Personal Budgets
What is a personal budget?
A Personal Budget is given to people who are eligible for community care support and assistance from Wiltshire Department of Adult & Community Services (DACS) to pay for it. You will need to have a community care assessment of your needs and financial position.
Following this assessment and if you are eligible DACS will estimate the cost for your Personal Budget. This estimate is the amount of money they think you will need to meet your care and support needs and is based on what it would cost them to provide support to you. This gives you an idea of how much money you may have to spend on your support. You then need to complete a support plan of your own needs and decide how you want to manage your Personal Budget before the Department can give you any money from what is called the Resource Allocation System (RAS).
When you have completed your Support Plan you will be issued with an Actual Personal Budget – this is the amount of money you will receive based on the final agreed Support Plan. It may be more, or less, than the money that had been estimated for your Personal Budget.
Personal Budgets give you more freedom, choice and control over the type of care and support you need. This is also known as Self- Directed Support.
What is a support plan?
A Support Plan sets out what you need to achieve to lead as independent and fulfilling a life as you want. It will also outline the cost of any care and support that you need. You can develop your Support Plan yourself; with the help of someone you know or contact us at Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living for have trained Peer Mentors to help you.
The Support Plan shows how you intend to spend your Personal Budget in making sure you have the right support that you need. When the Support Plan is finished and you are happy with it Wiltshire Department of Adult & Community Services (DACS) will need to agree the Plan before any money is given to you.
Your Personal Budget must be spent on achieving the things agreed in the Support Plan but it can be used in any creative way you want to achieve that. Your Personal Budget cannot be spent on anything illegal or that would endanger you or another person.