June 3, 2019, Independent: Cuts blamed as nine in 10 parents of disabled children say they do not get enough support to care for them safely https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/disabled-children-special-educational-needs-parents-carers-school-health-a8941766.html Nine in 10 parents of disabled children say they do not get the full support they need to care for them safely in a study that revealed some carers had been driven to the brink of suicide. Government cuts have been blamed for a shortfall in provision that is harming children and families’ health, as well as triggering the breakdown of parental relationships and forcing children to miss out on school or college. A survey by the Disabled Children’s Partnership, a coalition of 60 disability charities, reveals that more than half of parents of disabled children have been forced to give up paid work to care for their child. The majority of parent carers have been treated by a GP for depression, anxiety or stress - including suicidal thoughts - and two in five have experienced relationship breakdown with a partner after diagnosis, according to the survey of 3,400 families with disabled children. are not available to support them. More than a third (37 per cent) say their child has missed school or college because the staff or services are not available to support them. More than half (57 per cent) of parents said they did not feel they had received the right amount of support to care for their disabled child – and 35 per cent said they only felt they had some support. The coalition is calling on the government to “give back” £434m of funding needed for social care, support and provision for disabled children and their families. … Amanda Batten, chair of the DCP, said: “Services for disabled children have never been perfect. But cuts to budgets combined with a 33 per cent increase in the number of disabled children over the last decade means we have reached a critical point – one where we need to decide what kind of country we want to be. We’re talking about some of the most vulnerable children in society.”…
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