News

Short Break Grant programme now open

24th July 2017

TAGS grant, Sheffield, short break grant, short breaks

  • Families with disabled children and young people aged 0-19 years can now apply for a one-off grant payment of up to £400 per family. To qualify, parents must be resident in Sheffield and Sheffield City Council must have a responsibility for their child or young person (e.g. education).

    The money can be used for anything that gives parents a break from their caring responsibilities. For example, you could use it for a gym membership, family days out, to pay for additional support to enable your child to access an activity, childcare to allow you to have a day or nights out, etc.

    The deadline for applications is 31 December 2017. The grant must be spent and the activity have taken place by 31 March 2018.

    You qualify for the grant if:

    • your child/young person receives a High Rate component (either care or mobility) of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) OR
    • your young person receives an Enhanced Rate component (daily living or mobility) of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) OR
    • you already receive another form of short break following an assessment, e.g. SNIPS, overnight stays in a residential unit, direct payments, etc.

    If none of these conditions applies you can still apply, but will need to ask a professional (e.g. GP, Health Visitor, SENCO) who knows you and your child to fill in an “Additional Information Form”. If you were awarded the grant in 2016/17 following the submission of additional information, you do not need to resubmit this provided it is less than 12 months old.

    If you have received the grant before, the council will automatically send you an application form within the next few days (last week of July). If you haven’t received the grant before, you can download an application form and guidance notes from the Council website. If don’t have access to a printer, you can ask SENDIAS to send you a hardcopy.

    Questions? Please contact SENDIAS (formerly Parent Partnership) on 0114 273 6009 or email disabilityinformationservices@sheffield.gov.uk. Please note, SENDIAS will NOT be able to tell you whether your application has been received. If there is a problem with your application or they need more information, they will contact you directly.

    All applications are processed in strict date order of when they are received. The council are unable to “fast track” any applications. Please allow at least six weeks after submitting your application before making any enquiries about its progress.

  • Related Articles