Short Breaks
About Short Breaks
Short Breaks provide children with disabilities an opportunity to spend time away from their families, relaxing and having fun. A Short Break could be for just a couple of hours, a whole day, or a few days. Short Break activities take place outside of school hours (evenings, weekends and school holidays). Short Breaks also provide families with a break from their caring responsibilities, giving parents and carers a chance to unwind. View our Short Breaks Statement for more information.
Short Breaks provide families with the opportunity to:
- feel better able to manage their caring responsibilities and help to reduce family stress and breakdown
- improve their wellbeing
- have time to do other things, for example, leisure, spending time with other children, undertake household tasks
- feel that the home life is more sustainable
- feel an improved quality of life.
Short Breaks provide children with the opportunity to:
- have fun and make new friends
- explore new opportunities
- become more confident
- learn new skills
- improve emotional health and well-being by being active and engaged in positive activities
- improve physical health through participating in physical activities.
Allocating Short Breaks
We think it is important to allocate Short Breaks in a fair way. Not all children and families will need the same level of short breaks; some will need more than others because of the impact of their child’s disability. Some families may need more support because of their individual family circumstances. As every child and their family is different, we provide different levels of short break support.
Some Short Breaks provision can be accessed directly, and others will require an Early Help Referral or a Social Worker assessment.
Range of Short Breaks
Derby City Council’s aim is to commission and offer a range of local short break provision to enable children and their families to lead as fulfilling a life as possible and to enjoy, achieve and have access to the same opportunities as others in life. There are three categories of Short Breaks in Derby known as Universal Short Breaks, Targeted Short Breaks and Specialist Short Breaks.
Many families with children with disabilities will not require any extra help because they will be sufficiently supported using Universal Services.
Universal Short Breaks
Universal settings (or ‘mainstream services’) can provide short breaks which benefit all children and families – for example, leisure activities provided at the child’s school or through local community groups and organisations.
Universal settings are available to use without an assessment and offer a wide range of activities and a chance for children with disabilities to mix with non-disabled peers. These settings include:
- after school activities
- childminder and early years settings
- holiday play schemes
- drama clubs
- sports activities such as swimming, football, martial arts
- youth clubs
- uniformed organisations like Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, and Girl Guiding.
Universal services aim to be inclusive and open to children with disabilities and have a legal responsibility to make reasonable adjustments to support all children to access their service.
There are no eligibility criteria for accessing universal short breaks. You should contact service providers yourself, to establish what is on offer, availability of spaces and any financial contribution or charges.
Where you wish to use universal services, you should talk with the service provider to:
- provide information about your child’s additional needs and how to best support them
- discuss and explore what the provider may need to change (these are called reasonable adjustments)
- jointly assess the risks and work together to create a plan to reduce any risks.
You can usually find out what universal services are available in your local area from your child's school, your local library, friends and family or the internet.
Targeted Short Breaks
Community Short Breaks
Community Short Breaks are specific Short Breaks for children with disabilities who cannot access universal services without additional support or because of individual, family, or environmental factors, or because their disabilities or needs are more complex that they cannot be met by universal services or family support alone. Community Short Breaks may be provided in the evenings, weekends and school holidays.
There are two types of Community Short Break – a grant and a specialist provider service.
Community Short Breaks Grant
The Community Short Breaks Grant is a cash payment made directly to the parent or carer of a child with disabilities. This cash payment allows families flexibility, choice and control to choose their own short break activity in the community.
The grant may be used on a wide range of leisure activities dependent on your child’s interests.
Children in Derby are currently using their grant to enjoy activities such as:
- 1-1 swimming lessons
- 1-1 martial arts classes
- sailing club
- football coaching
- sensory soft play sessions
- horse riding for children with disabilities.
If a child needs specialist equipment to take part in leisure activities, for example, prescription goggles for swimming, this may be acceptable in some circumstances but must be agreed by us in advance.
The Grant is paid directly to a parent or carer’s nominated bank account. Parents and carers will be required to sign a Grant Agreement and submit evidence of expenditure, including completing a simple spending form and submitting receipts.
Provider Services
We commission providers to deliver some Community Short Breaks services. These providers arrange activity groups which are designed to be stimulating, enjoyable and fun and help promote friendships and peer support. They offer an exciting choice of varied activities at several venues across the city. Special events are arranged throughout the year too, celebrating religious and cultural holidays, local carnivals and national events. Day trips are also available during the school holidays, some of which are suitable for the whole family to enjoy. Provider services are available after school, at weekends or during the school holidays
How much does it cost?
Support workers are provided free of charge. However, some activities will have additional costs which families will need to pay for.
Our current short break providers
Community Links
50 hours per annum
For ages 5-17 years
Website: www.cl-support.com
Community Links offer sessions on selected Saturdays throughout the year. Community Links do not offer support on weekdays or during the school holidays.
Fun-Abil8y
50 hours per annum
For ages 3-17 years
Website: www.stjamescentrederby.co.uk/fun-abili8y
Fun-Abil8y offer group sessions during the week and school holidays.
Umbrella
50 hours per annum
For ages 5-17 years
Website: umbrella.uk.net
Umbrella offer sessions at their two venues in Derby. Additional day trips in the community are offered during school holidays.
Specialist Short Breaks
Some children with more complex needs may require specialist short breaks and/or significant additional support from another person to enable them to participate in enjoyable activities and stay safe. They may already be receiving support through universal and targeted services, but this may not be sufficient to meet their needs.
Access to Specialist Short Breaks is based on a child and family assessment (a ‘Single Assessment’), which is prepared by a social worker. The assessment will consider the impact of the child’s disability on family life, parental needs and capacity and the family’s circumstances and wider resources and support network. In undertaking the assessment, they will seek your consent to talk to other professionals involved with your child about their care needs.
Residential Short Breaks
A Residential Short Break is a planned, temporary stay in a specialised setting that provides children with disabilities a safe, supportive environment away from home. It gives them opportunities to socialise, develop independence, and enjoy new experiences, while offering their families valuable time to rest, recharge, and manage other responsibilities. Residential Short Breaks are designed to enhance wellbeing for the whole family by providing high-quality care and positive, meaningful experiences for the child.
Direct payments
A direct payment is money given to parents and carers, by the authority, to enable them to buy in support that is assessed as being needed, instead of the authority providing that support through their own services such as residential care or a Community Short Break.
Respite foster carers
Respite foster carers provide temporary care for children with disabilities. Respite care arrangements can range from day care and overnight stays, to regular weekends and longer periods of up to two weeks at a time. They would usually care for the same children on a regular basis in order to develop a positive ongoing relationship. Respite carers support children in a variety of ways. This can include personal care such as feeding, washing, bathing and toileting and giving medication. If this or any additional nursing procedures are needed, carers will be trained to do this by a health professional.
There is more information about respite foster carers on our Fostering pages.
Community Short Breaks Consultation
We’re reviewing our Community Short Breaks and proposing some ideas for change.
We want to ask you about these changes and for you to give feedback. This is really important to us as you are the parents and carers of children and young people with SEND who may access this service.
Your views will help us understand the impact of the ideas for change that we are proposing and what you think about the Community Short Breaks Service that you currently receive.