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What does it take to blow the whistle?
- Author:
- HARBRIDGE Elinor
- Journal article citation:
- Community Living, 28(1), 2014, p.5.
- Publisher:
- Hexagon Publishing
This piece explains that there is a law to protect whistle blowers but that it is less protective if, as a last resort the whistle blower go to the press. (Edited publisher abstract)
Personal budgets: whose money is it?
- Author:
- DUFFY Simon
- Journal article citation:
- Community Living, 25(4), Summer 2012, pp.18-19.
- Publisher:
- Hexagon Publishing
The focus of this article is direct payments, personalisation, and self-directed support for disabled people. The article argues that there were major problems with direct payments for people with learning difficulties and that self-directed support was designed to tackle these problems and create a new system for social care. It describes the work of a project called In Control from 2003 to 2009 in challenging previous practice and proposing new ways of using personal budgets, and reports that despite some improvements there are still considerable problems. The author asserts that personal budgets should belong to disabled people and their families but that there are often barriers to how they can use them, and argues that campaigning is needed to ensure further progress.
The ILF-a cut too far?
- Author:
- COHEN Margaret
- Journal article citation:
- Community Living, 25(3), Spring 2012, pp.8-9.
- Publisher:
- Hexagon Publishing
The author describes her experiences as an assessor for the Independent Living Fund and her concern that local authorities in the UK will not be able to plug the gap its closure will leave. The ILF was set up to make discretionary payments to people with extremely high support needs; an innovative early example of direct payment. The purpose of the ILF is unchanged, although some administrative arrangements and eligibility criteria have changed. From 1993 local authorities have been required to contribute as part of combined funding. In May 2010 the ILF was closed to new applicants. While acknowledging that there are problems with the ILF model and the operation of two funding streams, the author believes that the ILF offers extremely good value for money. Particular strengths of the ILF are its ring-fenced budget and depth of understanding of the needs clients for whom conventional services are inappropriate. Despite the personalisation agenda, many authorities are struggling to meet the individual needs of their clients. The author concludes that the current consultation on the future of the adult social care must find a system at least as good as the ILF to support good quality care and independence for this relatively small group of disabled people with very high needs.
Holding the decision-maker to account
- Author:
- SCHWEHR Belinda
- Journal article citation:
- Community Living, 24(4), 2011, pp.8-9.
- Publisher:
- Hexagon Publishing
Decisions that councils are making are focused on social care cuts and are either mandatory or discretionary under Acts of Parliament or through regulations. English law suggests that these can be challenged in the courts, so that the State is properly accountable. This means that a service user can get a decision scrutinised, and potentially wiped out, if it is found to be unlawful in any one of four ways – meaning the authority has to re-make the decision in a lawful manner. This article describes the four grounds for a judicial review of social care decisions, and presents some ways of obtaining funding to help finance the legal process.
Where carers become the cared for
- Author:
- HOLMAN Andrew
- Journal article citation:
- Community Living, 23(4), 2010, pp.16-18.
- Publisher:
- Hexagon Publishing
Carers with learning disabilities are a hidden group within the population, and remain a largely neglected group. The article describes a campaign called ‘Who Cares for Us?' which is working with government and social services to make sure carers with learning disabilities are included in the new carers strategies. The Valuing People Now formed a National Network for Carers with Learning Disabilities, building on the work of 'Who Cares for Us'. The article acknowledges that more needs to be done, but ultimately supporting carers is an invaluable process, both for the community and the economy.
Will 'In Control' at last put people in charge of their lives?
- Author:
- DUFFY Simon
- Journal article citation:
- Community Living, 18(4), May 2005, pp.10-13.
- Publisher:
- Hexagon Publishing
Reports on the difficulties faced by disabled people in terms of managing direct payments, and describes the work of In Control - a national programme designed to transform all social care into a system of self-directed support.
Let's get professional
- Author:
- STEVENS Simon
- Journal article citation:
- Community Living, 17(4), May 2004, p.10.
- Publisher:
- Hexagon Publishing
Looks at the importance of an efficient professional structure if direct payments are to be a successful. The author also provides a personal account of his experience of direct payments.
Abuse: an all too common experience
- Author:
- LYTTELTON Deborah
- Journal article citation:
- Community Living, 17(2), 2003, pp.15-17.
- Publisher:
- Hexagon Publishing
Describes the work of Respond, which helps and supports people with learning difficulties who have experienced the trauma of sexual abuse. The organisation provides long-term psychodynamic therapy, operates a free-phone helpline, and develops specialist resources relevant to people with learning difficulties.
A crime is a crime whatever it is called
- Author:
- PERRY Joanna
- Journal article citation:
- Community Living, 16(3), 2003, pp.21-22.
- Publisher:
- Hexagon Publishing
Discusses how, when people with learning difficulties report crimes against them, the police don't always take them seriously. Looks at the confusion caused when different terms are used for the same offence such as hate crime also being called bullying.
User consultation: the bad and the good
- Author:
- GOODLEY Dan
- Journal article citation:
- Community Living, 16(1), 2002, pp.9-10.
- Publisher:
- Hexagon Publishing
The author writes on his experiences of user consultation, and explains how an imaginative approach could help local authorities provide services that people want.