Can I get respite care for my disabled child?

Yes. In England your council must provide short breaks ('respite') for disabled children under the Children Act 1989. Some are open-access via the Local Offer; specialist and overnight breaks follow a needs assessment. Provision varies a lot by area, but if you are at breaking point, this is a real entitlement, not a favour.

The rule: a legal duty to provide breaks for carers

Your council has a legal duty to provide a range of short breaks so that you can keep caring. This comes from paragraph 6 of Schedule 2 to the Children Act 1989, made specific by the Breaks for Carers of Disabled Children Regulations 2011. The breaks have to cover daytime care in or out of the home, overnight care, leisure and holiday activities for your child, and support that frees you up in the evenings, at weekends and in the school holidays. Each council must also publish a short breaks services statement setting out what it offers and who can have it, so you can read your own council’s rules before you ask.

You do not need a formal diagnosis. Under the Children Act, a ‘disabled child’ is defined broadly: a child with a substantial, long-term impairment that affects everyday life. Eligibility turns on need and impact, not on a confirmed label, so do not let anyone tell you to come back once you have a diagnosis.

Two doors, not one

This is the part most pages blur, and it matters. There are two separate ways in:

• Open-access (universal) breaks: clubs, holiday schemes, after-school activities and sitting services. You can usually self-refer to these through your council’s Local Offer without a full social care assessment.
• Targeted and specialist breaks: one-to-one support, specialist day care and overnight respite. These are allocated only after a Child in Need assessment under section 17 of the Children Act 1989.

So being told you do not meet the threshold for an assessment does not mean you cannot get any short breaks at all. You may still be able to use the open-access offer straight away.

The qualifier: a sufficient range, not a fixed entitlement

Eligibility is not the same as a guaranteed number of hours. The duty is to provide a sufficient range of services for carers across the area, so the threshold and the amount you are offered vary a lot between councils, and both are set out in that council’s published short breaks statement. Where an assessment agrees you need targeted support, the council can deliver it as a commissioned service or as a direct payment so you can arrange your own. As Scope confirms, support can range from a few hours to overnight or longer stays.

Short breaks are devolved, so this covers England only. Wales works under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, Scotland under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 and carers law, and Northern Ireland has its own system.

This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.