Disabled children and young people
Services for disabled children and their families are provided by a number of different agencies. National research has indicated that services will be more effective when provided in a more integrated way.Building an integrated service
The children's trust has commissioned work to re-design how services are provided to disabled children and young people in Derbyshire.
A group of managers from different agencies are developing detailed proposals for how services may be provided more effectively.
Once proposals are developed in more detail, consultation will be arranged with staff, children and young people, and parents and carers.
Team around the child
In the High Peak area a small group of families are participating in a pilot project called 'Team Around the Child'. Each team of professionals working with a child will identify a lead professional who will work closely with the child's parents or carers to co-ordinate the support the child's care.
It is anticipated that this approach will provide a more ordered way of organising support and will reduce duplication, confusion, conflicting advice and mis-directed resources which all too often characterise services provided to children with complex needs.
The approach is child centred and should provide a means of building trusting relationships with the child and family.
You can read more about Team Around the Child by clicking on the link in the related documents section.
Short breaks
As part of the new short break duty, each local authority is required to produce a short breaks services statement so that families know what services are available, the eligibility criteria for these services, and how the range of short breaks is designed to meet the local needs of families with disabled children.
This is the first short breaks services statement produced by us following consultation.
It is informed by learning from the Aiming High Programme 2008-11 including feedback from disabled children, their families and professionals from the social care, health, education and voluntary sectors.
The statement was agreed by the Cabinet and shared with the Children's Trust Board and the Disabled Children's Planning Group (which is a partnership between the local authority (including social care, special educational needs, early years and inclusion team), health, voluntary sector and parent participation forum.
It will be reviewed April 2012.
Related documents
The following document is in Portable Document Format (PDF). You can download the PDF software for free from the Adobe website (opens in a new window)
The following documents are in Word format. You can download the Word software for free from the Word viewer page (opens in a new window) of the Microsoft website.