CONTACT NUMBER 01392 384500 Out of Hours 01392 438811
When can Devon Social Services help, and how?
When you find it hard to manage independently...
When you are ill, perhaps. Or you might be worried about your health and independence as you get older. You may live in an isolated rural area and find it hard to get hold of the information and help you need. You may have a physical or sensory disability. Or you may find it hard to cope with day-to-day life for a variety of other reasons.
Many kinds of help may be available, such as:
· information, advice and counselling
· training, practical support, equipment and house adaptations
· help to cope with particular disabilities
· help with transport.
When you are thinking about moving to a residential or nursing home
You might need:
· information and advice about your options
· help making the move
· financial help to meet the costs of the home.
When you are caring for a relative, neighbour or friend...
Whether you are looking after a child, adult or elderly person, you may sometimes find caring a strain. You might find it easier if you have:
· information about services which can help
· someone to talk to about your needs
· day-to-day help with caring
· advice about managing difficult behaviour
· someone to take over while you have a break.
When you are in hospital...
You may be worried about how your family will cope while you are away or how you will cope with going home:
· Devon Social Services staff based in hospitals can advise and help you.
When you are worried about someone else
If you think someone may be at risk, because:
· they can't look after themselves, or
· their behaviour is causing distress to others, or
· because of the way other people treat them, or
· they do not appear to be receiving the help they need, such as with a disability,
then please don't hesitate to get in touch with Devon Social Services. Our staff will deal sensibly and in full confidence with your concerns. You could simply be reassured as a result of your contact with us or you may have helped to save another person from serious harm.
Can We Help?
When we have a legal duty to protect you or other people...
Devon Social Services has legal responsibilities to protect people who are being harmed, or who could be a danger to themselves or to others. In these circumstances you can contact us yourself for help, or other people may ask us to get in touch with you. If the situation serious we will respond quickly and sensitively.
Does everyone get help from Devon Social Services?
Everyone can get information and advice from Devon Social Services. This might be all the help you need. Care services are provided by all sorts of organisations, including businesses and voluntary groups. You may simply come to Devon Social Services to find out what is available, and then arrange and possibly pay for services yourself.
If you need more help, Devon Social Services staff will discuss your needs with you in detail. They may be able to arrange services for you, and help to pay for them if they are not free. Services could be provided by the Department itself, or by a business or voluntary organisation.
The money available to arrange and help pay for care
services is limited. Devon Social Services staff have to use this money to help the people who need services most. Our priorities are
· Firstly... children and adults in danger of physical or emotional harm that is likely to result in serious injury, abuse or death.
· Secondly... children and adults at risk of having to leave their chosen environment or losing their independence, or at
Can We Help?
This means that staff arrange services for people in the most dangerous and difficult situations. If a local Devon Social Services office is faced with many people requiring urgent help, then others may have to wait for some or all of the services they need.
When they can, staff offer people a choice of services to meet their needs. But with a limit on funding, choice is sometimes restricted to what is practical and possible to arrange.
If a local office can fund services to meet the needs of everyone in the situations highlighted above, then staff may also be able to extend services to:
· Thirdly... children and adults who need help to enhance or maintain their quality of life.
Limited funding means that although Devon Social Services staff can always give advice and information about services, they can't arrange services for people who are not in any of the situations highlighted here.
How quickly can you get help?
If you simply need information about services, we can usually provide this straight away during office hours.
If you need more than lust information, we aim to let you know within 24 hours how we will respond to your request, or we will tell the person who contacted us on your behalf.
If we need to discuss your situation with you in detail, our staff aim to arrange what we call an 'assessment' within five working days.
FURTHER INFORMATION www.devon-cc.gov.uk
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