1. Introduction

This film is about direct payments and purchasing your own support. This film is for individuals who are deafblind, people with Usher or people with combined sight and hearing impairments. 

Direct payments are about individuals choosing to make decisions about how they get support from social services. Instead of a service from the council, money is given to individuals to pay for services to meet their social care needs.

Some people receive direct payments through a personal budget. 
Having a personal budget means that people know how much money has been allocated to meet their needs. People can then take this money as a direct payment.

If someone decides to receive direct payments, they will have to think about how they will spend the direct payment. They may decide to employ people, use self-employed staff, use an agency or an organisation.

This film may also be useful for people who pay for support themselves.

This DVD has 9 different scenarios to help you think about direct payments and purchasing your own support.