Fair Access to Care Services

This information is from Adult and Community Services in County Durham; this is the new name for Social Services.

This is a simplified version of the Fair Access to Care Services information. The complete version of the FACS information is available through the Fair access to care services introduction page.

The information tells you who in County Durham who have learning disabilities can have Social Care help and support from us. That means things like:

• Help to find somewhere to live.
• Getting help and support in your home.
• Finding interesting and enjoyable things to do.
• Getting special equipment if you are disabled.
  

The Government has made some rules about:

• Who can have Social Care help.
• What kind of help they can have.

Durham County's Adult Social Care Services has to follow these rules.

Being Independent

The Government wants to make sure that you can be as independent as possible. That means things like:

• Deciding what you want to do with your life.
• Keeping healthy and safe.
• Being able to do things like cooking, cleaning and looking after your own money.
• Having friends and keeping in touch with your family.
• Being able to join in things happening in your community.
  

The Government has put people into 4 groups:

• Group 1 - People who only need a little help.
• Group 2 - People who need more help but not too much.
• Group 3 - People who need quite a lot of help.
• Group 4 - People who need a great deal of help.
  

Which group are you in?

These are the things the Government thinks about when deciding which group you are in:

• Keeping yourself healthy and safe and not being a risk to other people.
• Being able to make choices and deciding what you want to do with your life.
• Being able to look after yourself at home.
• Being able to go out and learn new things.
• Having friends and keeping in touch with your family.
  

Who may get help?

Group 1 and Group 2 may get information and good ideas about where you can go to get help and support.
Group 3 and Group 4 may get social care to help you with your problems.

What Next?

For further information or to speak to someone contact Durham County Adult Social Care Services.

To view a copy of the easy read leaflet, New rules about Social Care, please click on the file below. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this information.

New Rules about Social Care.pdf (8 pages, 6691kb)

Date of Publication: June 2006