Short breaks services

What is a short break?

A short break is a chance for children or young people with disabilities to enjoy fun activities or experiences on their own, away from their main carers.

This not only helps them grow personally and socially but also gives parents and carers a much-needed break from their caring duties. It can also help families connect with other local services.

Types of short breaks:

  • general short breaks: available to all children with additional needs and can be accessed through self-referral
  • specialist short breaks: for children with greater needs, these require a social care assessment

Benefits of short breaks:

  • independence: children and young people get to spend time away from their parents, boosting their independence
  • social skills: they have fun with friends, which helps develop their social skills
  • parent or carer support: parents and carers get a break from their responsibilities

When and where:
Short breaks can happen during the day, evening, overnight, or on weekends. They can last from a few hours to several days and take place in various locations.
For example:

  • community sports groups or clubs
  • activities provided by specialist providers
  • subsidised holidays
  • support within the home
  • residential setting

Looking for general short breaks?
For details on short break providers, visit our local Family Services Directory and search for short breaks. You can contact providers directly to find out the costs for their activities using the contact details listed in the directory.

Who are short breaks for?

Short breaks activities and provision are for children and young people from birth to 18 years (up to their 18th birthday) with a disability.

Service How needs are identified Through discussion with Type of provision  
Universal (for everyone) self-refer or register parent or child club, sport, group activities and family breaks Ask provider about their fees
Targeted working with an agency or multi agency parent, child or agency targeted services (specialist holidays, youth and community clubs) Ask provider about their fees
Specialist social care assessment parent, child or social worker domiciliary care, family based short breaks, direct payments, overnights Socal care assessment will decide

Levels of support

We are committed to ensuring children with disabilities or sensory impairments can access positive experiences and families can get the support they need within universal provision.

However, there are different levels of support available for children with additional needs which is dependent on their needs:

The levels of support include:-

  • universal – for everyone
  • early help 
  • child in need
  • immediate safeguarding

levels of support

 

Where there are further concerns or unmet need within universal support, early help may be required by a single agency or multi agency coordination. (for example - Early Support Care Coordination or Team around the child). If needs continue to be unmet then specialist services may be required.

If immediate care or protection is needed, this would be called immediate safeguarding.

Once needs are met, support would reduce and the levels of support would change to reflect the need.

Universal provision - open to everyone

Most children in Lincolnshire who need services will get support through universal provision in their local community. This includes children with disabilities.

What is universal provision?

Universal provision includes activities like sports clubs, youth clubs, libraries, and children’s centres. These are important for ensuring that children and young people with disabilities can have fun and enjoy themselves with friends, just like everyone else.

Accessing universal provision

No assessment is needed.

If your child or young person and your family can meet your own support needs, you are encouraged and supported to do so. You don't need an assessment to access universal provision.

Wide range of services - there are services and sources of support that can be accessed directly through the Local Offer pages.

Helping activity workers understand and meet a young person's needs

You can download the all about me booklet. It can be filled in electronically or printed off. 

Finding short breaks

For listed universal short breaks search our family services directory 

You can also search the Local Offer. This brings together information for children and young people with SEND and their families.

Early help

In Lincolnshire we believe early help is a team effort, not just a service. Every professional who works with children and families, no matter what their role, has a responsibility to provide early help and support families to access the appropriate services.

What is early help?

Early help is anything that supports children, young people and their families to achieve their potential. It can prevent problems from starting, or stopping things getting worse. You may be contacted  by a professional to discuss an early help assessment. 

Where to find more information

More details and resources, visit Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Partnership. 

Learn more about our early help assessments process.

 

 

 

Children in need

Some children and young people may need specialist help because they have severe and multiple learning disabilities.

These disabilities can make it hard for them to see, hear, speak, and move.

Compared to other children their age, they might struggle more with communication and independence.

What kind of support may be needed?

  • daily activities: they may need help with everyday tasks like eating, washing, or personal care
  • health and social care: due to their conditions, they might have complex health and social care needs

Specialist intervention is important to ensure these children get the support they need to live their lives as fully as possible.

Accessing support for children with disabilities

Most children in Lincolnshire who need services will get them through universal provision in their local community. This includes children with disabilities.

Entitlement to assessment

Every child and young person with a diagnosed disability is entitled to an assessment under The Children Act 1989.

Working together

An early help worker or social worker will work with the family to identify and explore the child or young person’s needs to ensure that the right level of support is provided.  

