Dehumanising. That’s our word of the day. And the word I would use to sum up the entire process of moving into adult services.
It’s a verb that’s described as ‘to deprive of dignity; treat as less than human‘.
We’re always told not to write or respond to something in anger or upset. Yet, here I am. The true Aquarian at heart not giving a damn about rules or consequence.
I’ve always said how upsetting this whole transitioning thing has been. Having to speak about Jude as a project, a thing, an object. And today we took that a step further and scrutinised his income and outgoings through a series of cold and impersonal questions.
Today was the ‘financial assessment’ day for Jude.
You’ve probably already guessed how much I enjoyed the whole experience.
For anyone who isn’t sure what this is – it’s as bad as it sounds. Basically, the local authority take into consideration the person in question’s financial status (in this case Jude) to find out if they can contribute financially to their own care costs.
As if life isn’t quite hard enough for the wee man, the local authority are always on hand to make it a little bit worse. In this instance, trying to squeeze a few pounds out from wherever they can.
It’s not even the money side of things that bother me the most. It’s more than language used and the way in which they present these impersonal stages of the process. As an example, Jude has previously been referred to as a case number during one meeting we had with the social work team.
If you have a young person heading into adult social care, please take note. This is what you will require to complete the telephone financial assessment:
- Income information including pension, annuities, rental income, plus any other money coming your way
- Capital and savings information including bank and building society statements, any other investments, trusts or savings
- Expenditure information such as rent, household bills, and any expenses relating to your disability
Be mindful that there’s a lovely warning on the letter stating that if you don’t have all the information ready for your assessment, you ‘may’ be liable to paying the full amount of your care. Nice.
I know these things need to be done. I just wish they could be done with a little more thought and consideration.
I’ve been doing some research and here are a few facts about living with a disability and finances that I found interesting:
- *Disabled households need, on average, £1,095 per month extra (2024-25) to have the same standard of living as a non-disabled household.
This is an interesting point. The local authority very kindly take into consideration anything you need to buy each month to help support your disability – incontinence wear for example. But they won’t take into consideration the day to day expenses we can avoid, that many disabled people can’t. Unless you’ve lived with someone with a disability, you won’t understand this point. And that’s ok. But accept it’s true.
- The percentage of families with at least one disabled child and one disabled adult who are living in poverty is on the increase. Stats show the figure rose from 39 per cent in 2019-20 to 46 per cent in 2021-22
- Alarmingly, 70% of households with a disabled person went without essentials between November 2022 and May 2023
*Scope – Disability Price Tag 2025
**Disability news service – DWP’s ‘truly shocking’ disability poverty stats are ‘terrible indictment’
***Joseph Rowntree Foundation – ‘Our social security system must support households with a disabled person to afford the essentials’
