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Disabled Children’s Social Care

All children should have access to high quality social care support to ensure they have the best start in life.

Social care plays an important role for many children and young people with complex disabilities. This support ensures families can safely care for their children at home, as well as helping many children to access their education or school.  

For children with complex needs, social care can be anything from support getting dressed and ready for school, access to important equipment like hoists, or recreational equipment and technology, holidays, and short breaks and respite services.  

The Disabled Children’s Partnership (DCP) currently estimate there is a £434 million annual funding gap in children’s social care services.  Many of the families we support experience problems accessing support they need to safely care for their child. We campaign on a range of issues to ensure that children and families have the right support and best start in life.  

What we’re calling for 

  • Children with complex disabilities should have access to early intervention and communication support. Health and care services must work together to ensure so children and their families have the right support.  
  • Government must invest additional funding in disabled children’s social care, so that Local Authorities can provide the specialist services needed for children and young people with complex disabilities, including those who are deafblind. 
  • Government needs to recognise the impact that Covid-19 has had on children with complex disabilities and their families. There needs to be a plan of action, funding and resources so that disabled children and young people can access their communities again. 

What we’ve achieved

During summer 2021 we asked parents and families to share their experiences with us of securing education, care and support for their disabled child. We’re now reviewing the experiences of 150 respondents to make sure we’re working on issues that matter to our families in upcoming government consultations.

As part of the Disabled Children’s Partnership, we led the #GiveItBack campaign in 2019, calling on the Chancellor to plug the funding gap in disabled children’s social care services. The letter received over 21,000 signatures and was presented to Number 11 Downing Street 9. We have continued to campaign with the DCP during the Covid-19 crisis, highlighting the impact of the pandemic on disabled children and their families through the #LeftInLockdown campaign. 

Last November, our Chief Executive, Richard Kramer, gave evidence to the Public Accounts Committee, sharing experiences of our families and recommendations for how government support can be improved.

In 2019 we also submitted written evidence to the Education Select Committee and the Public Accounts Committee, helping to secure an independent review into children’s social care.