Charles Ward: Families Denied Domiciliary Care Allowance
Charles Ward addressed the chamber about failures in the domiciliary care allowance system for children with additional educational needs. He described how decisions made at desks deny the lived reality of families, and called for reform so decisions reflect real care burdens.
Charles Ward set out that families are at breaking point and struggling to access supports for children with additional needs. He argued the current domiciliary care allowance process too often concludes that needs are not substantial when families describe constant supervision, safety concerns and emotional exhaustion.
Ward recounted a vivid example of a mother filling in an application late at night at her kitchen table, detailing constant care and hoping for recognition. He said that recognition is frequently replaced by a written decision made remotely that refuses the claim.
Ward highlighted delays in services in Donegal and across the North West, noting the impact of the CDNT network backlog on families. He warned these regional delays are not consistently reflected in awards of domiciliary care allowance.
Ward called for reform so lived experience is properly weighed and decisions reflect real care burdens, rather than forcing families into costly legal battles they cannot afford. He framed the issue as an injustice that requires urgent policy change.
Key points
Charles Ward set out that families are at breaking point and struggling to access supports for children with additional needs. He argued the current domiciliary care allowance process too often concludes that needs are not substantial when families describe constant supervision, safety concerns and emotional exhaustion.
A mother's testimony
Ward recounted a vivid example of a mother filling in an application late at night at her kitchen table, detailing constant care and hoping for recognition. He said that recognition is frequently replaced by a written decision made remotely that refuses the claim.
Regional pressures
Ward highlighted delays in services in Donegal and across the North West, noting the impact of the CDNT network backlog on families. He warned these regional delays are not consistently reflected in awards of domiciliary care allowance.
Demand for reform
Ward called for reform so lived experience is properly weighed and decisions reflect real care burdens, rather than forcing families into costly legal battles they cannot afford. He framed the issue as an injustice that requires urgent policy change.
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Transcript
Every member of this House knows families are at breaking point, struggling to access supports for children with additional needs. And behind every policy discussion are parents trying to hold things together in a system that is not holding them. This motion is right to state is failing children with additional educational needs and their families. An upsetting example is how families are treated when they apply for domiciliary care allowance. Picture a mother, late at night, at the kitchen table, filling in the application. She describes her real life, constant supervision, safety concerns, emotional regulation and the exhaustion of care in, every hour, day in, day out. She sets this out, hoping it will be recognised. Instead, a decision is made at a desk. And instead, the conclusion is reached that the child does not have the needs substantial in excess of what is expected. So in that moment, families, they're left with the reality and their reality is denied. And families are experiencing the lack of need and they're experiencing a system that does not translate into what they need, recognition. They feel rejection, they feel abandonment. And in Donegal, across the North West, the CDNT network, families carry even more due to the delayed services, yet this is not reflected in the decisions. Families are carrying everything and they're being told it's not enough. This is injustice. We need to reform domiciliary care allowance so the lived experience is properly weighed. Decisions reflect real care burden and families are not forced into costly legal battles that they cannot afford.