Direct Payments for Families
Pippa Murray, Circles Network
ISBN 0952606828, £8 STARS RATING: 4/5
An easy-to-read booklet, this report examines issues relating to many aspects of direct payments for families,
writes Ellen Rabinowicz.
In six chapters, plus appendices, the report covers the evolution and administration of direct payments as well as the role of support schemes and relationship considerations in employing a personal assistant. A theme throughout the report is the author’s view of the mismatch between the social model of disability on which direct payments is based and the medical model of disability which often determines access to, and the administration of, these payments.
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Families will find the appendices, which offer an overview of the process of getting direct payments as well as lists of resources, the most valuable part.
I only wish the author had devoted more space to practical and concrete advice to families who struggle to gain the direct payments to which they are entitled.
Ellen Rabinowicz is lecturer in social work, University of East London
