Aiming High Feedback

[jol]

i have just replied to this post i saw on the BBC ouch disability site...telling the person in question about this site and to get posting...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/messageboards/F8146589?thread=7227330

Aiming High for Disabled Children - government 'initiative'
   Does anyone else have experience of this in their authorities? I know that some Pathfinder authorities have had this funding for a year, 2 years now, but ours has only recently begun.

The remit seems to be that we shouldn't just accommodate disabled kids, we should allow them to excel. I joined the Parents Forum and from the sat on some meetings to be the parent voice and hopefully try to steer it in the right direction.

I've got a horrible feeling that it's heading back to the 'accommodate' ghetto again though. Every initiative seems to fall foul of generalising, and the individual is lost.

   

•   Message 2. Posted by xx on Monday, 18th January 2010 
Funny you should mention this cos I was having a right moan with a freind in another authority about this whole thing last night!

I am in Cumbria and as far as I can see all that they have done so far with Aiming Higher money is to put on some "exclusive" (ie not inclusive) activities such and horseriding, trampolining, climbing or swimming and the like and invite LD and disabled kids to attend for free. My son is 11, has CP and is at mainstream school and his response isalways to screw the leaflets up and throw them in the bin! He doesn;t want to do segregated disabled actvities; he wants to be incuded on an everyday basis.
In addition he has high level personal support needs and these courses never offer this level of support - so either I would have to take him (so not a break for me - and one of the other main threads of Aiming Higher is also supposed to be short breaks for carers...) or use some his already precious Direct Payment hours to send one of our helpers with him......
My freind is in West Yorkshire and says that exactly the same thing is happening there - and in fact segregated, non inclusive activities are becoming more and more common.
Now I fully understand that for SOME kids, maybe segregated actvities are necessary...however with the supposed drive in other ways being all about inclusion, and kids like mine being in (and doing well in) mainstream school...this direction is extremely alarming. I have been tto one or two of the parent talking shops about this where our views are "heard" by the powers that be - but I have yet to see much evidence at all of what parents are saying actually influencing provision....
jaded, you betcha!
(and apologies about the spelling - writing very quickly and crossly!)

[jol]

my original reply on 25/2/2010 was

we have just started a webpage for our experiences in Cumbria - there are links to other initiatives in other areas and links to the conference docs (website address)

then today i have replied with

hi herdy

have only just seen your message..and the earlier 'dissatisfied one
yes get involved - add your voice - we now have a site - open to the public but you need to register to post
Learning to Change in Cumbria for Disabled Children (www.soul-trade.com/change...) is the Parents' Site for Learning to Change Cumbria, who are working alongside the Local Authority with the support of Contact a Family to help bring change to the way services are accessed and improved..part of the Parent/Professional implementation, under the "Aiming High for Disabled Children (AHDC)- Every Child Matters" Government initiative

a post on lost passwords is here www.soul-trade.com/change...

so have a look there or i'll get val to contact u on special kids

basically we don't have access to passwords for security reasons

there are 5 local area group meetings feeding to a steering group
and there is a 3rd Conference in Penrith next month (expenses paid) more details here --> www.soul-trade.com/change...

also if you can't get there, post the questions you want info/answers on in the forum site, and someone will try and get them answered - do a search on the site and you may even find that someone is already involved in trying to influence change or better practice
www.soul-trade.com/change...

basically get reading & posting and/or get to some local meetings
or ask others to represent your views
contact me at soul-trade.com if you need

although it now looks as if you have attended some local meets! anyhow have a look around the site and you can see some real attempts are being made by Parents and Professionals alike to influence services , the way they are provided and their targetting...

and remember that it isn't always just about our children, but others coming up in future years; ie if we can ensure that some of the pitfalls that befell us are less likely in the future etc...

that being said there is a statement about short break provision i uploaded to the site today from the head of childrens services, together with some more questions on 'emergency respite' that we should like to see addressed. there is the beginning of an independant database of services and facilities and i am waiting on the next stakeholder meeting dates which parents can attend. this site is a positive gain too - you can read the minutes of the steering group and some of the local groups - can you get your local area minutes here too please!

searching the site you will i think see the beginnings of some positive outcomes - remember this process only began last year in our area and there is a great deal of complexity in the way that county councils and PCT's are required to liaise - and now with Parent input to the mix

- stay in there - i am not here for meetings about meetings and i truly believe all of the other parents and professionals aren't either.

[jol]

ive just seen that the links i gave in my answer on the bbc site were truncated - thus giving the viewer an error grrrrr
so more typing needed (all day on this site - this ain't my blog - please get involved/get posting thx)

i have just been answering a comment on your board "on aiming high"

why are  the website links i gave for parents truncated ie non functional.

this is about information for people/carers/parents of very often severely disabled children, who need to know where to look for assistance, and who are usually already 'stretched' and 'stressed' the last thing they need to get is an error message!

please correct all the links to soul-trade.com/change

the directory is /change

thank you

may i add that all the content is public visible and that like yourselves we require registration only for those who wish to post and comment

[jennyh]

Hi - I have been involved with a range of initiatives over the years here in Cumbria and so I am afraid i am a tad cynical now!  I have been to many forums and consultations, and have been "rent-a-parent" on quite a number of occasions! - and now I have a number of other (national) disability related commitments which make attending even more meetings very difficult - but i will try!

