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Related content

• Aiming High for Disabled Children (AHDC)
• Aiming High for Disabled Children (AHDC) - Short Breaks
• Children's Plan

Short breaks

Families with disabled children told government that their number one priority is regular and reliable short breaks from caring.

Responding to what families told us, most of the funding for Aiming High for Disabled Children (AHDC) will be spent on short breaks.

Funding

A total funding package of £370 million has been allocated by the DCSF for 2008–11 for short breaks. This comprises £280 million in revenue funding announced in May 2007, along with £90 million in capital funding announced with the Children's Plan in December 2008.

LA allocations are supported by significant additional funding for Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) from NHS allocations.

Twenty-one pathfinder sites have been identified to take forward best practice in the provision of short break services. These pathfinder sites have significant new funding to improve services from April 2008. Other English LAs, able to demonstrate by March 2009 their readiness for short break service transformation, will receive significant new funding for short breaks from April 2009.

Short breaks implementation guidance

The short breaks implementation guidance for PCTs and LAs informs the transformation of short break provision over the next three years and should be read in conjunction with other AHDC resources. PCTs should also consider this guidance in shaping their response to the 2008–09 NHS operating framework priorities.

For more information, please read the cover letter regarding associated funding announcements.

Together for Disabled Children, a coalition between Serco and Contact a Family, will support LAs and PCTs in their provision of short breaks for families with disabled children.

Training, support and development materials for short break foster carers

The Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) plans to issue accompanying short-break specific materials to support the effective and tailored application of the CWDC training, support and development standards for foster care. In doing so, CWDC recognises that while all foster carers should benefit from high standards of training, support and development, many short-break foster carers have a different operational context to full-time foster carers.

The additional materials, available in the New Year, will be designed to help short-break providers interpret the standards within the short-break context and will contain:

• supplementary guidance demonstrating how the standards can be implemented with short-break carers and setting out a flexible approach as to how the standards can be evidenced (including greater clarity around the timescales under which individuals should meet the standards)
• and a customised workbook for disabled children's short-break carers.

New guidance on short break tender invitations

Kids and the Council for Disabled Children are issuing a practical guide, Short breaks procurement guide - advice for efficient and effective block contracting, for local authority managers and commissioners involved in seeking tenders for short breaks contracts. Through simple and practical advice, this short guide seeks to provide insight into how authorities can avoid pitfalls in their tendering processes and ensure that the market is able to respond with high quality proposals. The guide draws on the experience of Kids and other children's charities and is aimed at supporting the Aiming High for Disabled Children programme.

Frequently asked questions

The Frequently asked questions document has been prepared to support authorities and PCTs in delivering the short breaks programme. It builds on a range of other materials and resources.

Email the AHDC Implementation Team with your questions or comments.

Information, advice and guidance

The short breaks set of documents includes:

• Aiming High for Disabled Children (AHDC): Funding allocations and short break pathfinder arrangements (2008–11) letter

• Short breaks capital funding

• Sure Start, Early Years and childcare grant: 2008-09 memorandum of grant letter

• Aiming High for Disabled Children: Report of short breaks pathfinder programme application process

• Aiming High for Disabled Children: Short breaks implementation guidance

• Aiming High for Disabled Children: Short breaks implementation guidance letter

• Short break Q&A.

 

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Associated documents

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Download the contents of this page: as a Word Document

Last updated on 19/05/2009