Factsheet: Childcare for Children with Disabilities

September 2006

Arranging childcare can be one of the more challenging aspects of returning to work. Some parents are in a position to use informal childcare from family and friends. More often they need a more formal arrangement. When arranging childcare you need to consider your child’s needs and your needs.

Your child’s needs:

• A safe environment in the company of reliable people
• A place where your child will feel happy and secure
• Care that offers appropriate activities according to your child’s needs and abilities, which are also enjoyable
• Is it important that your child is with other children or is adult attention enough?
• Does your child need any sort of specialist care?
• Does the carer need any training or particular equipment to look after your child?
• If your child is older, will lifting him/her be an issue?
• Does your child need a greater than usual staff ratio or one-to-one care?
• Does your child need to be taken to regular hospital appointments, therapies or special activities during your working hours?
• Does your child need to be cared for in your own home?

Your needs

What hours do you need to allow you to work (including travelling time)? You can check out your rights to change the hours you work in the Working Families’ factsheet on flexible working - parents of disabled children up to age 18 have the right to request flexible working.

What transport can you use to reach the childcare provision?

Do you have more than one child, and therefore childcare, which needs to dovetail?

Cost

Disability Discrimination Act

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) covers childcare providers. They must make reasonable adjustments for disabled children and they are not allowed to discriminate. They are allowed to charge extra if they need to employ extra staff or limit their provision to fewer children, but they are only allowed to charge for the extra costs incurred. Reasonable adjustment can mean that they change their practice to accommodate a disabled child’s needs. It would not be reasonable to expect a childminder to make the degree of alterations to her home that you could expect a Local Authority to make to a school or a nursery.

Childcare away from your home

Childminders

A childminder is someone who cares for other people’s children in her own home. She is often a mother herself, with experience rather than lengthy training in childcare. You can expect a home-from-home atmosphere. Childminders who look after under eights must, by law, be registered by OFSTED, who check their qualifications, inspect their premises, carry out criminal record checks on them and members of their household and set limits on the number of children they can care for at one time. Whatever age your child is your childminder must be registered if you are claiming the childcare element of Working Tax Credit (WTC).

Most people choose childminders on the basis of their human qualities: ideally someone who is kind, patient and motherly. You might also be looking for someone who has personal experience of disability, such as a disabled child of her own. Many local authorities operate Childminder Networks comprising childminders who have had some extra training relating to disabled children and receive extra support from the local authority. You can share with the childminder all your knowledge of your child’s needs. If you child needs to be given medication, the childminder’s insurance may require her to have ‘the same level of training as a parent would have’. You could offer to pay for her time while she gets advice from your GP or Health Visitor. Childminders usually look after younger children but because they only look after a few they are in a position to adjust their practice to look after older children too.

When visiting prospective childminders you may want to ask about her experience, her attitude to discipline and what activities she arranges, including outings. If you take your child with you, you will be able to see how they get on together.

Although childminders are not allowed to discriminate, they are self-employed, so are in a position to select their own clients.

Your local Children’s Information Service will have details of local childminders. If you live near the border or work in another borough you may want to check out childminders in neighbouring boroughs.

Nurseries:

There are nurseries run by local authorities, community nurseries and privately run nurseries. They all have to be inspected and registered and so fees are eligible for the childcare element of WTC. They are not allowed to discriminate against disabled children. Nurseries have fixed hours and only cater for under fives above a minimum age, but, unlike childminders, you’re unlikely to have to make other arrangements if staff are ill or on holiday. If your child has been allocated some hours in a local authority nursery because they are deemed to be ‘in need’, you may be able to pay for the extra hours you need to cover your working hours. The DDA would require reasonable adjustments if the nursery was inaccessible and prohibit discrimination against disabled children. If your child requires extra support they could charge for the extra staff time.

Breakfast, after-school and holiday clubs:

Childcare provision for primary school-age children is often provided by way of clubs before or after school and in the holidays. The DDA requires reasonable adjustments for disabled children and prohibits discrimination. Typically they are held on or near school premises. It is less usual for special schools to run these clubs. Clubs on school premises and some others are eligible for the childcare element of WTC.

