Self-Directed Support

The Scottish Parliament has passed a new law on social care support, the Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013.

The Act gives people a range of options for how their social care is delivered, beyond just direct payments, empowering people to decide how much ongoing control and responsibility they want over their own support arrangements.

The Act, which will be implemented in April 2014, requires local council’s to offer people four choices on how they can get their social care. The choices are:

• Option 1 direct payment
• Option 2 the person directs the available support
• Option 3 the local authority arranges the support
• Option 4 a mix of the above.

People who may be eligible for Self-directed Support include those with mental ill health, older people (with or without mental ill health), physical impairment, learning disabilities, sensory impairment, substance misuse issues, parents of children with disabilities and carers.

Every person has the right to an assessment of need and Councils have a duty to support people in need to the best of their ability, and this support should be based upon a formal assessment of your need.

If you receive Self-Directed Support to meet your health and social care needs, you could use some of your individual budget to pay for our services.

 

Or, to find out if you qualify for Self-Directed Support, contact your local council social work team.