The new Circle of Support model

From 1 April 2025, all new applications for Short Breaks will be assessed using our new Circle of Support model.

The Circle of Support is split into four sections, each describing a level of support that is available to families. These levels are described below.

Universal

Support to access a range of inclusive services and activities in the community from our list of approved providers. These type of services and activities are available to all children and young people.

Additional

As in the Universal category above with alternative options of:

• Services and activities that are more SEND-friendly from our list of approved providers, or
• Personal Assistant for 104 hours for use throughout the year or 52 hours for use during school holidays only

Complex

As in the Additional category above with alternative options of:

• Specialist services from our list of approved providers, or
• Personal Assistant for up to 208 hours for use throughout the year or 104 hours for use during school holidays only

To access this, the child or young person and their family will currently be receiving social care support or have been within the last 6 months, and/or the child may be attending a complex needs school.

Specialist

As in the Complex category above with alternative options of:

• Personal Assistant hours to meet the assessed need, and/or
• Respite care which could include overnight support following approval at CWD Panel

The child or young person must have a Children with Disabilities (CWD) Social Worker.

What the change to the Circle of Support means

The key element of the change is that in future we will directly pay some providers for children's activities, rather than parents and carers finding and paying for activities themselves using a pre-paid debit card. This pre-paid debit card is a form of Direct Payment.

For families already using the service, we'll work with you during your child's next full review to choose from our list of approved providers that meet your child's and family's assessed needs and outcomes. This allows us to monitor quality, support training, and offer more activities to more families. It also means more inclusive activities will be available for children.

We will make these changes gradually and won't change anything for your child without first agreeing a plan with you. We want to be really clear that these changes do not in any way reduce the level of support.

If there is an activity or service required to meet your child's assessed needs and outcomes that isn't currently available on the list of approved providers, our Short Breaks Inclusion Coordinators will try to arrange this on your behalf.

However, where we're not able to do this, or it's identified your child would benefit from a specific item or a (UK-based) family holiday, the Short Breaks team will be able to organise these for you. Alternatively we may offer you a pre-paid card for that specific activity, item or UK-based family holiday. The team will discuss this with you when setting up your child's Short Breaks plan. Each child's plan will be individual to their assessed needs and outcomes.