Fwd: EDCM action - could you bring a short breaks case?

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Dear Mandy , Happy new year from all at EDCM! As you know, EDCM believes that families with disabled children should have a clear legal right to short breaks. We now need your help to test the law.Two leading community care lawyers Bowen and Luke Clements have told EDCM that there is a 'strong argument' that a there is already a legal right to short breaks for families with disabled children in the greatest need in England and Wales. You can find out more about their legal opinion here:http://www.edcm.org.uk/Page.asp?originx_4077xi_4803373555697f10j_200817287jWe now need families who are prepared to go to court so judges can decide how the law currently stands. EDCM is therefore looking for families in the following situations to see if they could bring a case: (i) Families with a disabled child assessed as being 'in need' of residential short break care where the local authority has refused to meet that need. (ii) Families with a disabled child assessed as requiring short break care at home (for instance a sitting service) where the local authority has refused to meet that need (because of resources or another reason). Families will also need to be on a low income and able to get legal aid, so that the costs of the case will be covered. Families interested in bringing a case should call the freephone Contact a Family helpline on 0 for further information and advice about next steps and eligibility for legal aid. Thanks to all the lobbying by our supporters last year, the government has invested an extra £370 million in short break services in response to EDCM campaigning. This money is extremely welcome - but EDCM also wants a legal guarantee that families will get the support they need. This is why we need cases to come to court. Thanks as always for your continuing support for EDCM.Please do tell us what you think of the campaign by taking part in our supporter survey at http://www.edcm.org.uk/supportersurveyOur next email at the end of the week will give all our supporters a chance to email councils about our EDCM charter. If you have any questions about the campaign, please do get in touch. All best wishesPamMore from EDCMNews story: Ministers say every area must have disabled children strategyhttp://www.edcm.org.uk/Page.asp?originx_7644od_43016676864160a35e_2008123845fNews story: Call for families to test law on short breakshttp://www.edcm.org.uk/Page.asp?originx_4077xi_4803373555697f10j_200817287jIf you have received this in error, or no longer wish to receive these updates, please reply to this email with 'unsubscribe' in the subject header.Pamela ShawCampaigns AssistantEvery Disabled Child MattersNational Children's Bureau8 Wakley StreetLondon EC1V 7QEDirect Line: 020 7843 6318Fax: 020 7843 6313 www.edcm.org.ukCDC is part of Every Disabled Child Matters, a new campaign fighting for rights and justice for every disabled child. Please sign up to support the campaign now at http://www.edcm.org.uk, and ask everyone you know to do the same This e-mail, including any attachments transmitted with it, is intended for the named recipient(s) only; it may also be confidential. If you are not the intended recipient you must not disclose, copy or distribute any part of this e-mail. If you have received this e-mail in error please notify the sender.

Any views or opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Children's Bureau. We reserve the right to monitor all e-mail messages passing through our systems.

National Children's Bureau, 8 Wakley StreetLondon EC1V 7QE United Kingdom

Tel : +44(0)20 7843 6000 Fax : +44(0)20 7278 9512Web : http://www.ncb.org.uk

Join NCB Membership today and be part of the largest multi-agency Membership network of professionals in the UK. Log on to www.ncb.org.uk/members for more details.

As a leading publisher in the children's sector, NCB offers a range of accessible publications on key issues.www.ncb-books.org.uk

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Dear Mandy , Happy new year from all at EDCM! As you know, EDCM believes that families with disabled children should have a clear legal right to short breaks. We now need your help to test the law.Two leading community care lawyers Bowen and Luke Clements have told EDCM that there is a 'strong argument' that a there is already a legal right to short breaks for families with disabled children in the greatest need in England and Wales. You can find out more about their legal opinion here:http://www.edcm.org.uk/Page.asp?originx_4077xi_4803373555697f10j_200817287jWe now need families who are prepared to go to court so judges can decide how the law currently stands. EDCM is therefore looking for families in the following situations to see if they could bring a case: (i) Families with a disabled child assessed as being 'in need' of residential short break care where the local authority has refused to meet that need. (ii) Families with a disabled child assessed as requiring short break care at home (for instance a sitting service) where the local authority has refused to meet that need (because of resources or another reason). Families will also need to be on a low income and able to get legal aid, so that the costs of the case will be covered. Families interested in bringing a case should call the freephone Contact a Family helpline on 0 for further information and advice about next steps and eligibility for legal aid. Thanks to all the lobbying by our supporters last year, the government has invested an extra £370 million in short break services in response to EDCM campaigning. This money is extremely welcome - but EDCM also wants a legal guarantee that families will get the support they need. This is why we need cases to come to court. Thanks as always for your continuing support for EDCM.Please do tell us what you think of the campaign by taking part in our supporter survey at http://www.edcm.org.uk/supportersurveyOur next email at the end of the week will give all our supporters a chance to email councils about our EDCM charter. If you have any questions about the campaign, please do get in touch. All best wishesPamMore from EDCMNews story: Ministers say every area must have disabled children strategyhttp://www.edcm.org.uk/Page.asp?originx_7644od_43016676864160a35e_2008123845fNews story: Call for families to test law on short breakshttp://www.edcm.org.uk/Page.asp?originx_4077xi_4803373555697f10j_200817287jIf you have received this in error, or no longer wish to receive these updates, please reply to this email with 'unsubscribe' in the subject header.Pamela ShawCampaigns AssistantEvery Disabled Child MattersNational Children's Bureau8 Wakley StreetLondon EC1V 7QEDirect Line: 020 7843 6318Fax: 020 7843 6313 www.edcm.org.ukCDC is part of Every Disabled Child Matters, a new campaign fighting for rights and justice for every disabled child. Please sign up to support the campaign now at http://www.edcm.org.uk, and ask everyone you know to do the same

This e-mail, including any attachments transmitted with it, is intended for the named recipient(s) only; it may also be confidential. If you are not the intended recipient you must not disclose, copy or distribute any part of this e-mail. If you have received this e-mail in error please notify the sender.

Any views or opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Children's Bureau. We reserve the right to monitor all e-mail messages passing through our systems.

National Children's Bureau, 8 Wakley StreetLondon EC1V 7QE United Kingdom

Tel : +44(0)20 7843 6000 Fax : +44(0)20 7278 9512Web : http://www.ncb.org.uk

Join NCB Membership today and be part of the largest multi-agency Membership network of professionals in the UK. Log on to www.ncb.org.uk/members for more details.

As a leading publisher in the children's sector, NCB offers a range of accessible publications on key issues.www.ncb-books.org.uk

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