Self Directed Support

Self directed support will change the way that adult social care is planned, managed and delivered.  People will have greater choice and control over their social care support.

People will be able to assess their own needs, take control of their own social care budgets, manage their support and choose the services that suit them best.  (with support during all of the process if needed).  The person is at the centre of the planning process as they are best placed to understand their own needs.

Your assessment of need will do three things:

1.  Decide whether you are eligible for support

2.  Identify what your needs are

3.  Identify how much funding could be made available to meet your needs

Having identified your needs and the amount of funding available to meet them, you can develop a support plan.  You can get help to do this.

It means big changes for everyone:our social care staff; the people who already receive services; and people who will receive services in the future.

The idea for self directed support came from the Government's document "Putting People First" which sets out the vision for the delivery of a personalised approach for adult social care for the next ten years or more.

Introducing self directed support is a huge programme with many different strands.  It is vital that the programme communicates effectively with all concerned to ensure that everyone knows what is going on.

This page will provide all the information you might need about self directed support so that any questions you might have on a day-to-day basis can be answered easily.  We will update the page as changes happen so you are kept fully up to date.

Please see the frequently asked questions below for more information on self directed support.

What are 'Individual Budgets'?

An individual budget is an allocation of money based on peoples eligible assessed needs and is designed to help people take control of their own social care budgets.  People manage their own support and choose the services that suit them best using the money from different areas more flexibly. The person is at the centre of the planning process as they are best placed to understand their own needs.

How will it work in Barnsley?

The pilot will be working with at least 130 people who have been assessed as being eligible to receive a social care service. These will be people from across all adult services, young people in transition and family carers.

Barnsleys’ pilot will be independently evaluated by the Social Policy Research Unit, based at York University, who initially carried out a 5 year research project and found that feedback given said that people felt this type of assessment and process seemed to work better for them.

Personal stories

A number of people who direct their own support have recorded short films explaining how this has changed the way that they receive care. To view these videos please select:

Useful Leaflets/Documents

You can download the following:

• A Guide to Individual Budgets and Self Directed Support
• Frequently asked questions
• Frequently asked question – accessible format
• Peoples Stories, Peoples Stories 2, Peoples Stories 3, Peoples Stories 4
• Your Guide to Making a Support Plan
• Personal Assistants Training Brochure

Useful links

• www.individualbudgets.csip.org.uk
• Assistive Technologies, Central Call and Telecare Services
• Equipment and Adaptations 
• Supporting People
• Safeguarding Adults
• Independent Living Fund website (ILF)
• Office for Disability
• In Control website
  provides advice and support about keeping in control of your individual Budget and the support you need.
• Social Policy Research Unit (SPRU)
  The research unit at York who have overseen the Individual Budgets Pilot
• Green Paper:  Independence, Well-being and Choice: Our Vision for the Future of Social Care for Adults in England
• White Paper: Our health, Our Care, Our Say: A New Direction for Community Services
• Department for Work & Pensions (DWP)
• Penderels Trust
• Department of Health
• Putting People First
• Voluntary Action Barnsley

VAB is Barnsley's Council for Voluntary Service.  Since 1978 VAB has supported and developed Barnsley's Third Sector organisations who, in turn, work for the benefit of Barnsley. VAB has done much to build up voluntary and community organisations, and in the past few years it has seen an enormous expansion in voluntary and community activity.  There are over 900 voluntary and community groups in Barnsley and over 4000 volunteers.  To find out more about these groups and volunteers click on the above Voluntary Action Barnsley link.  The free and easy to use online Directory of voluntary and community groups in Barnsley provides free advertising for the groups whilst informing the general public what activities are occuring in different areas.  Each group controls their own page content and at the touch of a button can update their information.

Contact Details

The Self Directed Support Team
PO Box 679,
BARNSLEY,
S70 9JE.
Tel 01226 772425
Email: Self Directed Support