Community short breaks grant programme

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About the fund: Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council is looking to establish a range of provision to collectively deliver community short breaks for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The Council is looking to commission, via this grant funding programme, a range of providers that can collectively deliver a diverse community short breaks offer based on what families and young people have told us they need.

Provision will commence on 1 October 2026. The collective short breaks offer needs to:

• Support a range of needs and complexities, from lower level to higher/more complex needs.

• Offer a diverse range of indoor and outdoor activities to suit a range of needs and interests.

• Support a wide range of children and young people from 4 years to 17 years of age.

• Be delivered across a large geographical spread within the Barnsley borough.

• Offer a range of options for when community short breaks can be accessed, e.g. weekends, school holidays, evenings.

Short breaks are part of a variety of services which support disabled children and their families. Short breaks are provided to:

• Give parent/carers and families a necessary and valuable break from their caring responsibilities to allow them to continue to care for their children at home and to allow them to do so more effectively.

• Give disabled children and young people enjoyable experiences away from their primary carers, thereby contributing to their personal and social development, and ensuring they do not become socially isolated.

Community short breaks are activity-based group sessions for children and young people up to the age of 17, where there is a clear assessed need and where universal services cannot meet this need.

The Council is looking to commission two tiers of support to be delivered as part of community short breaks provision:

• Tier 1 Specialist support – 1:1 staff to child ratio for young people with complex SEND and/or behavioural needs. Personal care and/or support with medication may be required. Nursing support may be required to support children and young people with more complex medical needs within some tier 1 community short breaks provision.

• Tier 2 Targeted support – Standard offer of 1:3 or lower (1:4, 1:5+ etc) staff to child ratio, with the ability for some providers to offer 1:2 support where appropriate. Tier 2 support is for children and young people that do not need specialist support of tier 1 but are unable to access universal/mainstream provision.

Both tiers of support need to be delivered as activity-based group sessions within the community.

How to apply: Full details of the grant programme can be found in the attached guidance document. To request an application pack please contact childrenscommissioning@barnsley.gov.uk

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