However Aiming High does seem at least to have the potential (ie a budget attached) to be a bit more positive - but i am just curious about how differently it is being dealt with in different areas.  For example in quite a few places famiies are being given the money directly to spend on what they and their child want.  That does not seem to be happening here?  Is it planned to?
Also there was recently some training for "direct payment workers" in moving and handling.  However the dept said that it was almost cancelled (here at least) dut to poor take up - and I had to point out to the administrator that one reason might be that parents were having to use 6 hours of their precious direct payments (if they got them) in order to send an employed carer on the training!!  There shoudl have been an additional allowance to cover carer wages for these trainng hours.....
Also, so far none of the activities on offer have been able to supply the sort of 1:1 carer/support that many of our kids need (or the funding to cover it) - so it is not a short break at all if we either have to take the kids ourselves or dig into any DP hours we may get!!  Maybe this is one of the things that is going to be addressed in the near future in Cumbria as the scheme develops; I hope so!
I will watch this space with interest and try to get to one of the meetings.  Thanks for your work Jol in setting this site up.

[val]

Also there was recently some training for "direct payment workers" in moving and handling.  However the dept said that it was almost cancelled (here at least) dut to poor take up -

Interesting you say this Jenny as I applied for a place on this course (guessing it was the same one) and was told it was fully booked.  In fact I wasn't even told that - I had to chase them up 2 days before the course to find out if I had a place - or not as it transpired! Maybe it was because I was 'only' a parent and not a direct payment worker?!

Also, would your son be interested in something like the Keppelwray weekends?  We have just returned from one weekend - see my post!


http://www.soul-trade.com/change/events-(county-wide)/the-kepplewray-centre-in-broughton-in-furness/msg201/#new

and I have been told you can apply for additional money to take a carer along with you or apply for an additional one off direct payments payment  to enable you as a family to go away and take a carer with you.

Val

[jol]

hi jenny
just got a helpful email from jon parnaby at cumbria cc wherein he commented

I have looked at the complaint on the Ouch site; it is an interesting read.  If you do get the opportunity to contact the parent again please do pass them all of my contact details in case they wish to take this up with me directly.  As with many of these processes it does take time and if the parent in question has not been kept informed I can see why they would become disillusioned.  With regard to the specific point of increase of Direct Payments to parents in some areas of the country; the areas where this has happened has usually been in metropolitan areas where there is easy access to services and a larger trained workforce.  This was discussed at the Locality Short Break Stakeholder groups as an option (raised by parents) but was dismissed (by parents) as not feasible for Cumbria.  An example of the Council listening to and acting upon parents views.

Jon Parnaby
Strategic Officer - Inclusive Services
Commissioning and Management Support
Children's Services
5 Portland Square
Carlisle
Cumbria
CA1 1PU

Telephone: 01228 221156
Fax: 01228 606887
Mobile: 07810053512
Email: <mailto:jon.parnaby@cumbriacc.gov.uk>jon.parnaby@cumbriacc.gov.uk  



if anyone wants any issues raising at the upcoming Learning to Change conference April 19 Penrith, and they can't attend, they can post here (just click 'new topic') or you can contact Jon above, or Jennie Taylor below or do both


Jennie Taylor
Disability Information Officer
Children and Families Information Service
Supporting Children and Families
Cumbria Children's Services
Children's Centre
Moorclose Road
Workington
Cumbria
CA14 5AP

Tel - 01900 706148
Mobile 07966 111714
Fax 01900 873749
email - <mailto:Jennie.taylor@cumbriacc.gov.uk>Jennie.taylor@cumbriacc.gov.uk

Web - <http://www.cumbria.gov.uk/childrensservices/cfis>www.cumbria.gov.uk/childrensservices/cfis

[jol]

it may be that after reading this some of you may want to attend future stakeholder meetings!

please see http://www.soul-trade.com/change/short-breaks/short-breaks-stakeholder-meetings-for-april-june-2010-parents-welcome/

though i note the east group meet's location is yet to be confirmed - anyone know where it is?

[jennyh]

I just had a reasonably (I hope) constructive conversation with Jon Parnaby about Aiming High et al.  I explained to him that I have been involved with a lot of initiatives over the last 10 or so years but that I can see that Aiming High has the potential to be a bit more than just more talk!  Unfortunately I cannot attend the conference next week but will be interested to read the outcome. 
Sounds like it will be well attended by parents which is great..

[angied]

Hi be in contact later