Why do disabled children and young people need short breaks?

Children or young people with a disability may require extra support.  The reasons can vary immensely:

• autism
• cerebral palsy
• sensory loss
• learning disability
• medical condition.

Their disability can make it difficult for them to enjoy the activities independent from their parents that other children take for granted.

Parents of children with a disability often provide intensive care around the clock and get far less time than other parents to deal with aspects of everyday life. They need regular breaks to: get some chores done, spend more time with other members of the family who have missed out on individual attention, or simply have a holiday away from the usual routine.

The benefits:

• It allows the child to meet new people and experience different activities.
• It encourages the child to develop age-appropriate independence from their parents.
• It can make a major difference to the child's overall situation, even sometimes keeping them from being placed in residential care or long-term fostering, rather than remaining with their families.
• It provides valuable support for parents or long-term carers of disabled children.

What is involved?

As a short break foster carer for disabled children you:

• will need to be patient, caring and enthusiastic with regular spare time to offer
• will work with a team of people involved in providing care and support
• will be willing to be trained in specific care tasks in relation to medication, mealtimes and personal care.  Kent County Council offers a package of ongoing training and support.
• can continue to work on a full or part-time basis and still make a great difference to the life of a child and their family; however short break foster care also provides an opportunity for you to care for a number of children as a full-time role
• will become part of the child's wider support network and may build up long-lasting relationships with both the child and their family
• can work from home and receive a financial package
• do not need any previous experience as long as you are willing to learn and participate in training.

Please download the leaflet about Foster Care Respite for Children with Disabilities provides an option to offer care to a number of children as a full-time career.

Can you help?

• Do you have a spare room?
• Your home does not need to be accessible to wheelchair users although in some exceptional circumstances consideration will be given to adaptations.
• It is particularly helpful if you have a ground floor bedroom and bathroom facilities but we also need foster homes with the conventional upstairs bedroom arrangements.
• Are you able to make a regular commitment?

This is such an important service for the families concerned - yet we always have waiting lists of children, young people and families needing short breaks, because demand regularly outstrips supply.

If you have the qualities needed and are interested, please contact us on 0845 330 2968 and an adviser will be happy to answer your enquiry.