Other benefits
Resources
- Family Fund Trust
- Discretionary Social Fund
- Council Tax reduction for people with disabilities
- Fares to hospital
- Other special grants
- Childcare Inclusion Funding
- Direct Payments
Family Fund Trust
The Family Fund is for families on low incomes who have children with severe disabilities. They can help if your child is aged 17 or under. Many families have found the Family Fund a great help financially for one-off payments for specific things like washing machines, beds and bedding, travel expenses, specialist toys, telephones, driving lessons for a child's main carer and holidays in the UK or abroad.
The Family Fund will consider most requests, however they give priority to families whose social or financial needs are greatest.
The Family Fund cannot help fund equipment or services that are the responsibility of health or social services to provide. Also, you cannot get help for a child who is in the care of their local authority.
The Family Fund website gives up-to-date details of how to apply, and who is likely to be eligible.
How do you get it?
You can get an application form by writing to the Family Fund at PO Box 50, York YO1 9ZX, by ringing 0845 130 4542 or you can apply online at www.familyfundtrust.org.uk. You may want to ask your health visitor or social worker to support your application.
When you write, you will need to give your child's name, date of birth, details of their disability, what help you need and whether you've asked for a grant before.
The Family Fund will ask you for details of your income and savings, and they may contact your consultant asking for more information about your child's disability or medical condition.
Discretionary Social Fund
The Social Fund makes Community Care Grants, Budgeting Loans or Crisis Loans for needs that are hard to meet from weekly benefits. If you are on Income Support, you may be able to get a loan or grant towards the cost of a specific item of household equipment or furniture.
In practice it can be very hard to get money from the Social Fund; there is no legal entitlement, payments are discretionary and the budget is limited.
You should always apply for a grant rather than a loan if you think you may be eligible. Loans are interest free, but even so, budgeting for repayments can be tricky.
You can find out more from your local Jobcentre Plus. Contact Brighton or Hove Jobcentre Plus on 0845 6088715.
Council Tax reduction for people with disabilities
You could pay less Council Tax if your home has been adapted so that it's more accessible for your disabled child. If you've had to adapt your home especially for your disabled child, your council tax bill could be reduced to that of a house in the band immediately below yours. If your house is already in the lowest band (Band A) you won't qualify.
The sort of adaptations that might make the difference are:
- additional space for a wheelchair to be used indoors (like widening doors, corridors, removing partition walls)
- an extra room to meet special needs (for example, a downstairs bathroom/toilet)
Find out more about adaptations to your home
How do you get it?
Ring Brighton and Hove Council's Council Tax Office on 291291 to ask if you qualify.
Fares to hospital
Some of us have spent a small fortune getting to hospital, especially when our children needed frequent treatment or couldn't travel on buses or trains.
You can get help with fares to hospital if you're on Income Support, or sometimes if your income is very low. Most hospitals have someone who deals with reimbursing fares on the spot.
Your hospital social worker or the consultant's secretary should be able to help you find out whether your child can get an ambulance, hospital car transport, or help with taxi fares.
When we've had to take our children out of the area for treatment (for instance, up to Great Ormond Street or Guy's) we've sometimes been able to get help with travel costs. Ask your consultant to write to the Health Authority for you, making it clear that the journey is a necessary part of your child's treatment, and you should get it paid.
Other special grants
Some charitable organisations make grants for specific purposes like holidays, or buying a special piece of equipment. You can find details of these organisations in directories held locally, for example, at the Carers' Centre.
The main directory is 'A Guide to Grants for Individuals in Need' by Casson and Brown, published by the Directory of Social Change. Amaze keeps a copy of this and it is also available from main reference libraries.
Childcare Inclusion Funding
Childcare Inclusion Funding is available to help cover the additional costs of settling a child with special needs into a nursery or with another childcare provider. It can be used for extra staffing costs, to buy special equipment or make adaptations to the premises and can amount to £1200. The childcare provider and parent/carer should contact the Family Information Service on 01273 293545 to find out about Childcare Inclusion Funding.
Direct Payments
Direct payments are a way of giving more choice and control to disabled children and their families about the services they use. Find out more about Direct Payments.