Cuts force mother to put daughter into care

Thursday 20 January 2011

A mother has asked social services to take her daughter into care after she was refused extra respite

Riven Vincent, from Bristol, has announced that she can no longer cope with caring for her six-year-old daughter. Celyn, who has severe quadriplegic cerebral palsy and epilepsy, requires round-the-clock care.

As her daughter has got older, her needs have become more complex, and Vincent has approached local social services for extra support. After receiving a letter from South Gloucestershire Council, yesterday, telling her no more help was available, she announced on the Mumsnet website that her daughter would be better cared for in a residential home.

The story has spread quickly through social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter.

David Cameron had visited Vincent at her home during pre-election campaigning and assured her that if he became prime minister he would not do anything that would harm disabled children. "This is a side-effect of the cuts," Vincent told 'the Guardian'. "He could have protected families with disabled children from a lot of this. I would be angry, if I wasn't so tired."

Mencap warns that local council budget cuts and removing ring-fencing of funding for respite care could lead to more similar cases.

"A significant sum of money for short breaks has been included in the government's financial settlement for local councils and although this money is not ring-fenced, it is vital that breaks for families and carers are treated as a priority," David Congdon, head of campaigns and policy at Mencap, says. "Given that this money is available, there is no justification for cutting these services.

"As local authorities tighten belts we expect to hear more and more concerns from parents about respite care. Families and carers love the people they care for. They care for them willingly, but they need help to do so."

Read Riven Vincent's story in the Guardian

Read opinion and comment about Riven Vincent's story on Mencap's Talk Learning Disability website