How does residential affect DLA

[Sally44]

I am trying to find out how DLA will be worked out if my son stays residential in school Monday - Friday and comes home Friday afternoon and goes back into school following Monday morning. He would also be home for school holidays.

 

I have found information that DLA would be worked out on a "daily" basis, but wondered if any parents out there know what the figure would be.

 

My son gets high rate for both care and mobility.

[Sally44]

I am trying to find out how DLA will be worked out if my son stays residential in school Monday - Friday and comes home Friday afternoon and goes back into school following Monday morning. He would also be home for school holidays.

 

I have found information that DLA would be worked out on a "daily" basis, but wondered if any parents out there know what the figure would be.

 

My son gets high rate for both care and mobility.

[Special_talent123]

Hi Sally, I have found u some information

 

 

If the child goes into hospital or a residential school the DLA payment

for care or mobility may stop or be reduced but itshould be reinstated if

they return home even if it is only for a weekend.

 

 

Also i found this in a link http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dla-reform-every-disabled-child-matters.pdf

Edited March 6, 2014 by Special_talent123

[Sally44]

Thanks for the info. I've had a look through and cannot see any actual figures. I know that DLA will be affected, but I wanted another parent, who has a child in school residentially Monday-Friday to tell me what they receive ie. what is left of the care component once deducations for residential have been made. My understanding is that the mobility element is not affected at all.

[Special_talent123]

I am unsure, but maybe call the benefit helpline or maybe contact CAB for advice.

[bed32]

We have been told that it is "pro-rata" so if he is with you half the time then you get half the money, but we haven't got the official figures.

[Sally44]

Okay. I'll let everyone know the outcome. But it is hard ATM with Social Services involved - and I asked them to be involved but they are just making things alot worse. They are challenging out capacity as parents at the moment because I had asked for support as his school refusal during term time, and having to have an adult always with him during those times, and also at weekends, and full time during holidays and 24/7 as he wakes up at night is impossible for any family to cover. And SS have basically said that I should give up work to ensure that my son is always supervised. So not quite sure how it is going to go at the moment.

[Kazzen161]

This explains it (and I think the same rules still apply):

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/special_needs/a1307489-Residential-School-how-does-this-affect-DLA-and-child-benefit

 

 

So for the first 28 days that he is at res school after the summer hols, you get full dla (because he has been at home for more than 28 days). Then you have to fill in a form to tell them when he was at home and you get paid 1/7th of the care element for every day he was home (I can't remember if it is every day he wakes up at your house or every night he sleeps at your house or every part-day he is home - different benefits have different rules).

 

I think the mobility part is still paid when he is at res school (that was going to change at one stage).

[bed32]

As far as I know there is no help available to support you looking after a child in your own home other than carers allowance. All SS can do is to provide care for him in other settings, be that respite, foster or residential.

 

It does put you in a difficult position if you really need 24 care - i.e. waking care round the clock then eventually it does seem to be an option between full time care or one of the parents staying at home to provide the backbone to the care. There are few jobs that will fit around providing that level of support to a needy child.

 

Our SS have been totally useless - I am not sure they have even bothered to complete the assessment and we are not expecting anything more from them.

[Sally44]

I thought that Social Services were supposed to assess on need, and that if they did not have any services in house, [and even if they do], they are legally obliged to offer Direct Payments as an option.

 

What SS keep saying is that it is our parental responsibility to look after him full stop. So eventhough he gets the high level of DLA for care [which means he needs day and night care], we still have to provide it.

 

They have said at meetings that I should stop work. But then they cannot tell me how we are supposed to pay the mortgage, put food on the table and pay bills. Who can afford not to work and stay at home. I'm not a born millionaire. And if I am at home full time to be with him on the days he might/does refuse school, or is ill, then I cannot claim job seekers allowance as I cannot take any employment.

 

And I would never get a job if I have to say that I have to be at home until my son has left for school and if he refuses I have to stay at home, and that could be anything between 1 or 5 times a week. That I have to be at home by 4.00pm every school day. That he also has repeated ear infections so I would typically have to take him to the GP around once every fortnight and if he has an ear infection I have too be at home with him until we get the pain under control, which is usually another 1-2 days. And that I cannot work evenings or nights as he needs constant adult supervision after school and I cannot work weekends or during school holidays. Does that leave any days or hours that I could be available for work?????

