social services

[hev]

phoned them today as im seriously considering direct payment scheme,spoke to a man who could hardly speak english,i explained what i thought direct payments was and he said its not their department and as im getting carers allowance its the same benefit and i cant get it twice is that right? he said i should go to the dole but im sure its something to do with social services.

 

social services make me feel like s everytime i speak to them,why are mine so useless and unhelpful,it drives me mad,will they only sit up and take notice when i go down there hysterical,or do i have to neglect steven before i get any help,ive no faith in them at all

[Kazzen161]

http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/social...ectpaymentfaqs/

 

Here's a link with some info. It's not the same as Carer's Allowance and is paid via SS.

 

Karen

[hev]

thankyou karen,i just do not understand why they donot know the infomation,if my ss are saying its not their department i dont know who to go to next,any ideas?

[Kathryn]

It is their department, hev, so do persist.

 

Here's a thread with some more information on direct payments.

 

K x

[curra]

The "Every child matters" slogan is a very elastic thing because the LAs can have their own criteria to determine if a child is eligible for direct payment. Having a dx and receiving DLA is no guarantee of getting DP, as I found out from my own experience.

Check this out in the website:

 

If the local authority decide your child is a child-in-need, they will then discuss with you whether the needs would be best met via direct services or direct payments. Therefore if your child is not seen as a child in need you will not be eligible for services or for direct payments.

 

Each local authority has their own eligibility criteria for services and will prioritise certain needs within its available resources which will differ from area to area. There is no national framework for eligibility. Local eligibility criteria will apply to both services and direct payments. The assessment should, however, be a thorough and holistic evaluation of a child's needs in their family context rather than one that reflects the availability of services in an area. This is particularly pertinent in the context of direct payments as they may be able to offer a viable solution to a child and family needs when there is no available local authority service.

 

As usual, it's a postcode lottery. I was not lucky as SS in my area didn't think my DS was disabled enough

 

Curra

[pumpkinpie]

This man obviously had no idea what he is on about, direct payments are within the remit f socail services.

Do you have something like the carers resourse in your area, an advie tem that are indpendant who can advice you on benefits etc as a carer. I would get advice and then WRITE in applying for direct payments it will be through your social services child division. IF you ring they will do a quick telephone assessment of your needs. My carers resourse told me their experience is that you do better writing as they have guideleines they have to work to!

 

I would try and do somehome work first as I think S S are more concerned with keeping their money than actually helping us!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pumpkinpie]

I would put in the letter about this man(dont know if you got his name) and his reply. Unless people complain they can pretend they are providing us with a serice(note I didnt say good).

[bramblebrae]

Hi This is probably a bit far fetched lol but I used to work for the benefits agency not long after it was changed from its old name DSS I think it's now DWP dept of works and pensions now or something I've lost touch with all the abbreviations anyway we used to get calls put through by numpties at the local council looking for dept of social services ie DSS when we were or had been the dept of social security again DSS! It beggars belief that someone working for the council and advising the public could confuse the two but it happened ...just wondered if there wasn't a mix up and the guy who you spoke to was actually a benefits officer and nothing to do with Social Services.

It's probably not but I'm trying to figure out how on earth he could not know about direct payments it's been around for long enough now!!

Ah well I suppose it shouldn't surprise me at all my Family support worker from the SS is as useless as a chocolate fire guard!

 

hope you get somewhere with it all

Lorraine