What this consultation is about
We want your views about changes we're proposing to make to the Outback early help service and the short breaks service for children with disabilities at The Getaway building in Ilkeston.
We're facing financial pressures that are outside of our control and we're looking at making changes to a range of services.
Our Cabinet decided that we would consult on proposed changes to the Outback early help service and to the short breaks for children with disabilities at The Getaway in a report that was agreed on 1 February 2024. In order to support the council setting a balanced budget it has been proposed that we need to save around £1.9 million from these budgets.
We'll also be carrying out a full review and public consultation on the services we provide under the local offer to children with disabilities. This will take place in spring 2024.
We currently offer a range of different services for short breaks for children with disabilities. They include:
- stays with a foster family, which is called link care
- direct payment or personal budget to fund overnight care wherever the family choose
- overnight short breaks in other council buildings, including The Getaway or those run by private companies
- occasional or one-off activity breaks
Access to overnight short breaks at The Getaway are assessed on a case-by-case basis. The Getaway is able to accommodate up to 4 children per night, over 6 nights per week.
The Outback currently provides the following services for children with disabilities:
- undertaking assessments for children, young people and families
- providing support to parents with learning disabilities.
- supporting families one to one in their homes.
- providing support services outside normal working hours, including weekend support to vulnerable children and families.
- working directly with children and young people
- providing parenting assessments, which are sometimes required by the courts for a particular family
- providing supervised family time
- connecting children, young people and their families to other community-based services that can help them.
- providing targeted, holistic wraparound support to families to build resilience and reduce the risks of family breakdown and children entering full time residential care.
- supporting families in cases of neglect and child protection
- taking part in community work with young people
- offering support to address conflict within families, improve family relationships and to improve school attendance
- domestic support for children with significant disabilities (in family homes)
- emergency and crisis support as and when required at short notice (support of both residential settings and crisis response with the social work team)
The Getaway
We're considering 2 options for the short breaks service at The Getaway:
- Stop providing short breaks at The Getaway. We'd help parents of those using the service to look for alternatives.
- Reducing the number of short breaks available at The Getaway, by repurposing 3 out of 4 of the beds to full-time, long-term residential care for 3 children looked after by the local authority and continuing to provide one bed in the home for short breaks for 6 nights a week. Parents of those children currently using The Getaway short break service would be offered support to find alternative provision within the community.