Support services offer you the chance to be a part of your local community. To take part in small group activities and to meet with friends. Using support services also gives your carers a break.
The Learning Disability and Neurodivergent Team will assess the amount of support service you can have through the Community Care Assessment.
Services available
- Day Services. Can support you with social, leisure and work opportunities.
- Outreach. Support can be provided to help you take part in activities available to everyone in Calderdale.
- Home Care. This is a service giving you personal care in your own home.
- Short Breaks. There is a dedicated Respite Service that can provide you with short breaks.
- Staying with a family. You could stay overnight or have daytime support with a family who are registered to offer care.
- Emergency Accommodation. The Respite Service can provide you with somewhere to live if you are in an emergency situation.
- Employment. There are a number of sheltered work opportunities and training schemes in Calderdale.
- Specialist services outside Calderdale. It may be possible to arrange for special services that are not available in Calderdale.
For more about any of the above services ask a worker from your community team or contact: Gateway to Care.
Contact us
The team provides services and advice for adults with a learning disability and/or neurodiversity and their carers. They will meet with you, explain what services available and help you find ones that you need.
- Learning Disability and Neurodivergent Team
- Calderdale Council
c/o Halifax Town Hall
Crossley Street
Halifax, HX1 1UJ - Telephone: 01422 393000
Web chat: Our advisers are available to help, Monday to Friday, between 9am and 5pm. Chat now
Buying your own support services
We offer support services when your care plan shows that you need them. Instead, we may be able to give you the money so you can buy what you need.
- Connect to Support Calderdale:
If you would like to buy products and services, take a look at Connect to Support. This has an e-marketplace, so that you can buy directly from the website.
For a list of people who provide support, please contact your: Community Learning Disabilities Team.
You might buy your own services using Direct Payments or Independent Living Funds. Speak to people in the Community Teams and they will help and advise you.
Direct Payments
Instead of services being arranged for you, a Direct Payment gives you money to buy the care you need, yourself.
Some people with learning disabilities already have Direct Payments. You can choose to have them. How much your Direct Payment money would be depends on the services your care plan says you need.
What you can buy with Direct Payments:
- Help from a place or a person or a team of people.
- Help with personal things like having a bath or washing or getting dressed.
- Help to live in your own home, like help with money or cooking or cleaning the house;
- Help to get out and about. (This can be driving you to see friends or help to join in doing things with other people.)
- Short breaks.
You can decide how your needs will be met, the times that suit you and who will provide your help.
Help available to use Direct Payments
Our Direct Payments staff are here to help you. They can let you know about:
- How much money you can spend on buying help.
- How you can find people to help you.
- How long it might take - six weeks or more.
- How to manage Direct Payments.
Changing your mind about using Direct Payments
If you start to have Direct Payments and then change your mind, that is okay. Just tell us you want to have your services arranged for you again.
Independent Living Funds
Independent Living Funds is a nationally administered fund available to provide money for social and leisure support.
To find out if you may be eligible and to get help in making an application, contact the Community Learning Disabilities Team.
Community teams
The community teams are made up of:
- Social workers.
- A psychologist.
- Nurses.
They work with adults who have learning disabilities and their families and carers. The team can also get help if you need:
- Speech and language therapy.
- Occupational therapy.
- Physiotherapy.
They will carry out an assessment of need. They will talk to you and people who know you. This is to find out if we can help and what support is needed.
If services are provided, one of the team will visit at least once a year. This is to monitor and review services to make sure that the help still meets your needs.
Inspection of services
The Care Quality Commission inspects all registered services.
- Care Quality Commission
- Telephone: 03000 616161.
- Website: Care Quality Commission