Written Answers. - Respite Care Facilities.
John Bruton
Question:
107
Mr. J. Bruton
asked the
Minister for Health and Children
the respite care facilities in County Meath available for children with special needs; the number of places available; the number of children receiving attention; the number of children waiting to be admitted to a respite centre; the proposals, if any, he has to provide additional places; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[6391/00]
The following respite services are available for children with special needs in County Meath.
Under the break away scheme host families are recruited and trained to provide children with regular breaks. There are 25 children with host families in County Meath and breaks vary from one week per month to one week per year. The home care assistance scheme is designed to offer either the child or the family support within the home. An assistant is recruited and trained in conjunction with the family and a number of hours home care assistance is approved. The number of hours varies from six to 20 depending on the individual needs of both the children and their families. There are 19 families with children with special needs who are in receipt of home care assistance.
A series of summer camps are organised during the summer for children with special needs. The camps, which are organised in consultation with the parents, have a therapy focus in addition to providing fun breaks for the children. They are facilitated by the North-Eastern Health Board's multidisciplinary staff and involve speech and language therapists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nursing and other care staff. In 1999, 40 children participated for a minimum period of one week per child in the summer camps. A total of 20 attended on a residential basis, with the remainder attending on a daily basis.
The board also provide financial assistance to St. Mary's special school towards the cost of organising their summer camp.
Residential respite care is provided by the board at Avalon House and Coill Darach in Navan. There are three respite beds available but these are shared with adults and respite breaks are planned to take account of priority needs. Currently, 20 children currently avail of respite in both residences.
Additional funding amounting to £376,000, full year costs, has been allocated to the North-Eastern Health Board in 2000 to provide around 14 new respite care places for both adults and children with an intellectual disability and those with autism.
It is the board's intention to open a dedicated respite care facility in 2000 to further enhance the level of respite care available to both children and adults with special needs in County Meath. Both the home assistance and the break away scheme will be further developed, as will summer camps to meet the needs of specific disability groups such as those with an intellectual disability, autism or spina bifida.
I have asked the board to provide me with the relevant information in relation to the number of children with special needs in County Meath who require respite care and will forward this information to the Deputy as soon as it becomes available.