Older children

There are few provisions for children of secondary school age except for some holiday schemes run by local authorities and commercially, usually for some weeks of the summer holidays. In some areas, disability organisations or the local authority may lay on specialist holiday play-schemes for disabled children. These rarely run for more than a couple of weeks and the hours do not usually cover a normal working day. Many working parents find it necessary to use some other form as childcare as well, make reciprocal arrangements with other parents or adjust their working hours (see Working Families factsheets on Flexible Working and Parental Leave).

Transport:

Many disabled children use local authority provided transport to and from school. Local Authorities vary in their flexibility when parents want children collected from or delivered to childcare provision. Ask for what you want and investigate changing your working hours (see Working Families’ factsheet on Flexible Working) to fit in with what they are prepared to provide.

Childcare in your home

You may wish for your children to be cared for together in your home and/or it may be that your child’s home is the only practical place for their care because of their impairment. If you have two or more children, care in your own home may be the cheapest option. If you employ someone, you then have the duties of an employer and need to take out appropriate insurance and comply with other employment legislation. ACAS can advise.

Nannies:

Nannies can come daily or live-in. There is no legal definition of a nanny. Make sure that you understand the extent of any training or experience candidates claim to have and insist on seeing original certificates. Some nannies specialise in caring for disabled children. Whatever their experience, you are the expert on your child and can share your knowledge with them. Always take up at least two references. It is a good idea to phone referees because previous employers may be reluctant to put their concerns in writing. In order for the costs to be eligible for the childcare element of WTC, the nanny has to be approved by the Childcare Approval Scheme. This involves having some childcare and first aid training and an up-to-date police check. It costs £99 a year. Contact details below. You can find details of local nanny agencies from www.yell.com or yellow pages. Working Families have a list of special needs nanny agencies. If you are looking for a carer for an older child you might want to check out local care and nursing agencies. If the agency is registered the care will be eligible for the childcare element of WTC.

Mother’s Helps:

A mother’s help does not have childcare training so would not be eligible for the childcare element of WTC. Working Families do not recommend that mother’s helps are left in charge of pre-school or particularly vulnerable children. You can expect mother’s helps to do some light housework. Take up references as above.

Au Pairs:

An au pair is a single person aged between 17 and 27 who comes from abroad to live as a member of your family and learn English. Au pairs from outside the EU must have a special visa which is usually for a year and will restrict what they can do. Au pairs may not work for more than five hours a day, must have two days off a week and receive a minimum of £55 per week. Working Families do not recommend that au pairs are left in charge of pre-school or particularly vulnerable children.

Paying for childcare:

Working Tax Credit:

If you’re a lone parent working 16 hours a week or more, if both parents work 16 hours a week or more or one parent works 16 hours a week or more and the other is incapacitated, in hospital or prison, you can include 80% of your childcare costs up to £175 a week for one child or £300 a week for more than one child in your claim for Working Tax Credit, WTC. This amount is the same for disabled and non-disabled children, but for disabled children you can claim until the end of the week including 1 st September following their 16 th birthday (15 th birthday for non-disabled children). The childcare must be registered or approved. Registered or approved childcare is:

• Registered childminders, nurseries and playschemes
• Out-of-hours clubs run by a school on the school premises or by a local authority
• Childcare schemes run by approved providers, for example, an out-of-school-hours scheme
• A provider approved under a Ministry of Defence accreditation scheme abroad
• An approved foster carer (the care must be for a child who is not a foster carer's foster child)
• In England only, a childcarer approved under the Childcare Approval Scheme. (If you use a sitter service, then give the details of the sitter you use most frequently. You do not have to notify HMRC of all the sitters you use, as long as they are approved. However, you should keep details of all the sitters you use for your own records.)
• In England and Wales only, childcare provided in your own home by a domiciliary worker or nurse from a registered agency
• In Scotland only, childcare provided in your own home by (or introduced through) childcare agencies, including sitter services and nanny agencies, which are required to be registered
• In Northern Ireland only, childcare provided in the child's own home by a child carer approved under the Approval of Home Child Care Providers Scheme

Childcare will not be eligible care for help within the WTC childcare element if it is provided by:

• a relative of a child caring for that child in the child's home even if the relative is registered or approved, or
• a childcarer approved under the Childcare Approval Scheme in England, who is caring for a child, or children, away from the child's, or children's, home and who is only caring for a child, or children, to whom he or she is related.

