Debbie Miller, a practice team leader based in Riddrie, believes her client group of young people with learning disabilities will find Self Directed Support particularly appealing, especially those leaving school and looking for support from adult services for the first time.
Debbie explained: “There are a lot of young adults coming through who don’t want a traditional service. They don’t see themselves spending their time in day centres, but they still need support.
“For them it’s a wonderful opportunity. Self Directed Support gives them the chance to do something different especially in areas like respite care.
“Some of them have had respite through Children and Families Services and under the old way of doing things they would normally move into adult respite services at the age of 18 or 19.
“These young people will still want a break and their families will still need a break, but as personal budget holders they might want to do something totally different.
“Maybe they want to have a holiday away. Under Self Directed Support they might want to pool their resources with other young people and go away together.
“We as practitioners have a lot of thinking to do. How in the world of Self Directed Support will we take these things forward? Young people especially, are at a stage in their lives when they want to do things and spend their time with other young people.”
Debbie believes that even the simple process of choosing and planning a holiday could be hugely rewarding for people on Self Directed Support.
“It’s no longer a case of a holiday being something that happens to you but something you make happen for yourself.
“Instead of being allotted a week in centre based respite, and having to take pot luck with who happens to be there at the same time, you can choose to go somewhere like Centre Parks perhaps with friends and sharing support.
“That’s a very exciting and positive difference, involving developing a range of skills like planning, problem solving and developing relationships with your holiday companions.”
However she believes the appeal of taking control of their own funding and using it to achieve personal goals will not be confined to young people.
“There are undoubtedly people in more traditional services which, with the best will in the world can’t be tailored to individual preferences, who will be interested in Self Directed Support.
“That includes adults who come into a service, outgrow what it provides, and then find there is nowhere else for them to go.”
Debbie would like to see the market driven by the demands of those who control their own budgets, without excluding providers and others from coming up with attractive options.
“It will be really interesting to see how the market develops. If everyone opts for their own budgets and is supported by their own PA’s and other staff there will not be much interaction with other people.
“That is something we as practitioners might well have to consider as will the providers.
“In my experience people with learning disabilities are not asking for the moon. They want the chance of employment, good leisure opportunities, better social lives and general things like that.
“One of the real benefits of Self Directed Support is that people will not be locked into choices they make. They can decide to do something with one provider and then, if a more appealing opportunity arises, move over to that.
“I am hugely encouraged by what I have seen of those who are now controlling their own budgets and those who are just going through the process
“For those people who already have had a lot of paid support, SDS and the move to outcome focused support planning, will mean there is a lot more emphasis on how the resources they are allocated link in with helping them move on with their lives, and achieve what they really want to achieve.
“When you have had services for a long time, fundamental changes are only worthwhile if the recipient is a happier and more fulfilled person at the end of it.
“The acid test will come in a year’s time when we review their experiences and can make those judgements.”
