Disabled children and short breaks

Why campaign?

In 2006 a series of Parliamentary hearings took place which assessed the services for disabled children. In these hearings parents told parliamentarians that ‘the lack of short breaks was the biggest single cause of unhappiness with service provision’.

Following the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review in 2007, Aiming High for Disabled Children was announced in May 2007. This committed the government to a ‘transformation programme’ for the delivery of services for disabled children and their families in England from 2008 – 2011. It announced £340 million to be allocated to four specific service areas: short breaks, childcare, transition and parent forums. 

£280 million of the original revenue funding was ring fenced to transform short break provision, to enable local areas to expand the types of short break service available and increase accessibility to disabled children, young people and their families.

In December 2007 the Children’s Plan committed an additional £90 million capital funding for short break services from 2008 to 2011, bringing the funding allocation for short breaks to £370 million.

Furthermore, in February 2009 the Child Health Strategy ‘Healthy lives, brighter futures’ , clarified that an additional £340 million has been given to Primary Care Trusts for disabled children from 2008 to 2011, to be spent on short breaks, community equipment, wheelchairs and children’s palliative care.

Following a bidding process, 21 English local authorities were selected as pathfinders to take forward best practice in short breaks provision. These pathfinder areas led action on short breaks in 2008-09 but during 2009-10 and 2010-11 all other local authorities in England have significant additional funding to invest in short break provision. You can download a government press notice to find out find out how much each local authority has been given.

EDCM Short Break Tracking Programme

Between 2008 – 2011 EDCM is undertaking a research project evaluating the impact of the Aiming High for Disabled Children short breaks programme on the lives of disabled children and their families. Each year EDCM will be producing a report to document its findings.

No going back! Parents' expectations of short breaks is the second of three annual reports charting parents experiences of short breaks over the course of the Aiming High for Disabled Children programme. Download the full report here [PDF 988 KB]

Download the first year's short break tracking report here [PDF 224 KB]

Why short breaks and not respite?

The literal definition of ‘respite’ is ‘the laying down of a burden’ or a ‘temporary cessation of something that it tiring or painful’. This language is not positive. The term ‘respite’ reinforces the view that disabled children are passive recipients who have things done to them, rather than active citizens with lives to live. EDCM believe that the wider transformation for services for disabled children must be cultural, not just financial.

The language of disability has rightly changed over the years, and the term ‘short breaks’ is part of that process. The crucial difference in short breaks is that both the parent and the child get a break that suits their individual needs. As we move towards transformation, the child’s break is valid and valued by all.