Types of support

A social care assessment might show that your child is entitled to specialist services, such as:

  • specialist activities - activities that your child can attend without needing a parent or carer to be there
  • care support - this can be at home or outside the home. It might include:-
    • direct payments - families can receive funding to pay someone to support their child or young person with activities, either at home or in the community
    • domiciliary care - personal care provided at home and in the community
    • overnight stays - your child might stay at one of the local authority’s specialist residential children’s homes, which are registered and inspected by Ofsted to ensure outstanding care
    • short breaks with foster carers - your child might spend time with specially trained foster carers for a short break

Why this support is important?

Some families need extra help because of the nature of their child's disability or their individual family circumstances.

 

How to arrange an assessment

If you think your child needs an assessment, here's what you need to know.

Screening referrals

  • customer service team - they will review referrals. If your referral meets the eligibility criteria, your child will be assigned a social worker from the children with disabilities team. The social worker will contact you to start the child and family assessment

Other assessment options

  • early help service - your child might be assigned to this service for an early help assessment (EHA)
  • family assessment support teams (FAST) - depending on your child's needs, they might be assigned to FAST for a social care assessment

Who can refer?

  • parents or carers and professionals - both can refer children and young people with a diagnosed disability that meets the criteria of severe and profound. If you prefer, a professional who knows your child can make the referral for you

Purpose of the assessment

The child and family assessment helps decide if your child (under 18) is eligible for social care support services.

Making a referral

To make a referral, please call our customer service centre at 01522 782111.

For more information, visit our children's services page

 

 

Transition to adulthood

If you are wondering about what happens when you turn 18, don’t worry.

If you are already receiving support from a children’s services team, they will automatically refer you to the adult social care team before you turn 18. 

For more support around preparing for adulthood, visit our transition to adulthood page

 

More to offer

Send Local Offer

Lincolnshire's Local Offer - find everything you need to know about SEND in one place.  The Local Offer brings together information for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities and their families. 

Family Hubs

Lincolnshire County Council has been selected as one of 75 local authorities to benefit from the government’s Family Hubs programme.

Hosted by the Department for Education and Department for Health and Social Care, the programme aims to make a positive difference to families by providing high-quality, joined-up support services from pregnancy, through a child’s early years and up until they are 19 (or 25 for young people with special educational needs and disabilities). 

Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF)

HAF is a government funded programme that provides free holiday clubs for reception to year 11 pupils in receipt of benefits-related free school meals in Lincolnshire over the summer, Christmas and Easter holidays.

The HAF programme is designed to ensure a high-quality experience for children that will result in receiving healthy and nutritious meals and maintaining a healthy level of physical activity. 

Before and after school (wraparound) childcare

In Spring 2023, the government announced that it would support working families to access before and after-school childcare. This available from 8am to 6pm, in their local area or school site. Wraparound childcare is childcare that ‘wraps around’ the school day, for example, before and after school. 

Start for life

Lincolnshire’s 48 children's centres are core to our Start for Life offer. The centres offer free stay-and-play drop-in sessions and universal programmes for all families from antenatal to age five. Further support is also available for children and young people 5-19 (25 SEND). Visit your local children’s centre to find out more or visit the website

Early support care co-ordination (ESCO)

ESCO aims to raise the standards of care for children and young people, aged 0-18 who have significant and complex needs and require targeted coordination of services

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The purpose of this statement

This service’s statement is for families living in Lincolnshire who have a child or young person with a disability. It includes information on the purpose of the short breaks services statement and the current range of support available in Lincolnshire.  

The short breaks services statement sets out:

  • the councils duty
  • the criteria by which eligibility for services will be assessed and how to arrange an assessment
  • what short breaks are and how these services are designed to meet the needs of families who have a child or young person with a disability

Our short breaks services statement was developed in partnership with the parent carer forum (LPCF) and Lincolnshire Young Voices to ensure it remains relevant to all. The statement is compliant with The Equality Act 2010 which is used to support the development of suitable provision with appropriate reasonable adjustments.
 

This statement is reviewed regularly and was last reviewed on 29 July 2025

 

Definition of a disability

The Equality Act 2010 ('the Act') and Disability Discrimination Act 1995 ('DDA') define a disabled person:
'A person has a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment, and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on the person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.'

Our duty

Since 1 April 2011, local authorities must provide short breaks for children and young people who are eligible. This is called the short breaks duty. 

The following legislation is also in place to protect and support children, young people and their families:

We will check this short breaks statement annually to make sure it is up to date and relevant to the local needs of children and young people and their families.