Any advice?

[ScienceGeek]

My cousin has 7 kids, the eldest is 15, severely autistic and has ADHD. They have had their social worker for him taken away and they get no respite at the moment. As you can imagine things are very tough for her and the other kids. I was just wondering if there were any resources you could signpost her to. She is based in Kent on the Isle of Sheppey. She really is struggling to cope with him as he is quite a big lad, a lot bigger than her and he has a very big temper that is uncontrollable. The summer holidays haven't helped as they live in a small village with not much to do and they are all crammed into a small three bed house. I said I would ask around for her.

[Sally44]

Did she have a Core Assessment of her son, and also a Carers Assessment? On what grounds was the social worker removed, and what reason has been given for no respite? Does she have an earlier SS report that recommends SW involvement and respite?

 

I presume he attends a special school and has a Statement? If there boarding facilities at the school?

 

I don't know if it would be useful or not, but I started a post entitled "how to get social services involved", and that has some advice on it.

 

SS are basically employees of the local authority. So if you have a report from them that recommends respite, or SW input etc then they should provide it. At the moment my SS department is saying that although they have recommended my son has 2-3 nights respite at his school, that they believe this should be paid by education rather than social care. They have also said they only deal with children with learning disabilities [which is not true]. Anyway. I suggest you have a read of that post in the "general" forum as it might be useful.

 

The bottom line is that if a child has a Statement, it is easier to get boarding added to the Statement if you can prove there is an 'educational need' for boarding. Probably you would need an independent EP to recommend that, as well as maybe Clinical Psychology or CAHMS?? And if you have it in writing that it is an educational need, then it is worth going to an educational tribunal about it. The Statement is legally binding on the LA. That is why an educational need for boarding in school, if proven and agreed by the SEND Panel, will be legally binding on the LA.

 

Statements are not legally binding on Social Services because anything they provide will probably be in part 6 of the Statement ie. non-educational. But I think you can use Judicial Review. But you need advice on that from somewhere like IPSEA.

 

You can also ask for Direct Payments from SS for them to give the money to this woman for her to buy in the support she needs. But if he is severely autistic and she is having problems handling him due to his size etc, then boarding maybe a better long term option.

 

You can also lodge a complaint about SS to your local authority complaints person and they should investigate it. If you are not happy with the outcome you can lodge a complaint to the local governments ombudsman. That is what I am doing because I have two local authority departments [social services and special educational needs] arguing over who is going to fund these 2-3 nights residential overnight stays at his school. No one is saying he does not need them - but no-one wants to fund it. So I am letting the LGO investigate.

 

I would also recommend that from now on your friend puts everything down that has happened so far in writing, and that she writes letters to SS or the LA, and types up any telephone conversations or minutes any meetings they have. As all this could be useful as evidence at a later date.

Edited August 29, 2012 by Sally44

[ScienceGeek]

Thanks Sally. I will pass on your message to my cousin as I don't know the answers to your questions.