Who is eligible for Self Directed Support?

To find out if you are eligible you can contact your local social work office/care manager to discuss and arrange an assessment of your care needs.

If you have had an assessment of your care needs and have been assessed as needing services, you are very likely to be eligible for Self Directed Support.

How does it work?

This assessment will identify the help and care you need to live your life successfully and to keep you healthy and safe. This will involve you and your care manager, and may also involve others in your life such as family and friends.

Following this assessment you will be allocated a personal budget which will indicate how much money may be available to allow you to begin planning your support.

There are different ways in how you can arrange to manage your budget and your support:

• You may choose to manage this yourself or with the help of family or friends.
• You may choose to have your support managed by a provider such as Quarriers.
• You may choose your local authority/care manager to manage support best to your needs.
• Or have a mixture of the above.

How do I develop my support

Once you know how much money is available to you you will need to develop a plan. This will help you gather information on how you want to spend your personal budget to help you live the life you want, and help you to look at what is important to you or at any changes that you may want to make in your life.

Once this plan has been agreed with your care manager, it will be reviewed at regular intervals to make sure it continues to meet your needs.

How do I organise my budget and support

Once your plan has been agreed, your care manager will arrange for the money to be paid either to you or to whoever you have agreed will manage the money for you. Your care and support can then be organised.

Can I get involved in recruiting my staff?

Yes. All of the people we support and their families can and do get involved in the recruitment process.

Are Quarriers staff police checked?

Yes. All staff have to complete a PVG check, and we carefully screen references. We also have a thorough process for recruiting and selecting the right kind of people to work with you.

Are your staff trained?

Yes. All of our staff meet the national qualification requirements. Quarriers has a large training department. Our staff undertake mandatory training including:

• emergency first aid
• principles of self-directed support
• fire safety awareness
• child/adult protection

In addition, if you need your support staff to have specialist skills, we also offer a range of training in:

• safer handling
• autism awareness
• administration of medication
• strategies for crisis prevention and intervention and/or CALM
• epilepsy and rescue medication
• autism awareness
• head injury awareness
• Community Connections

Are all of your services registered with the Care Inspectorate?

Yes. All Quarriers services are registered with the Care Inspectorate in Scotland and Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission in England. Reports on each service are available on their website.

How much do your services cost?

This depends on what kind of support you are looking for and where you live. When we meet with you we can discuss this with you. Quarriers will provide you with a full written agreement. All of our staff meet the qualification requirements for the Scottish Social Services Council.

What is included in the cost?

In asking Quarriers to provide the support you want, the cost naturally includes provision of the staff who will work directly with you. Should you wish, we will help you in developing links that do not involve paid staff. We will use our Volunteer Centre to find volunteers (we will ensure safe recruitment and training), and we will call on the expertise of our Community Connections/Lifelinks and Inclusion teams in helping you plan what you would like to achieve. There are no additional charges in involving these services.

How do I pay for Quarriers services?

Self-directed support allows you to choose your own level of control. If you are managing your own budget, Quarriers will invoice you for the services you receive on a monthly basis and will agree a suitable payment method with you.

If you would like us to manage your finances, Quarriers can help. Alternatively, you can arrange for your local authority to purchase a service on your behalf.