The official version of this document can be found via the PDF button.
The below content has been automatically generated from the original PDF and some formatting may have been lost, therefore it should not be relied upon to extract citations or propose amendments.
2020.03.09
19 Deputy C.S. Alves of the Minister for Children and Housing regarding the prospect
of introducing direct payments for respite care for carers of children with complex needs: (OQ.64/2020)
Will the Minister advise whether he will introduce direct payments for respite care for carers of children with complex needs, given that a system for such payments has been running in the U.K. for more than a decade and, if not, why not?
Senator S.Y. Mézec (The Minister for Children and Housing):
Consideration of how Jersey might develop self-directed support as a means of promoting choice and greater independence and control is being explored as part of planning how we might provide a wider range of services available to all in our community. Consideration is ongoing and options are being considered at an early stage about how we might move from the present system in which we either provide or commission services for individuals or their carers to one which enables greater self-directed support. If we were to make that change, though, it would require a law change and so that would come to this Assembly.
3.19.1 Deputy C.S. Alves :
What is being done, then, to find new short-break providers, since Les Amis and New Horizons no longer support under-18s and did not renew their contracts?
Senator S.Y. Mézec :
When those providers left, the service adapted very quickly and is now providing in-house support for those people. The numbers of children and their families who are able to benefit from a short-break service has increased and there are fewer people on the waiting list as a result of that change, which was made in quite a dramatic fashion when those providers pulled out.