Short Breaks for Children with Disabilities

About Short breaks

Short breaks are for children and young people with disabilities.

They provide them with an opportunity to:

spend time away from their primary carers
take part in a range of fun activities
develop their independence, emotional resilience and confidence

Short breaks also help parents and carers to have a break from their caring responsibilities.

There are 2 levels of short break support available in Jersey:

Targeted short breaks
Specialist short breaks

Children will be supported at the lowest tier that meets their needs.

Targeted short breaks

Targeted short breaks offer after school and weekend groups for disabled children and young people to:

socialise with others
take part in fun activities

Eligibility for targeted short breaks

Your child is eligible if:

they’re aged between 4 and 17 years
they have a permanent and substantial disability or health condition that severely impacts your family’s ability to do everyday activities
your child is unable to access universal services (such as youth club, after school activities, time away from parents with extended family and friends)

Your family must also meet at least 2 of the following criteria:

your child has behaviours that you find challenging, which may present risk of harm to themselves, others, or to the environment
you’re a single parent without extended family support
you have more than one child with a disability, or you have other children under 18 whose opportunities to enjoy ordinary life are restricted because of the support required for their sibling
you have a disability, or a diagnosed health need which affects your ability to care for your child
your sleep is disturbed due to your child’s additional need

Applying for targeted short breaks

To apply, ask any professional working with your family to complete a referral form with you. This is sent to the Children and Families Hub who will reply to you within 2 weeks.

If your short break application is approved, we’ll send the referral form to Centrepoint Trust or Jersey Youth Service depending on your child’s age.

They will contact you directly to arrange a visit and agree a start date.

If your request isn’t approved, we’ll signpost you to other services that can offer support.

The targeted short break sessions and costs

For children from 4 to 11 years:

A 3-hour group session each week run by Centrepoint Trust at the Space. Parents are asked to pay a contribution of £5 per session
Group sessions at Centrepoint Trust’s targeted school holiday play scheme. Parents are asked to pay a contribution of £25 per 6-hour session or £12.50 per 3-hour session. This is a popular scheme so we can’t guarantee that your child can join all the sessions you request

For children from 12 to 17 years:

A 3-hour group session each week run by Jersey Youth Service at Grand Vaux Youth Centre. Parents are asked to pay a contribution of £5 per session
Group sessions at Jersey Youth Service’s targeted school holiday youth scheme. Parents are asked to pay a contribution of £25 per six-hour session or £12.50 per three-hour session. This is a popular scheme so we can’t guarantee that your child can join all the sessions you request

Specialist short breaks

Specialist short breaks offer a higher level of support for disabled children and young people whose needs cannot be met by the targeted groups.

They provide the chance for children and young people to spend time out with others socialising and doing fun activities, giving their families a break and providing them with the confidence their child is well supported.

Eligibility for specialist short breaks

If you child’s needs can’t be met in the targeted short break groups, your child will require a social work assessment of need.

The social worker will request the type of specialist short break support that their assessment identifies will meet your child’s needs.

Applying for specialist short breaks

If your child’s needs cannot be met by targeted short breaks, talk to any professional working with your child to request a social work assessment through the Children and Families Hub.

You can also make the request yourself by contacting the Children and Families Hub at +44 (0) 1534 519000 or childrenandfamilieshub@gov.je.

Specialist short breaks sessions and costs

Specialist short break options include: