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Care Act 2014

Anne ClarkeHead of Adult Social Care

Sue AlexanderHead of Finance & Business Support

23rd April 2015

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The Care Act• Royal Assent May 2014

• Replaces all existing legislation under which Adult Social Care was delivered from 1948

• Incorporates the Government response to the Dilnot Commission recommendations on funding care and support.

• All changes are being implemented from 01 April 2015, with the exception of funding reforms being introduced from 2016.

• Regulations for Phase 1 issued October 2014

• Response to the Phase 2 (2016) consultation awaited from the new government. Secondary legislation expected October at the earliest

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What does the Act do?

“The Act creates a single, consistent route to establishing an entitlement to public care and support for all adults with needs for care and support. It also creates the first ever entitlement to support for carers, on a similar basis”

Department of Health Care Act Factsheet

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Key Principles in the Act

• The Well-being Principle – a local authority must promote well-being when carrying out any care and support function

• The individual is best placed to know about their own well-being and needs to participate as fully as possible in decisions (and introduces duty for provision of Independent Advocacy for those who would have substantial difficulty in participating and has no-one available to support)

4DACS Presentation

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Key Principles

• A shift from a system based on crisis management to one of preventing or delaying care and support needs though information and advice, “primary, secondary and tertiary prevention”

• Parity of esteem for carers

• Personalisation of care and support through the use of Personal Budgets and Direct Payments

5DACS Presentation

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• Information and Advice

• Market Shaping/Management/Response to business failure

• Needs Assessments - (new language, adult in need of care and support)

• Carers Assessments (lower threshold for assessment than previously)

• Implementation of a new national eligibility criteria for local authority funded care and support

• Safeguarding

Key Council Duties from 2015 (1)

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• New responsibilities to provide assessments and services to those in prison

• Personal Budgets (in law for the first time)

• Care and Support Plans/ Support Plans

• Duty to co-operate

• New Charging Framework

• National Deferred Payment Scheme

Key Council Duties from 2015 (2)

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Reform of Eligibility for Adult Social Care Funding

• Introduction of Deferred Payments Agreements(2015)

• Raising the Capital Threshold for support (2016)

• New Cap on Care Costs (2016)

• Independent Personal Budgets/Care Accounts (2016)

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Preparation for 2015 (1)• Clauses in Care Act reviewed

• Actions managed through Future Lives Programme Board

• New approach to Information and Advice through Your Life, Your Choice

• Training of all staff in DASH - with more in depth training for social workers as their practice needs to change from April 2015

• Social workers who will work in prisons identified and a social care service to provide care in prisons commissioned

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Preparation for 2015 (2)• Safeguarding Adults Board has been reviewed

• Review of operational safeguarding processes, working with colleagues in West Midlands

• Some changes in social work teams

• Key policies updated/New policies developed eg Deferred Payments under the national scheme

• System changes to ensure electronic records reflect the Care Act

• Discussions with partners including providers

• Modelling of financial implications

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Potential Challenges in 2015/16• Demand projections remain uncertain – will the additional

funding from government be sufficient?

• New rights may shift behaviour - but one of the underpinning messages of the Care Act is building individual and community capacity and resilience

• New responsibilities to assess “self funders” from October 2015

• Systems needed to set up Care Accounts

• Impact of change on workforce

• Care Act implications funded from Care Act grant plus Better Care Fund monies – will require robust monitoring.

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Next Steps

• Planning for the April 16 changes

• Continuing to work with regional and national networks of support

• Monitoring the impact of the April 15 changes – demand and outcomes for individuals

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Questions