Fullerton Eligibility Criteria

1. Introduction

The service offers overnight short breaks for children with a range of disabilities who are deemed to require level 4 children's social care services. These include children who are deemed to be on the edge of care and who have learning disabilities, physical disabilities, additional health care needs and children on the autistic spectrum. The aim of the service is to prevent disabled children from becoming Children Looked After.

2. Who is Eligible for the Service?

Fullerton provides a planned residential service for parents whose children have a disability.

The age range is for children between 6 - 17 years old. When matching children and young people to the service the home will consider the ages and abilities of all children, as well as sibling assessments, the child or young person's wishes and feelings and more importantly the perceived risks for all staying at Fullerton.

The home is governed by The Children Home (England) Regulations 2015 and therefore has not been registered for children aged 0-5 years. In Knowsley we acknowledge that it is not suitable for young children to enter residential care and therefore they would be referred to the fostering team by their social worker in the Children with Disabilities Team.

The threshold for services offered will be taken on the merit of each assessment conducted by the allocated social worker and scrutinized by the Team Manager in Children with Disabilities Team. This will include 'the unique combination of the child's disability, the circumstances of their home life and the wider context of their social environment'. It is known that circumstances such as family breakdown, more than one child with a disability living within the home, limited family networks and challenging behaviour are factors considered.

Following an agreement of the threshold between Social Worker and Team Manager, a referral will be made to Complex care panel where the Registered Manager of Fullerton Grove Home will sit. There will be a requirement for an assessment that outlines the risks and assessment of need. The assessment of need should be a multi-agency plan that therefore informs the home with the aims and goals for the individual child and or young person and inform an Impact risk assessment. If a child and or young person is deemed to be suitable placement planning and risk assessments will be completed.

All children, young people and families will be introduced to the home and will have a plan of introduction that is tailored to the child or young person's needs.

The child/young person's level of disability will include one or more of the following:

• The child or young person should have a substantial degree of sensory impairment and a learning disability;
• The child/young person should have a severe learning disability;
• The child or young person may have behaviour which challenges the people around them due to the degree of learning disability;
• The child or young person may also require a high level of personal care.

The children and young people who have a short break at Fullerton Grove do so under Section 17(6) of the Children's Act 1989, therefore it is a part of a range of services to promote the child's welfare. The legal status of a child changes if they remain in placement for a period of more than 24 hours with no break lasting more than 17 days with a total that does not exceed 75 days in one year. The parents maintain full responsibility for the children and young people whilst they are provided with a break at Fullerton Grove. If a child is required to be provided with an access of the above they should be assessed and will be deemed as a child Looked After and will require arrangements to be made under Volume 2, Care Planning, Placement and Case Review Regulations.

There should be no referrals made to Fullerton until Outreach and other services have been exhausted and or it is believed to be a detrimental risk to the child or young person's safety and well-being.