Learning from the Individual Budgets for Families with Disabled Children Pilots and looking to the SEND Pathfinders Graham Thom and Meera Prabhakar 7 th November 2011

1 Introduction The IB pilots Emerging findings What next for the pilots Wider implications and challenges

2 The IB pilots Six Councils involved in the pilot Led by social care Started April 2009 First budgets went live early 2010 Each area has around 30 families in the pilot Guided by the Common Delivery Model

3 What is an IB? An approach based on Greater choice and control to families with disabled children…through the drawing together of a series of funding streams and use of an outcomes-based approach…to enable the development and delivery of a holistic and family-led support plan …whose associated funding can be managed in a variety of ways

4 Key family journey stages Assessment Resource allocation Plan Review

5 Key family journey stages Assessment Resource allocation Plan Review But can change the sequence, or iterate between stages

6 Key family journey stages Assessment Resource allocation Plan Review Single assessment / plan

7 Key family journey stages Assessment Resource allocation Plan Review Single assessment / plan The additional individual / personal budget part

8 What have we learned from the pilots (1) Successful recruitment of a good range of families  Across social classes  But best done through personal approaches and explanation The requirement of dedicated staff resources to drive activity and to engage wider professionals and families in the process Social care budgets have been the largest contributor to the IB package  Engagement from PCT and education colleagues limited The resource allocation process was a learning experience for all  People got very different budgets to what they had before  Work in progress and needing further refinement

9 What have we learned from the pilots (2) Pilot site % change in average package value % change in median package value 1 -40%-41% 2 -3%82% 3 61%109% 4 38%58% 5 3%-3% 6 9%-1% All sites 0%17%

10 What have we learned from the pilots (3) … but also wider resource implications around the offer of choice to participate Support planning was highly valued  It’s the place where families get to exercise their choice Good progress in engaging parents in the process, practice is less developed around how best to engage young people Families changing their packages of support quite significantly (and maybe more to come)  More use of PAs and community / mainstream services

11 What did the families tell us Two waves of survey in their homes Covered parents and young people Augmented by focus groups in each area Wanted to test  If IBs gave better choice and control .. And if so did this lead to improved well-being

12 What did the families tell us (1) Issues% reporting improved position % reporting worse position Net change Parents are involved in decisions Parents are kept informed about decisions Control over services60951 Satisfaction with support received Control over daily lives40931 Access to social care services Staff appear joined up472126

13 What did the families tell us (2) Be healthy % reporting improved position % reporting worse position Net change Home is calm Home is disorganised Be safe Concern over child’s safety - in home Concern over child’s safety – outside home Enjoy and achieve Attainment at school Enjoyment at school19136

14 What did the families tell us (3) Making a positive contribution % reporting improved position % reporting worse position Net change Childs social life Childs self confidence Parents social life Achieve economic wellbeing Childs quality of life Parents quality of life Family strength4422

15 In summary Good progress on getting set up and recruitment families Still a lot of fine tuning required around  Process  Partners Positive feedback from families  Support planning  Choice and control  Satisfaction

16 Expectations of the Green Paper Green Paper signalled a wider set of pilots and extended the pilot in the six areas for another12 months to:  Understand more of the impact on family wellbeing through tracking those with a live IB  Explore how education and health based funding could be incorporated into an IB for families with disabled children during  … which will help to inform the scope of the Pathfinders envisaged in the Green Paper 20 Pathfinders selected and announced  Scope to offer Personal Budgets

17 Expectations of the Green Paper (2) Give parents more choice and control Local authorities to communicate a clear local offer A single assessment process and ‘Education, Health and Care Plan’ by 2014 Parents to have option of personalised funding by 2014

18 Contact Graham Thom Associate Director SQW t e. w. Meera Prabhakar Senior Consultant SQW t e. w.