Direct Payments & Citizen Directed Support

Direct Payments are an important building block of Independent Living which the disabled people's movement fought long and hard to achieve. Direct payment schemes give individuals the option to receive cash payments from social care departments instead of direct services. This gives recipients much more flexibility and greater control of their support package, enabling them to employ personal assistants of their own choice instead of being allocated care workers from a provider contracted to the council.

A list of direct payment support organisations can be accessed here.

Citizen Centered Support is a further extension of direct payments which aims to shift power and control over services directly to disabled people. Following supported self-assessment, planning and resource allocation, individuals are given control of an individual budget which can be used in the form of a direct payment, as direct service provision, or a mixture of both. After negotiation and agreement between the individual and professionals, the budget can be used in appropriate and creative ways to achieve agreed outcomes.

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