An easy guide to Self Directed Support Working in partnership Giving you the choice and control
one two three five seven eight ten twelve About Self Directed Support How is Social Work funded? About Self Directed Funding What is a Direct Payment? What is in Control? What else will I need to do? You will have support to make a person centred plan Some things people do with Self Directed Support
About Self Directed Support Self Directed Support is a different way of getting the support you need. It is also about the money your Social Work Department can give you. The government gives money to councils all over Scotland to pay for services. The Social Work Department can give you money instead of giving you a service. You can spend that money on getting the support you need and want. one
How is Social Work funded? Social Work Services get a bit of money for every person with learning difficulties using services. Social Services put all this money together. They provide lots of different services for people and pay for the services with this money two
About Self Directed Funding This is agreed after the social worker has assessed their needs. Most people who use Social Work Services get a service that is organised by their care manager. Some people are happy with their service and happy with the life they are living. three
Some people are not happy with the support they get. If they want more choice and control over how services are provided they could talk to the social worker about getting a Direct Payment or ask about the new self directed funding project called in Control. Some people want to do new things or different things. four
What is a Direct Payment? If you want to make more choices about how your service and support is provided you can tell your social worker or care manager that you want a Direct Payment. The Social Work Department will give you the money that they would have spent on your services. You spend this money on getting the support that you choose. You must spend it on the support that the Social Work Department agrees that you need. five
A Direct Payment can be a good way to be a boss of your own life. You are in charge. You choose what services you use, when you use them and who you get them from. You can choose to employ your own staff if this suits you. six
What is in Control? in Control is based on a fairer way of working out how much money individuals get to meet their needs and arrange the support they need. You will need to fill in a questionnaire about the type of help you need. You can get help to answer the questions and this helps to work out how much money you will get. seven
What else will I need to do? You will then be given a sum of money based on the answers to the questionnaire. After this you will need a person centred plan this will help you to plan the life you want with the money you can get. A circle of support can help you to do this. A circle of support means a group of people who really care about you and get together to help you. You can get support to manage your money. Lots of people get someone to help them with this. Some people get an agency or a broker to manage their money and some people put it in their own bank account. Other people have a named person or ask their care manager to help them manage their money. eight
If you are going to manage your own money you will need a bank account. Usually councils set up a Support Service to help people to use Direct Payments or a Self Directed Support scheme. They will support you to sort out some of the hard things. nine
You will have support to make a person centred plan People you know and who care about you will help you think about what would make a good life for you. You will say what is good about your life and what you want to change. You can choose how to spend your money, when you need people to support you and what support you need. You make a plan, which says how you will spend the money. ten
You show a care manager your plan and talk to them about how you will spend the money and what support you will need. They will check that you are spending the money on things that you said you would. When they say that your plan is a good plan you can get support to manage your money and organise your support. You choose who you want to support you to manage your money and organise your support. eleven
Some things you could do with Self Directed Support Pay someone to support you in a job Pay someone to support you at college Pay someone to support you with personal care Pay someone to support you with cooking or cleaning your house Get support to do sport or leisure Get support for a short break twelve
Get support to build relationships with new people Get support to be involved in your local community Get support to do things during the day instead of going to the day centre Get support to live in your own home Get your own support worker, sometimes called a personal assistant
If you want to learn more about Self Directed Support you can contact John Guliak at in Control Scotland: Tel: 07717 794016 Email: infoincontrolscotland@c-change.org.uk ARC Scotland Unit 12, Hardengreen Business Centre Eskbank Dalkeith Midlothian EH22 3NX Tel: 0131 663 4444 Fax: 0131 663 5522 Email: karen.jackson@arcuk.org.uk We would like to thank Ruth Lowe, Midlothian Social Work Department who originally compiled an easy read version on self directed support which we then used for this document. Registered Charity No. 285575 Registered in England Company No. 1658354 Scottish Charity No. SC039129