Personalisation could help you to do the things you have always dreamed of doing - it is a very positive and exciting way for you to be able to make things happen.
Having supported people in the past who received funding from councils and from independent living benefits, I will describe a hypothetical case to demonstrate how this means of supporting people can work.
Sarah is 23 years old and has learning disabilities. When she first heard of ’Personalisation’ she thought that she could at last begin to dream about her future.. She had always wanted to be on stage—she really liked dancing and dreamed of winning ‘Britain’s Got Talent.’ Sarah also liked going to shows and concerts. Her friend Rebecca worked part time in a local supermarket and Sarah also wanted to have a job, just like Rebecca, who had a nice orange and green uniform for work and got paid from her boss every week.(She buys C.D’s and nice clothes with her wages)
Sarah wasn’t too happy with the services she received although she did enjoy spending time with her friends After a meeting with her Care Manager, it was agreed that she would get £150 per week from The Council so that she could buy her own services. She was told that she could purchase any service she required from this budget and could use it to make her dreams come true.
Sarah could read and write, but neither Sarah nor her parents felt too happy with taking the responsibility for organising and planning and purchasing services without support.
She therefore decided that she needed the support from someone who had experience of ‘PERSONALISATION’ and was introduced to Jackie from North East Community Care Ltd.
Jackie met with Sarah and her parents to discuss what Sarah wanted to do with her life and what services she would require. As this was such a difficult thing for Sarah to decide upon, it was agreed that she would like to involve her sister and special friends as she felt that they would be able to support her and give her ideas about the things that she could do with her life.
This group of people was called ‘Sarah’s Support Network.’ Jackie from North East Community Care Ltd. Organised a meeting with Sarah and her Support Network to discuss what Sarah wanted to do with her life and what services she would require to make this happen.
Sarah and members of her Support Network agreed that she should try and get a part time job, just like her friend. Her neighbour worked in the local supermarket and said that she would ask her boss about the possibility of Sarah working there. She said that she would contact Jackie once she had done this so that Jackie could arrange for Sarah to meet with the shop-keeper to discuss further. It was felt that Sarah may need some support with work at first and that some of Sarah’s service budget should be used to employ a Care Worker to support her. Jackie informed the group that if she were to work more than sixteen hours per week, that she could be entitled to support from The Job Centre. It was agreed that Sarah should be thinking about six hours per week at first.
It was agreed that Jackie should make contact with a number of Dance Groups to find out if there was anything suitable in the area for Sarah. No one from Sarah’s Support Network felt that they could get involved in dance groups so it was agreed that Sarah would be supported in recruiting a Care Worker to support her. It was also agreed that her Care Worker could support her to attend regular Special Needs Discos.
Jackie informed Sarah and her Support Network that there were a number of ways in which she could recruit a Care Worker, including:
a) She could recruit her own Care Worker and get a suitable company to deal with wages and employer responsibilities.
b) She could ask North East Community Care Ltd. Or other suitable organisation to recruit a Care Worker on her behalf – involving Sarah and possibly one or two members of her Support Network in the recruitment process.
Jackie said that she would support Sarah to negotiate this service, get costs and work out with Sarah and Support Network how much of her Service Budget this would use up.
Sarah’s sister had the same taste in music as Sarah and agreed that she would take her to any concerts that she might want to attend. Sarah’s mum enjoyed going to shows and would continue to accompany Sarah to these.
It was agreed that if there was any surplus money after Sarah paid for her support at work and for attending dance classes, that it would be used to pay for tickets for shows and concerts.
Sarah had a personal bank account, but it was agreed that she should open up another at her local bank so that she could receive her service budget from The Local Council, and that she could take money out of her account to pay for her services.
It was agreed that there needed to be a check kept on the money receives and the money she pays out so that Sarah and members of her Support Network could keep an eye on and be responsible for Sarah having sufficient funds to pay for the services that she required. Sarah’s dad agreed to take on this responsibility.