i had a very interesting enquiry about childcare for a disabled youg person who is now 16, but still in education.

mum used to get part of her child care paid while she was working however as you know it stops at 16. (most cases 15yrs)
she wanted to know what would replace the child care for her daughter who has special needs so still has a requirement for this care, so mum can continue to work. Social services see the young Girl as a child in education so will not help with cost till she is officially 18yr old and mum no longer gets CHB.
anyone have any ideas to help?

hi Tish

I don't really have a very good answer but I'm only respondong because no one else is.

I don't actually know of anything in the benefits/tax credit system but it may be worth speaking to your local Children's Information service. In our borough they run a number of schemes to help those who can't be helped in the usual ways.

I've just been browsing direct.gov section on student finance but I didn't really spot anything useful, but that could easily be down to me.

I believe colleges themselves have hardship funds but, to be honest I would have thought it should have been Social Services.

She has a right to an assessment of her requirements, as a carer, including her need to work, from Social Services. See summary here:
http://www.carers.org/articles/carers-assessment,94,CA.html.

Up to Social Services how they meet the need, but they should come up with something. Ask specifically for a carers assessment.

Richard Atinson

Hi, I am a parent of an 11-year-old child with profound learning difficulties and work as a nurse part time. We receive tax credits, and around 80% (variable) of our child care costs are met by the childcare element of tax credits. Unusually, I find the tax credit system extremely helpful in that we employ staff directly to work with our son and get a lot of the costs back.

Like the parent above I am concerned in advance re my son hitting the post 16 year mark!

However I do know that the parent can apply for Direct Payments (DP). I suggest they get help with this and do extensive research, as it is complex and requires a fair bit of paper-work, although this can be contracted out and paid via direct payments too.

My experience is that Social Services have little knowledge of what DP can and cannot be used for and at times will give you inaccurate or misleading information. However, DP are currently in vogue and Social Services have, I believe, and obligation to assess you for DP if you request them. You can ask for a 'carers assessment' (sometimes not worth the paper it is written on, but a request may spur Social Services on to take you more seriously). In theory, your carers assessment should take into account the loss of the childcare via tax credits and replace it with DP.

However, as I have stated earlier, you will need to do your research and get professional assistance.

Please feel free to contact me if you want further information