Self-directed Support : my support, my choice: your guide to social care

Planning your support

What is a support plan?

A support plan sets out how you will use your money to buy support and how that support will help you make the changes in your life that you want to make.

What makes a good support plan?

Having a good support plan is really important but how can you make sure you give the professional working with you the information he or she needs to develop a support plan
with you?

To help you this guide sets out 8 important questions you should think about when planning support with the professional working with you:

1. What are the things and people that are important to you?

2. Where can you go to get the information and support you need?

3. What are the things that you can do yourself?

4. What are the main risks and how will we manage them?

5. What are the things you want to do?

6. How will you arrange your support?

7. Who are the people who can help you do the things you want to do?

8. What are the things (like information or funding) that will help you to do the things you want to do?

Advice and Information

• remember you can ask your family members or a friend to help you at this stage
• you can also get information and advice from a local support organisation

Find your local support organisation at: http://www.sdsinfo.org.uk/

• could an independent advocate help you to have a stronger voice?

Find an advocate in your area at: http://www.siaa.org.uk/find-advocate/

Child's plan

The Child's plan must be a single plan. If the child receives support from more than one public body or agency (such as support from the local council and the local NHS Board) it is up to the professionals to make sure their work is coordinated and recorded in a single plan.

What makes a good child's plan?

The child's or young person's plan should:

• be as simple as necessary and written so that it can be clearly understood by the child or young person, parents or carers
• set out the child's or young person's
  • needs
  • strengths in their personal, family and environmental circumstances
  • risks that they face
• be based on an assessment and analysis of the child's or young person's needs
• be practical, possible and achievable
• be regularly monitored and reviewed, and amended as needs or circumstances change.
• involve a range of different people such as:
  • the child or young person receiving support
  • the parents of the child or young person
  • professionals from the agencies involved (such as social workers, teachers, doctors), and family and friends

Other plans

A child may have another plan in place to meet other needs, for example additional support for learning and education needs. But plans for a child's health and social care needs should be combined into a single plan.