Personalised Budgets

Personalisation

This is a Government led agenda to ensure that every person who receives support (whether provided by statutory services or funded by themselves) will have choice and control over the shape of that support in all care settings.

If someone believes they have a need, then they contact their local Council, who will discuss their needs with them to find out if they are eligible for ongoing support.  If the person is not deemed eligible for support then the Council will signpost them to relevant organisations/services who can support them. If the person is eligible, that individual will be given a short course of support which is known as re-enablement. This may include rehabilitation or therapy. This re-enablement process is usually for 6 weeks, after which time the person will be reviewed again to assess their progress. If the person is assessed as needing ongoing support, then the Council will reassess the person's needs and provide them with ongoing support.

Personal Budget

This is money given to users to allow them to buy the services that they think would have the most benefit to the quality of their lives and their well being. The money can be given to the individual or given to an organisation/Council to hold and manage on behalf of the service user.

If deemed eligible to receive a personal budget, then users can create their own care plan based on the kind of support that they would like. Service users will be given an indication of how much money they will be allocated, and they can use this estimate to plan their care/support. Service users can either; plan this support for themselves, get help from the Council/family/friends or buy in an independent support planner to help them plan the best use of their budget in order to meet their needs.

CHOICE IN HACKNEY

CHOICE can provide support planning. Our current advocacy service will provide service users support around:

• The assessment processes
• Challenging decisions around complaints/appeals

For more information on personal budgets please see: http://www.hackney.gov.uk/trasc.htm