 

And I did stay at home full time for 10 years, until he started at this residential independent school.

 

I am not happy with them at the moment because we have an an AR where they said he was making progress and they had no concerns eventhough his attendance is low and he is not accessing education or the specialist teaching and therapy that the LA is paying for. They also need to add OCD into his Statement and therefore MUST put something in part 3 for this need. He does not get full time 1:1 in school, although the school have said that they can practically provide that with the current level of staff [and by using 1:1's from other children when those children go elsewhere for therapy etc]. Definately illegal. I know there is something on the IPSEA website about case law that says something like although a specialist placement may not need to be as specific as another type of school, that that does not mean that therefore they don't need to quantify and specify when a certain level of provision is required. So i'll have to dig that out. Just annoyed that the school are not supporting my son and the family as they should be.

 

Why does having a SEN child have to equal family poverty?

 

What I need is at least two nights [preferably 4 ] residential in school each week, which should be funded by Social Care, Education and Health. And then the equivalent of around 10 hours a week to help me buy in extra help during school holidays. My son is supported 1:1 during the residential stays and it shows in how he accesses the social side of things and the fact that he always wants to go.

 

My husbands family do not live in the UK. We do not have a network of family and friends, as often families with SEN children end up isolated because you don't have the time or money to socialise and meet other people.

 

I have an elderly mother who has him one or two times a week, and a sister with learning disabilities who can sit with him another day a week, and his older sibling. My mum is struggling to help, and TBH, I should be caring for her and my sister rather than them having to help me cover all the hours he is at home.

[bed32]

I think our situation is similar in some ways though perhaps our son does not need quite as much attention. He is on the highest rate care DLA and often requires attention in the night, but not enough to require one of us to stay up. It usually only results in an hour or so lost sleep, Even so it is hard to see how both parents can work bringing up an ASD child unless they have a lot of support around them or can afford to pay for help. Having him in residential in some ways makes life harder because there is still the same level of care required when he is home, so it is still very difficult to have a job that fits round him, income is reduced.

 

I am not sure what Social services can reasonably do though. Round here I don't think they provide any care into the home, concentrating on respite, fostering, day care and so on. It is hard to see how they could afford to provide sufficient care in the home to replace the parent as the primary care provider - they seem to prefer a residential setting when that is needed.

 

As to whether they have an obligation to do so, that is not clear to me. They have an obligation to provide certain services but it is not as clear cut where the boundaries are as it is with Education. This issue also exists with the care for elderly - I think with the aging population the government is going to have to reassess provision of care to allow more to be do in the home, but that is not likely to happen soon enough to us to benefit.

 

Having an child with ASD has a detrimental effect on all aspects of your life as a family, it seems to dominate most areas of life - financial, friendships, relationships and leisure.

 

The question about provision within an independent environment is interesting - we are just beginning to wonder about this In the independent environment there is much less specialisation of the non-academic therapy so it raises the question of what to do if they are not providing everything he needs. In theory they still need to provide a tailored solution to fit all his needs - but I can't see how you can go to tribunal saying a specialist school you fought for is still not meeting his needs and asking for additional support. That seems like a very high risk strategy

[Sally44]

At the moment Childrens services are funding one night respite a week ie. 52 days a year. The intention had been to use one day during holidays as well. But CS did not check with school, who apparently have no children at all over school holidays. So no point sending my son into school when there is no-one there. So currently I am using two nights a week, until the funding for the additional night runs out.

 

Childrens Services came to see us and have asked us to detail how we would use 10 hours a week respite during school holidays. But have stated that if they agree to fund that, that the night during school holidays will cease. And the short break we have of 2 hours a week will cease as well.

 

I am trying to get more support for my son whilst in school, as most of his refusal is to do with his anxiety and OCD. However the school were not good at the Annual Review, and have sent in a report which basically says "no concerns". I am very upset about that, as this school should know better. I have sent in my letter to the LA asking for the amendments I think are needed. And I have a meeting with the Deputy Head next week.

 

But I have also had to keep very good notes, and send some quite strong letters to Childrens Services to get them to even suggest what they have - and still no idea if they will even agree to it.

[JeanneA]

Hi, the mobility part of DLA isn't affected, you will receive that each month as usual. As for the care component you will only get that for each day your child spends at home.