A relative of the child means a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, brother or sister whether by blood, half-blood, marriage or affinity.

A registered childminder, nursery, childcare scheme or agency is one that is registered:

• in England, by Ofsted or the National Care Standards Commission
• in Wales, by the National Assembly for Wales (through the Care Standards Inspectorate for Wales)
• in Scotland, by the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care, and
• in Northern Ireland, by a Health and Social Services Trust.

See Working Families’ Tax Credits and Benefits factsheet for more details of WTC, including how the maximum award is reduced when you earn over £5220.

Childcare Vouchers

Some employers provide childcare vouchers. Others are prepared to let employees sacrifice some of their salary and provide childcare vouchers instead. This can be in the interest of both because no tax or National Insurance is payable on vouchers up to £55 per week. Vouchers can be used for registered or approved childcare, see above. You cannot include the cost of childcare which is paid for by vouchers in your claim for WTC, and sacrificing some of your salary may have a knock-on effect on pay rises and pension contributions calculated as percentages of salary, so it essential to calculate whether vouchers are advantageous in your particular circumstances before you agree to a salary sacrifice agreement.

Direct Payments

If your local authority assess your disabled child as in need of services, such as a nursery place or short breaks (respite care), you can ask for a direct payment and arrange services yourself. The payment includes the extra costs of employer’s National Insurance and they should provide support for you in your role as an employer. Direct Payments mean that you have much more flexibility over how and when you receive the service which may help you arrange childcare to suit your work commitments. You cannot use Direct Payments to buy council run services.

Bursaries and Grants

A few local authorities have their own schemes in place to help parents of disabled children with the extra costs of childcare for their disabled children. You can enquire at your council offices.

Nursery Education Grants:

All three and four year olds are entitled to up to 2 ½ hours of early education per weekday during school term time (33 weeks per year). The local authority pays the grant directly to your nursery. This can be used either to gain a free place at a nursery school or the money can be used towards paying for a private nursery. The grant is worth between £1200 and £1300 per year.

Waving not drowning is Working Families’ special project for parents of disabled children who work or wish to work. If you would like to be on the mailing list for the free newsletter ring or email Janet Mearns on 020 7253 7243, janet.mearns@workingfamilies.org.uk or send your name and address to the address below. You can also ring Janet for advice on combining paid work and caring for disabled children.

Working Families helpline for legal advice on rights at work: 0800 013 0313.

Useful contacts:

4Children

City Reach
5 Greenwich View Place
London
E14 9NN
020 7512 2112

info@4Children.org.uk
www.4children.org.uk

Advisory, Reconciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS)

Brandon House
180 Borough High Street
London
SE1 1LW
0845 747 4747

www.acas.org.uk

Childcare Approval Scheme

2nd Floor Westbury House
23-25 Bridge Street
Pinner
HA5 3HR
0845 7678111

www.childcareapprovalscheme.co.uk

Children's Information Service (CIS) to find your local CIS

08000 960296
www.childcarelink.gov.uk

Disability Rights Commission (DRC)

DRC Helpline
FREEPOST MID02164
Stratford-upon-Avon
CV37 9BR
08457 622 633
Textphone 08457 622 644,
Fax 08457 778 878

www.drc-gb.org

Inland Revenue Helpline (for Working Tax Credit claims)

0845 300 3900

National Childminding Association (NCMA)

Royal Court
81 Tweedy Road
Bromley
Kent
BR1 1TG
0845 880 0044

www.ncma.org.uk

Professional Association of Nursery Nurses (PANN)

2 St James Court
Friar Gate
Derby
DE1 1BT
01332 372337

hq@pat.org.uk
www.pat.org.uk

Working Families

1-3 Berry St, London, EC1V 0AA
Telephone: 0800 013 0313

www.workingfamilies.org.uk
info@workingfamilies.org.uk

Registered Charity No 1099808
Company No 4727690

Working Families Publications

Balancing Work & Home £5.00 (postfree), a practical guide to managing stress

Make it work for you! £5.50 to parents, otherwise £15.50 (post free), a guide for parents trying to combine paid work and caring for disabled children

Pro-forma nanny contract two copies one for you and one for your nanny £5.00 postfree

List of special needs nanny agencies – please send SAE

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