Declared not ready for work but not eligible for PIP

Jane_B

To cut a long story short, my nephew has Aspergers and is currently living with my sister and her new husband in Devon. He was recently assessed for his benefits, was declared not ready for work by the council (Job seekers part of the council) and his therapist - however is not eligible for PIP, which wasn't an issue as he was living at home with minimal rent (for which his UC made up for)

However he is now being kicked out of home and wants to move closer to me (and the rest of the family) up in a different county - he has no other family or network in Devon which is why he wants to move closer to a support system and an area he knows.

I am now getting extremely stressed, as he doesn't receive enough in UC to afford to live on his own, or even to rent a spare room, and my husband and I don't have the space to have him living with us long term. His condition means he struggles in a shared living situation, which is why even renting a spare room in a house might be a stretch.

I have spoken to our local council who said until he moves up here and is essentially homeless they cannot help, and the help they can provide in that situation might not be great for someone with his needs.

I am at a loss and wanted to see if anyone has any advice or experience in getting more help financially for young adults on the spectrum?

He is 22 and I agree is not ready for work, he has the mental and emotional maturity of a 12 year old and struggles with a small voluntary 'job' which is 5 hours a week (over 2 days) He has just completed 2 GCSEs which is a really good step in the right direction for him, but with this going on I am struggling to see a way to help without him being essentially homeless first

elsien

Has he had any Care Act assessments through social services, and might he be eligible for a supported living type set up? It's a different mechanism to the homeless part of the council so he would need to go through the relevant local authority.
Why is he not eligible for PIP - has he tried and being turned down? If so, has he appealed with proper help from welfare rights or similar?

Jane_B

elsien wrote: »

Has he had any Care Act assessments through social services, and might he be eligible for a supported living type set up? It's a different mechanism to the homeless part of the council so he would need to go through the relevant local authority.
Why is he not eligible for PIP - has he tried and being turned down? If so, has he appealed with proper help from welfare rights or similar?

He hasn't had any assessments with social services as of yet, thank you for mentioning this as I am genuinely lost with where to look for this kind of guidance.

He was told in regards to the PIP element that since they see him potentially being ready for work in the next 12 months they are keeping him just on job seekers (but without the need to actually look for a job!) and UC until they can assess him again - this was only a month ago so it would be too long to wait for the next assessment. So at present he doesn't have to go in to the Job centre or submit proof of job applications in order to get his job seekers allowance.

I have an appointment with CAB next week, but as I am getting very worried I wanted to see if there was anything else, or anyone else I could be getting in contact with to get the ball rolling and put my mind at ease a bit (hopefully!)

Will definitely call the council again and see if I can speak to the supported living department/people.

elsien

It won't be a supported living department. He would need a care act assessment to establish any eligible needs from which (if he had assessed needs - he may not ) a support plan would be drawn up identifying his level of support. This may or may not then lead to supported accommodation being further explored.

https://www.peoplefirstinfo.org.uk/money-and-legal/care-act-2014/requesting-an-assessment-changes-under-the-care-act.aspx

They can put up barriers for people with Aspergers and you may find arguments about which council is responsible. But if they refuse to assess they have to give reasons in writing which he can then challenge. And if he has substantial difficulty in being involved in the assessment due to his autism then he can request advocacy support.

elsien

I'm still not understanding why he can't apply for PIP - that's for people regardless of working status. I think you may have been misinformed - it's got nothing to do with JSA.

pmlindyloo

Jane_B wrote: »

He hasn't had any assessments with social services as of yet, thank you for mentioning this as I am genuinely lost with where to look for this kind of guidance.

He was told in regards to the PIP element that since they see him potentially being ready for work in the next 12 months they are keeping him just on job seekers (but without the need to actually look for a job!) and UC until they can assess him again - this was only a month ago so it would be too long to wait for the next assessment. So at present he doesn't have to go in to the Job centre or submit proof of job applications in order to get his job seekers allowance.

I have an appointment with CAB next week, but as I am getting very worried I wanted to see if there was anything else, or anyone else I could be getting in contact with to get the ball rolling and put my mind at ease a bit (hopefully!)

Will definitely call the council again and see if I can speak to the supported living department/people.

I am confused.

You say your nephew is on JSA and Universal Credit. This cannot be right unless he is receiving contribution based JSA which means he has worked and paid NI contributions the previous 2/3 years before he claimed benefits.

I think you need to check which benefits he is actually receiving.

Plus, the job centre has nothing to do with PIP. This is an entirely different benefit and needs to be applied for separately. Has he actually applied for PIP?

If he moved to your area then he would most likely have to apply for Universal Credit (if he's not already receiving it) and he could receive housing costs if he found a place to live.

It would be sensible to apply for PIP as if he was awarded the daily living component of PIP this would entitle him to housing costs (according to the local housing allowance) for a one bed place rather than shared accommodation.

Before you go to CAB please check that you know exactly what benefits he is receiving. Also, in my experience, CAB will not speak to a third party without written consent from the person about whom advice is required so it would be a good idea to get this.

Jane_B

pmlindyloo wrote: »

I am confused.

You say your nephew is on JSA and Universal Credit. This cannot be right unless he is receiving contribution based JSA which means he has worked and paid NI contributions the previous 2/3 years before he claimed benefits.

I think you need to check which benefits he is actually receiving.

Plus, the job centre has nothing to do with PIP. This is an entirely different benefit and needs to be applied for separately. Has he actually applied for PIP?

If he moved to your area then he would most likely have to apply for Universal Credit (if he's not already receiving it) and he could receive housing costs if he found a place to live.

It would be sensible to apply for PIP as if he was awarded the daily living component of PIP this would entitle him to housing costs (according to the local housing allowance) for a one bed place rather than shared accommodation.

Before you go to CAB please check that you know exactly what benefits he is receiving. Also, in my experience, CAB will not speak to a third party without written consent from the person about whom advice is required so it would be a good idea to get this.

Thank you for this, I have his written consent for this as I had to have it when going to all his previous meetings at the job centre, council, cahms and doctors so have that all on file still and will get it updated if needs be.

I will look into all the points you've raised as I need to get a wiggle on if I am to sort anything out (at all) in the next couple of weeks.