Individual Budgets – Self-Directed Support
What does this mean?
How does it work?
Who gets help?
How can the money be used?
How well does it work in practice?
Dr Christine Barton – a case study in managing 24 hour care (this link will take you off this page)
What are Self-Directed Support and Individual Budgets?
The background to this scheme is the government’s aim to make care services more personal, by taking control from the care service giver i.e. the local authority, and giving it instead to the person receiving the services. In this way, the individual has more choice about how they receive the support they need to live independently.
Individual budgets cover various funding streams apart from adult social care: Supporting People, Disabled Facilities Grant, Independent Living Funds, Access to Work and community equipment services. This is both a strength and a weakness – on the positive side, it is obviously much more convenient to have a single point of access to a range of different supports, but experience has shown that coordinating the various providers can be problematic.
Almost all local authorities in England have moved to Self-Directed Support, or are in the process of doing so.
If you just receive money from social care, and not from other sources, this is called a Personal Budget. See Direct Payments and Personal Budgets
How does Self-Directed Support work?
• The first step is for the person who needs care services to complete a self-assessment form, which is available from the local social services department
• this form will be used to decide how much money the user should receive to cover their care needs
• once you know how much money is available, you need to draw up a plan of how it should be spent. If the person needing the services doesn’t feel able to do this alone, they can get help either from family or friend, or from a paid adviser
• the plan has to be approved by a care manager or social worker at the local authority
• the money is paid out – either to the service user or to someone they nominate to look after it for them, which could be an individual, a Trust, an organisation or care manager. It is usually paid in monthly instalments
• the necessary support services are organised, in line with the approved plan. Again, the service user decides how much help they want to get this sorted out, either from family/friends, professional advisers, or someone with Power of Attorney (under the Mental Capacity Act)
• an annual meeting with the care manager or social worker keeps them informed about how the plan is working, but if necessary, the service user can arrange a meeting at any time
Who Gets Help?
Self-Directed Support is for people who are disabled, have mental health problems, or are becoming frail
How can the Individual Budget be used?
The money is to pay for the support services necessary to live independently, rather than in residential care – so it could be paying for carers to help with daily living tasks, and could also be paying for adaptations to make the home accessible.
It can also help with the additional costs of training or employment, or being able to take part in leisure activities.
You can find a lot of information, including guidance on drawing up plans, on the In Control website (it will open in a new browser window)
How Well Does It Work in Practice?
There has been quite a lot of research done since Self-Directed Support was introduced as a pilot scheme. Broadly speaking, it has been very positively received by service users with physical disabilities and mental health problems. Frail elderly users have been less enthusiastic, with a significant number finding it a burden, managing the finances for care provision.
From the point of view of cost to social services departments, studies have shown that providing an Individual Budget is no more expensive than funding care in the old way, although a nationwide rollout has cost implications in terms of staff training, etc