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and/ or complex health needs including cognitive or sensory impairments. Further information on Barnet short breaks can be found online here.

Why we are consulting

In Barnet, short breaks are currently provided through approved providers and the current contracts run until 31 March 2019. Work has begun to look at future commissioning of short breaks from 1 April 2019. This consultation seeks to gain the views of both families that have children with disabilities and/or special educational needs and providers. We have also included some questions on overnight respite to help plan for future overnight breaks.

Parent carers were involved in developing the questions to ensure that they cover the key themes that are important to families.

Give us your views

If you are a family that has a child or children with disabilities and/or special educational needs, or if you are a short break provider, please take the time to give us your views by completing the online questionnaire.

For any further information, or to request a questionnaire in an alternative format, please email Joanna.Rider@Barnet.gov.uk or telephone 020 8359 5005. Alternatively, you can write to us at: Joanna Rider, London Borough of Barnet, North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road South, London, N11 1NP.

This consultation has now closed.

  • We Asked, You Said, We Did

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    Future Short Breaks Consultation

    We asked:

    We asked families with children with disabilities and/ or special educational needs to give their views on the current Short Breaks offer and to tell us if they had experienced any barriers to taking up services. We asked families what they need from a future service to inform the future for service requirements; how Short Breaks are arranged in the future and to help plan market development activity.

    We also asked Short Break providers questions regarding what they can offer and their capacity.

    You Said

    We received 207 responses:

    · 82% of which were from parent carers. Respondents provided a wealth of information regarding their experiences of using short breaks and had a number of really helpful ideas about the types of services they would like to see in the future and when they would like to see them.

    · 30% of families eligible for Short Breaks were unable to take up all of their allocation due to lack of provider capacity; services not able to meet specific needs or inflexibility with the current offer. Responses regarding allocations were mixed with some families wanting everyone to receive the same allocation and others wanting a higher allocation to those with higher needs.

    · 89% of families wanted to see short break provision in school holidays, with weekends also being requested as well as after school clubs. While some families wanted the council to continue to arrange their breaks from pre-qualified providers, other families wanted the flexibility to receive funds to arrange their own services. There was a lot of interest in specialist overnight respite and in the potential for short break providers to cater to young people in transition to adulthood.

    We Did

    We reviewed and analysed all the responses submitted. You can read the full consultation report here.

    The key themes from the survey were used to inform and shape the detail behind the future service model and applications process. The service model was also informed by three co-design meetings held with parent carers.

    We held two market events with Short Breaks providers to pass on key findings from the survey to help shape the future market offer in accordance with need.

    We have simplified the applications process based on the feedback received. From March 2019, families will only need to apply once to be eligible for Short Breaks.

    Based on the survey response, we have revised the allocation offer for Short Breaks. The new allocation represents an increased offer for families and is more flexible to enable families to purchase the support that they want. We will ensure that those with higher needs continue to receive a higher allocation. The new offer for 2019-20 will be available on the Short Breaks Website from March 2019.