First time finding a carer

ahimsa said:
It does sound like you and your daughter need more care hours. It's sad that these assessments are so uneven.
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JemPD said:
did you have agency carers Trish?
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Yes, we do need more care hours, but as I have some savings we are not eligible for funded care, which I'm OK with - limited funding should be allocated to people in greatest need and who can't afford care. It also seems to mean that we don't get help in organising our care.

My problem is more that I can't face trying to get it sorted, and previous agency experience was that the benefit was outweighed by always having to train up new people, and increasing unreliability of getting anyone at the time specified as they had such high staff turnover and shortage. And there's the added problem of covid. And my daughter can't cope with new people. I'll get it sorted eventually.
 
Trish said:
previous agency experience was that the benefit was outweighed by always having to train up new people, and increasing unreliability of getting anyone at the time specified as they had such high staff turnover and shortage.
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yes thats why i always plumped for someone self employed as once you have trained them its done, (assuming you get on well).
 
Trish said:
Yes, we do need more care hours, but as I have some savings we are not eligible for funded care, which I'm OK with - limited funding should be allocated to people in greatest need and who can't afford care. It also seems to mean that we don't get help in organising our care.
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Was this prior to 2014, when the Care Act (2014) came in? Because care for your daughter shou1d be based on her income and savings, not yours. However, they do take the care e1ement of her PIP into account as part of her income as we11 as any ESA she may be c1aiming.

Additiona11y, you cannot be 1ega11y expected to provide care just because you 1ive with her (un1ess you're c1aiming carer's a11owance). You can simp1y state you can't do this any 1onger when she is being assessed.
 
Trish said:
Yes. Thanks for the information.
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I think your counci1 shou1d have how they charge/assess the financia1 contribution somewhere on their website. When I was thinking about app1ying for care I think I'd have been entit1ed to keep most of my income, where I wou1d have 1ost out was they wou1d have taken a11 my severe disabi1ity premium (which I get with my ESA as I 1ive a1one). I've not 1ooked at this for some years though.
 
This is Somerset's charging po1icy (they charge the maximum amount a11owed under the Care Act (2014). The amount of income they disregard hasn't changed for a number of years (possib1y since the Care Act charging po1icy came into 1egis1ation). This has been a big hit on disab1ed peop1e's income, even with the current inf1ation 1eve1s this cap has not been raised!

https://somersetcc.sharepoint.com/s...rent=/sites/SCCPublic/Social Care&p=true&ga=1
 
I keep meaning to do a supported se1f assessment, even if I end up opting not to proceed with counci1 socia1 care. This wou1d be very usefu1 for evidence for DWP benefits, just to have the record of needs from a forma1 authority (especia11y given the 1ack of GP support for my ME, autism and ADHD).

Again, SCIE gives information on what this is (my 1oca1 authority had nothing on it).

A local authority should offer an individual the opportunity to undertake a supported self-assessment which places the individual fully in control of the assessment, to a point where they themselves complete their assessment. If an individual wants to do a self-assessment the local authority has to provide the necessary information, advice, and support. The supported self-assessment should use the same assessment materials as used in other assessments of needs and the local authority must assure itself that it is an accurate reflection of the individual’s needs.
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https://www.scie.org.uk/care-act-2014/assessment-and-eligibility/assessment-needs

https://www.scie.org.uk/care-act-20...y/practice-examples/supported-self-assessment
 
Disability Law Service is a charity providing free Community Care Law advice - which I think might be hard to find. In some cases, they provide legal assistance.


https://dls.org.uk/free-advice/online-advice/community-care-law/


According to their website, they help in many other areas too.

I used the service when I experienced issues with my Care Assessment, such as Social Services trying to force my family into providing care.

I spoke to an experienced advisor who was very helpful in explaining my rights, entitlement and the wrong decisions Social Services had made.
 
livinglighter said:
Disability Law Service is a charity providing free Community Care Law advice - which I think might be hard to find. In some cases, they provide legal assistance.


https://dls.org.uk/free-advice/online-advice/community-care-law/


According to their website, they help in many other areas too.

I used the service when I experienced issues with my Care Assessment, such as Social Services trying to force my family into providing care.

I spoke to an experienced advisor who was very helpful in explaining my rights, entitlement and the wrong decisions Social Services had made.
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I was to1d by someone who works as an advocate and trainer in this area, that you a1most a1ways have to appea1 the initia1 decision by counci1s for both the care package and the financia1 assessment (for examp1e they often don't initia11y a11ow a11 your disabi1ity re1ated expenses). So getting some 1ega1 advice, if on1y to get the termino1ogy correct in any appea1, is definite1y worth doing if denied adequate care on assessment.

There used to be a sma11 charity that dea1t specifica11y with care appea1s in my county, but they strugg1ed to keep their funding. They fina11y shut down about 5 years ago.
 
Simbindi said:
I was to1d by someone who works as an advocate and trainer in this area, that you a1most a1ways have to appea1 the initia1 decision by counci1s for both the care package and the financia1 assessment (for examp1e they often don't initia11y a11ow a11 your disabi1ity re1ated expenses). So getting some 1ega1 advice, if on1y to get the termino1ogy correct in any appea1, is definite1y worth doing if denied adequate care on assessment.
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Thanks for the info.
I’m in need of assistance for the disability-related expenses part now. Like you said I think I've been denied some eligible expenses.
 
Simbindi said:
I reca11 she said that it doesn't get 1ooked at by anyone with suitab1e authority to make a decision about these unti1 you've appea11ed/comp1ained.
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She a1so high1y recommended going down the 'supported se1f-assessment' route if at a11 possib1e, as this is often the on1y way to get actua1 needs recognised (at the very 1east they have been put in writing).
 
livinglighter said:
I’m in need of assistance for the disability-related expenses part now. Like you said I think I've been denied some eligible expenses.
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When we were calculating these for a relative, we had to evidence them. Purely by luck one of us subscribed to Amazon Prime, so there was a ready-made record of the bits equipment that had been ordered and a clear indication that new stuff was being needed all the time. There were also the direct debits for the meals, the particular type of incontinence pads not supplied by the GP surgery, etc. But we still felt that a good bit of the extra expenditure had slipped through barely noticed, because individually, many of the amounts weren't huge. It's only when you add it all up that you realise just how much you're spending.

I'm unlikely to seek care until I'm falling apart, as having someone in the house has always been worse than doing the jobs myself or leaving them undone. All the same, I've consciously started jotting down on my monthly budget sheet anything I bought that I wouldn't need if I weren't disabled. It's a useful exercise ... but the irony is that the more support people need, the less likely it is they have the capacity to do it.
 
Kitty said:
I'm unlikely to seek care until I'm falling apart, as having someone in the house has always been worse than doing the jobs myself or leaving them undone.
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I fee1 this way. But I'm going to push for an assessment at some point in the not too distant future, especia11y as I need a whee1chair assessment and a Disab1ed Faci1ities Grant for the house. However, I might not actua11y accept the socia1 care itse1f at this time, the report wi11 be very usefu1 though.
 
DigitalDrifter said:
Did you manage to find somebody?
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Not yet, I haven't even started because I keep getting more urgent + important health related tasks pop up that HAVE to be done first and it pushes everything else to the bottom of the pile, I am back on this thread today looking at the replies to try and get started. I've also had nerve and tendon pain making it harder to type or use a keyboard and mouse so everything takes longer now.
 
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