Short Breaks

A brief Assessment may be sufficient in most situations where the trigger for the assessment is a request for a short break.

For relatively low levels of short break provision, the authority may not need to prepare its own assessment for disabled children who have been assessed through other processes, for example, access to existing local health or educational facilities, receipt of higher level Disability Living Allowance, or locally agreed criteria.

Where a child's needs and family circumstances are more complex a more detailed Assessment will identify what types and level of services will be most appropriate to meet the identified needs.

Parents of disabled children have the right to request an assessment of their own needs. Such a request indicates the need for a brief or possibly more detailed Assessment as above. The needs of the parents can be recorded under the dimension of family functioning. While there has to be a discrete focus on the needs of the carer, the outcome of this assessment should be integrated with the broader assessment of the disabled child and family. Carers' assessments should not be conducted in isolation.

This is applicable where short breaks are provided under Section 17 Children Act 1989.

The Child in Need Plan should be in writing and set out clearly all the services that are to be provided to meet the child's needs. Many families with disabled children receive a range of services to meet their child's needs. Wherever possible there should be a single plan which includes the full range of family support services on a multi-agency basis. The plan will show how the short break will meet the needs of the child and family identified in the assessment. It will:

• Have clear and realistic objectives;
• Include the ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child and views of the family;
• Follow consideration of options, including but not limited to direct payments;
• State the nature and frequency of services, as far as is practicable, including health and social care in the same plan, especially if short breaks are provided from different agencies;
• State the child's health, emotional and behavioural development including full details about any disabilities and clinical needs the child may have and medications they may require;
• State the child's specific communication needs, especially for children who communicate non-verbally, and include the child's likes and dislikes with particular regard to leisure activities;
• Include the results of all necessary risk assessments which could include, depending on the child's impairment, moving and handling, invasive procedures, and behaviour;
• State contact arrangements for emergencies;
• State commitments of professionals involved;
• Refer to or summarise any other important documents about the child's development;
• Confirm those caring for the child have been selected following the advice set out in Government guidance on direct payments; and
• Outline arrangements to review the plan.

The plan should include all the information necessary to ensure the welfare of the child in the short break. Much information may already be available from a variety of sources including the parent-held child record. The plan should be made available as necessary in accessible formats.

This is applicable where short breaks are provided under Section 20 Children Act 1989.

Where, following assessment, it is agreed with the family that the child should be Looked After under Section 20 of the 1989 Act, there will be additional requirements about planning and review. In this situation the information compiled for the Child in Need Plan (as set out in 4.1 above) will form the basis for the Short Break Care Plan required when a child is looked after under Section 20 and Regulation 48 applies (Situation 2).

In Situation 3, the Short Break Care Plan should be linked to the Care Plan, which should include all the key information about the child. These should not be separate plans which duplicate information.

The Short Break Care Plan must set out the arrangements to meet the child's needs with particular regard to:

• The child's health and emotional and behavioural development, any disability, medical needs and medications;
• The child's specific communication needs;
• Promoting contact with parents/anyone with Parental Responsibility;
• Arrangements for contacting parents as necessary, in particular an emergency contact number;
• The child's likes and dislikes regarding stimulation and leisure interests;
• How the carers, as appropriate, promote the child's educational achievement;
• The name and address of the registered medical practitioner;
• The type of accommodation, address, name of person responsible;
• The child's personal history, religious persuasion, cultural and linguistic background and racial origin;
• The respective responsibilities of the local authority and parents/anyone with Parental Responsibility; any delegation of responsibility from parents to the local authority; the respective roles and responsibilities of the placement provider, social worker, Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) and other staff employed or commissioned by the local authority to contribute to the plan for the child's care; the respective safeguarding responsibilities of the provider and the local authority;
• The expected duration of the arrangements and the steps to end them; arrangements for giving notice of intention to terminate the placement along with the local authority's responsibilities for convening a review of the child's Care and Pathway Plan where there is a risk of the placement being terminated;
• Frequency of visits;
• Financial arrangements for the placement;
• When the child is placed with a local authority-approved foster carer, confirmation of the foster carer's agreement;
• The provider's responsibilities for notifying the child's social worker of any significant change in the child's circumstances.

As far as practicable, the child should be involved in agreeing the Plan.

The parents must be fully involved in all aspects of agreeing the Short Break Care Plan.

The plan should be signed by the parents, the local authority, those providing the care/ the provider agency and, where appropriate, the child.

There is not a requirement for a separate Placement Plan for short breaks.

No significant change to a Child in Need Plan or a Short Break Care Plan should be made unless it has first been considered at a review.

In each case, whether children are provided with accommodation under Section 17 or under Section 20, the review should consider whether this continues to be the most appropriate legislative basis for the service provided.

A record should be kept, recording the views of those involved in the review, decisions taken and the identity of the persons responsible for implementing them.

A case review for a child who is not looked after should:

• Ensure the service(s) provided meet the needs identified in the Child in Need Plan and safeguard and promote the welfare of the child;
• Focus on outcomes for the child and family;
• Be a multi-agency review whenever possible. Different elements of a child's care package should not require a separate review;
• Include the ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child and the views of the family;
• Take place at least six monthly. The needs of the child and family may indicate that a review should take place before the statutory minimum, for example if the child's condition is changing quickly, or there are changed family circumstances, or where there is a complex package of services including direct payments.

A review will usually include a face to face meeting but in some cases, regular review meetings may not be necessary. Generally it should be possible to include a review of short breaks with a review of other aspects of a child's health, education or development, where some of the same people will already be together.

Reviews should take the form of a meeting when requested by the family. In all circumstances a face to face meeting should take place at least once a year.

Depending on the level of service for the child and family and the vulnerability of the child, local authorities may wish to consider including an element in the review which is independent of the service provider and those with Parental Responsibility, for example arranging for an 'independent' chair with a role similar to the role of the IRO in the case of a looked after child.

Having an Advocate may be particularly useful for disabled young people moving towards adulthood.

Reviews are less frequent than for looked after children in Situation 3:

• The first review must take place within 3 months of the start of the first placement;
• Second and subsequent reviews must take place at intervals of not more than 6 months;
• Reviews may be convened earlier, e.g. at the request of the child, parents or carer; or in cases where the child is particularly vulnerable; or where the child is provided with a high level of short breaks.

The 2010 Regulations in relation to Looked After Reviews apply in full, and reviews will take place as follows:

• The first review must take place within 20 working days of the first placement;
• The second review must take place not more than 3 months after the first;
• Subsequent reviews must take place at intervals of not more than 6 months.

For further details, see the Looked After Reviews Procedure.