Does a Person Assistant have to be a Mencap staff member?

[TPJCA]

Can a Mencap supported living resident self-fund a Person Assistant (to take them out) if that PA is not a Mencap staff member?

[Jofisher]

Absolutely not there are lots of organisations that provide P.A’s speak to your social worker or at least adult social services they can advise you of where to go if your not sure.

[Hidden]

Yes if the contract says you can. Or if you have a personal budget. If contract is with a care provider then no.

[TPJCA in reply to Hidden]

Thanks. Will have to find out what the supported living contract says. The resident has a PA in mind who is not on the Mencap staff.

[XGCC]

I don't know about Mencap supported living but my daughter has 8 hours from external source Shared Lives provider to support her at volunteering so that 8 hours is deducted from the supported living shared care so the local authority are not paying twice. I think this shows that in principle it is possible to have a mixture of funding direct payments, local authority care etc.

[TPJCA]

Thanks. In your scenario it doesn't seem fair though that Local Authority deduct their contribution. A resident should be free to choose to pay for extra support out of their funds if they wish to go out more than is made available by Mencap staffing.

[TPJCA]

Just found this is on the Mencap website:You can also pay for extra support using your own money, in addition to your social care funding.

It doesn't specify that the extra support has to be provided by the organisation where the resident lives, in this case a Mencap Home.