Easy Read Guide to new SDS regulations
The Scottish Government has made a new law about self-directed support. This guide tells you about the new law and what it means.
The Government has also made some new rules that help people understand what will happen when people want to employ someone in their family or how some people might have to make a contribution to their support.
LDAS has published a new guide to help people understand what this is all about. You can download it here.
Is Self Directed Support Failing
A new research paper has been published by Peter Beresford and two other researchers that looks at how Resource Allocation Systems (RAS) are working to deliver personal budgets.
A RAS is a points based system for giving initial budgets and is popular with councils as an easy way of helping people quickly find out what level of support they might get. It is often linked to a simple Self Evaluation Questionnaire that given points for different levels of needs.
What Beresford and his friends found was that in the councils looked at there was no link between the initial budget people were offered and the final budget that was actually approved. It was if there were two separate budget setting processes going on. First was the RAS and then secondly was an old style social work decision making body. Given the large amount of money and time put into developing a RAS this was highly wasteful.
SDS in Scotland
Self Directed Support is the Scottish Government’s plan for putting people back in control of their own live
s once they need social care. But each local authority has to makes its own plans to put this policy into effect. So what are they doing?
In November 2012, we asked each council to tell us how they were getting on with SDS. Many were shy about telling us about their Resource Allocation Systems but we did manage to get lots of other information.
In 5 councils, SDS was being implemented in a way that was open to all. In some it was voluntary and in others everyone was given an individual budget.
8 councils had already put in place serious pilot projects that were designed to test processes that would be rolled out much wider in the near future.
Finally the other councils were all at different stages of thinking it all through ranging from those who were just having the first staff in post to those who were reviewing their whole systems after initial pilots have reported back.
A full report is available by clicking here
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Subcategories
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Self Directed Support
We believe that Self Directed Support can give people with learning disabilities far more control over their own lives. All partners in this process should work in a collaborative, open and transparent way that leads to genuine co-production and involvement
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Care Charging
We think that social care service like health services should be provided free of charge to the most vulnerable. Care charges are really a care tax.
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Bullying
Many people with learning disabilities still suffer from low level bullying and harassment. This is unacceptable and needs to stop.
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Welfare Reform
A number of major changes are planned in Britain's benefit system. We are campaigning to make sure people with learning disabilities are protected in these changes.