Our shared future for disabled children and their families
We want disabled children and young people to be included in everyday activities and encouraged to have roles similar to their peers who do not have a disability. This involves more than simply encouraging people; it requires making sure that our communities, services and support are effective in increasing participation and enabling access to the range of activities within our communities. This community accessibility is important, so we want to support organisations to become more inclusive, enabling diverse children, young people and their families to access activities, and enjoying day-to-day activities. We want all our children in Devon to be able to take advantage of everything we, as a caring community, have to offer.
We know that each child or young person is different, and they have different strengths and interests which means that we need variety in the activities on offer across Devon. This can range from simply offering concessions to parent carers or siblings to making reasonable adjustments, providing access to some of our amazing resources within Devon.
Shared outcomes
We want to support organisations and services to be sustainable in providing:
- Increased activities and services available across Devon to reach and support more disabled children and young people with special educational needs.
- A diverse range of different activities and services which matter to children, young people and their families, and who care about their outcomes.
- Promotion and delivery of greater inclusivity to enable disabled children and young people with Special Educational Needs to fully access their local community and take part in activities, services and groups alongside their parent carers, siblings, peers and friends.
We understand that the range of needs, interests and support can be difficult for organisations to meet. However, we want to work with you to develop activities which can meet the needs of children and young people with a range of disabilities including neurodiverse conditions and needs, physical disabilities, learning disabilities, sensory impairments or multiple needs (please note that this list is not exhaustive).
What families tell us
- Families want to spend quality time together, close to where they live
- Families would also like us to be creative and flexible about the types of things they can do as a short break that will meet the wider family’s needs
- Children and young people would like to do more activities like sports, music, being outdoors, and have more chance to make friends
- Older children and young people would like to do things more appropriate to their age and interests
- Families would like better choice of experienced providers who can offer opportunities for children and young people with more complex and challenging needs and behaviours
- Some parts of Devon are better served for activities for children and young people to do than other parts and we need to provide equity across the geography
- ‘Enabling’ services and holiday clubs, which are really appreciated by families, can be difficult to find and often have waiting lists
- Families feel services can be too expensive
- Parents would like more self-help information and advice to support their children
- It’s difficult for many families trying to juggle their lives, their relationships, interests, work etc alongside their caring roles
- Sometimes parents and carers feel isolated, even in their own communities
- It’s sometimes difficult for siblings of disabled children and young people, whose parents perhaps spend less time with them – they might want to do ‘ordinary’ things like having a friend over for tea, which in some situations is not possible
- Many families do not have any contingency or crisis plan to fall back on in case it is needed
- They enjoy the flexibility of funding their short breaks through their direct payments and personal budgets so they can choose and arrange services themselves. We are committed to supporting families to do this wherever possible
What children and young people told us they would like
- Have different options available, to choose the type, location, and time of my short break.
- Have help and support to become more independent.
- Have positive and good experiences.
- Be able to plan and design short breaks.
- Reach their full potential and thrive.
- Make new friends and learn new skills and become more confident.
- Build on strengths rather than difficulties or disabilities.
What parents and carers say matters to them
- To know what short breaks are available and how to access them?
- Choices across the type, time, and location
- Clear communication from professionals to help make choices.
- More control and be able to deal with caring responsibilities.
- To know how to access support before reaching crisis point.
- To know that my child receives high quality short breaks and is cared for by trained, professional staff in a safe environment.
Who can be involved
We want to hear from any organisations within Devon who can, already do, or want to support disabled children and young people, their parent carers and/ or siblings.
We know that this can be difficult for organisations, and we would love to hear about how you can help us to build an inclusive community. We want to hear what help you need from us. This might be in the form of advertisement, developing feedback to support your organisation or providing advice and training for your employees’ to help them support the next generation of Devon’s residents. Examples of what we are looking for include clubs, youth groups and leisure facilities that already offer or are interested to offer tailored sessions that will be more welcoming for disabled children.
As a holiday destination within the UK Devon has activities, theme parks and holiday settings which are often not open all year round. It could be that your organisation could open for a number of days which are freely accessible to disabled children, young people and their families. This could also be offering concessions for entrance fees for siblings or parent carers, having transferable memberships for different enablers to support children or offering a number of free places or support. You might be able to offer disability focused sessions which are quieter or something as simple as free parking, sessions or wish to donate something.
How to get involved
If you are an organisation and would like to find out more, tell us about something you are doing or want to do in the future, please complete the short introductory form.
We will ask you if you want to talk with us about how we can support our diverse community together.
If you have any questions please email childrenscommissioningsecure-mailbox@devon.gov.uk.
You might also be thinking about the support you may need to be more inclusive. Please note that we will shortly be running Disabled Children’s Service small grants, and you can opt in to be kept informed.
A printable PDF of the information on this page is available here.