Better lives with choice and control
In our latest issue, to open the new year of 2022, we focus in two articles on building better lives for people than those for which at times they might seem predestined. Les Scaife’s remarkable story (READ MORE) of his son Brian’s life so far illustrates the extent to which some families will go to ensure that their children can go on to lead independent and fulfilled lives.
The family were determined from the start that Brian would not be separated out into specialist services but should be in a position to pursue his dreams, realise his talents and seize his opportunities. To do this they embarked on an odyssey that took them from Surrey to Cornwall and then to Lancashire to ensure that their son could attend mainstream school as a child and stay clear of day centres and residential homes as an adult.
This also involved mastering the complexity of local authority funding methods so that Brian could benefit from direct payments and other types of personalised budget to live an independent life. Furthermore, Les Scaife campaigned and worked to ensure that other families could take advantage of the same opportunities. The results have been spectacular, and Brian has lived the life he has wanted to lead.
Of course not all families can regularly up sticks and move to different parts of the country to position themselves in the most favourable environment to achieve independence for their leaning disabled family member. Nor should they have to.
It is remarkable how often in stories like this local authorities, and in particular social services departments, can feel like the enemy, dampening expectations and aspirations, talking only about limitation, deficit, and reasons why things can’t happen. It is an indictment of the social care system that a family has to go to such great lengths, mentally and physically, to achieve independence and autonomy for one individual. There are such things as good local authorities and great social workers, but they can sometimes be hard to find.
Local authorities and social workers, and providers, must learn to be open to the unusual and to support that fits individuals, rather than individuals being pressured to fit into whatever support can be offered to them.
Our account by Amanda Topps (READ MORE) of the ‘Small Supports’ initiative offers some hope that this sort of individualised service might start to break through, particularly in relation to individuals unjustly detained, seemingly without end, in Assessment and Treatment Units. This project, supported by NHS England and the Local Government Association, is based on the premise that small local organisations, which are not seeking to evolve into large organisations, and are deeply embedded in their communities, can meet the aspirations of individuals and ensure that they have choice and control in their lives.
How nice if services like this can become the norm, and families no longer have to uproot themselves to escape the dead hand of social care bureaucracy.
A Happy and Creative New Year
A new year begins, and we might all sense the faint stirring of something unfamiliar and almost forgotten in the deepest recesses of our thoughts. Do we remember a thing called optimism? We know how awful the last two years have been, but in these pages we hope you will find a few reasons to feel a bit better about life and where it might take us in 2022.
As well as initiatives like Small Support and the life affirming story of the Scaife family, we have the extraordinary creativity of our interviewee Bobby Latheron, author, songwriter and playwright (READ MORE). Jan Walmsley tells the story of the passion and ingenuity of self-advocacy groups who have risen to the challenge in the face of an enormous crisis (READ MORE). Alex Lewer recounts how an inclusive choir has come through the pandemic stronger and even better (READ MORE) and, last but not least, we have the lockdown-inspired poetry of Phillip Rackham and Sharon Russell (READ MORE). We hope all this gives you some cheer for the year ahead, whatever problems we might face.
A Happy New Year to all our readers, contributors and supporters, and thank you for sticking with us through challenging times.
