Short breaks (previously known as respite care) provide time for parents to carry out these basic tasks, to rest and to invest time in their relationships. A short break means that a family is more likely to be able to cope with their caring responsibilities.
Short breaks also provide important opportunities for a disabled child to have a positive experience that suits their individual needs, enabling them to spend time with their friends and to try new and different activities. This is vital in reducing their sense of social isolation.
The allocation of funding to primary care trusts through Healthy Lives, Brighter Futures, and to local authorities through Aiming High for Disabled Children (AHDC) has seen the start of a transformation of short break services.
However, while many families have experienced improved short breaks, demand continues to outstrip provision in some areas. Families continue to find assessment arduous, and finding out what they are entitled to remains timeconsuming. Lack of inter-agency shared data about the needs of disabled children in the local area can mean some parents are still not receiving information about services.
Barriers remain in place through the time it has taken to establish systems to support AHDC funding and inconsistent provision. EDCM has recently published Close to Crisis, a report that demonstrates that short breaks services are closing because local budget holders assume that funding will not be available from April 2011. EDCM wants the Government to use the 2010 spending review to give local areas, professionals and families with disabled children a clear, unambiguous message about the funding that will be available for disabled children's services over the next five years.