Can a support worker force a family to have carers 19 February 2021 at 9:20AM in Disability money matters 11 replies 633 views

Sncjw

Hi all

My future sister in law and her husband  has three children. One of them has cerebral palsy and they have been managing perfectly fine for least 10 years with family support.
They have been going through process to claim compensation for the one with cerebral palsy. They have had some money to be able to move to a larger family home to meet the child's needs. 

Recently they have been involved with a support worker who has brought in carers and the family are not happy at all. The carers have to wake the child up at a set time no matter what and get them sorted for school. Then at 4pm they come back and give the child their evening meal bathe them and put them to bed at set time no matter what. Also the rest of the family have to be home at 4pm even the other children. The mother is crying so much because its taking away her freedom as a family. Also the support worker has had. Personal experience of cerebral palsy and i think she is putting her own experience onto my future sister in law. 

We fear that the set time requirements means that we won't get to do large family events or even take the other children out to give parents a break. The mother hasn't even seen an assessment done to determine what the child needs. 
.can the family be forced to have these carers in when they don't want them yet. 

wild666

Just cancel the carers if you were coping OK without them beforehand.
If the support worker says you have to have them then complain about the support worker saying you will take legal action if the carers keep turning up. 
Did the support worker fill in an assessment without your knowledge?
I had carers after a stroke and in under six months, I cancelled them as I was doing things without them like getting up and going to bed plus making my meals.  

elsien

Support worker or social worker ? - two different things. 
The potential need for care  will have been formally identified at some point, by someone - carers don't just turn up out of the blue. Has mum had a carers assessment at some point to ensure that she is getting the support that she needs? If so then she had a legal right to see it. And should have known it was happening, obviously.
However care shouldn't be imposed on people, should meet the child's needs and fit round the family as well as the child. If it has been imposed without these discussions and the family don't want it then they should say so.

So who has arranged and is paying for it? Local authority? Health? That's who they need to go back to.
If they don't want care they don't have to have it. With the caveat that if there are safeguarding concerns then the care may be part of a protection plan. In which case the family would have been informed this anyway because it would be the end of a process, not the beginning.
Informal discussions first around the reasons for the care then formal complaint if that doesn't get them anywhere.
Would it work for them if there was more flexibility or do they just not want it at all? 
 

Sncjw

Hi 

I belive the lawyer for the family got in touch with their support worker/case worker. They are from a rehab sort of company. The mother has said she hasn't seen any reports at all. 

They know they will need carers in the future but feel they don't need them right now. They feel like it's going to disrupt the family and the freedoms they have. As far as I'm aware they have had so safeguarding issues at all.

I also think that it's going to restrict what they can do during the day if they need to be home at a certain time. 

Sncjw

That's ment to say no safeguarding. They have not had social workers involved. 

CosmoChic

Perhaps the care provision is part of the financial settlement e.g. to ensure the funds are being used for the care of the child? 

Spoonie_Turtle

CosmoChic said:

Perhaps the care provision is part of the financial settlement e.g. to ensure the funds are being used for the care of the child? 

Even if that's the case, I wouldn't call it actually caring for the child when it's messing up their family life   Care should be recipient-focused, not decided and imposed in a way that doesn't suit them.

elsien

CosmoChic said:

Perhaps the care provision is part of the financial settlement e.g. to ensure the funds are being used for the care of the child? 

Makes no odds. You can’t just insist someone has care when it’s not wanted. 

If it’s their solicitor who has arranged the support worker then surely it’s up to them if/how it works. They need to go back the the solicitor then. 

Sncjw

Hi all I've just texted her to read these. 

She said this to me:

Just read them. We've been told we have to have them and give it to at least settlement until I can say no. It most definitely has been forced on us.

She has to wait until the settlement as they won't have solicitor then and she can decide to grt rid of them. 

Thanks for all your help so far. 

Sncjw

She's just said that she hasn't signed anything to say she has accepted it and they just turned up on Monday. 

elsien

Been told by who that they have to have them and for what reason? That’s what is key. 
Is it to prove the level of care needed for the settlement?