Hi I am knew thanks for letting me join.
We have been in receipt of SDS for a since 2017. Was reviewed regularly but however got allocated to new children’s SW and COVID etc , support, review has not happened.
Son is turning 18 in October and transitioning from children to adults. Our SDS has stopped without explanation, no warning etc. Now adults services saying because my son doesn’t leave the house not untitled to SDS. My son is on full Adult Disability Payment for care and mobility. I have to children I care for full time at home, the second is on middle rate Child Disability Payment. No additional support what so ever now. My health has deteriorated so much I am also now on ADP having previously worked all my life.
Can anyone advise as I have been round the houses looking for support and advice.
Many thanks
Hi Tosh,
Many thanks for your post and welcome to the SDS Forum.
Thank you for sharing your current experience and I’m sorry to hear that your’re having some difficulties accessing further support for yourself and your children.
I understand your son is moving into adulthood soon and has been going through the Transitions process. You’ll probably already be aware, that access to funded support from your Local Authority under Self Directed Support (SDS) depends on someone having an assessment of their needs and meeting local eligibility criteria for support. Therefore, the crucial element is the assessment and whether your son’s need for support meets the eligibility criteria.
In terms of the funding you were receiving under SDS for your son, I would expect that a review or reassessment would take place before deciding if someone’s needs have reduced or increased in anyway. This process should involve yourself and your son as much as possible, so you have the opportunity to share any relevant information at that time.
You also mention your health and wellbeing. I can see from what you’re saying that you might well be an ‘informal’ carer for your son’s. If you are, you have a right to a ‘good conversation’ about your needs and support to put together what’s called an Adult Carers Support Plan. If you meet local eligibility criteria for carers you could also be offered an SDS budget to help pay for the support you need, or these resources could be directed to supporting your son.
In terms of other sources of information and support for you and your son, most areas of Scotland now have an Independent SDS Information and Support service available to local people, to support people at any stage of their journey through SDS. You can find out who is local to you by doing a search using our ‘Find Help’ link on our website here (top right corner of the page): https://www.sdsscotland.org.uk/
In addition, most local Carers Centres will also support carers to put together an Adult Carers Support Plan.
Alternatively, if you wanted to let me what Local Authority area you live in I can connect you with the right organisation(s) that are local to you.
Many thanks,
Mark