You can now get more involved in choosing the type of social care support you want, so you have more control over your services and tailor them to suit your needs. This new approach is known as self-directed support.
There are two systems which can help you do this – Direct Payments and Personal Budgets.
Direct payments are available now. These are local council payments for people who have been assessed as needing social care support, and who would like to choose and pay for their own services instead of receiving them straight from the local council.
Personal budgets will be introduced soon, and are designed to help people take control of their entire social care budget, manage their own support and choose the services that suits them best using the money from different areas more flexibly. With a personal budget you can choose to have some services provided by Adult Social Care in addition to employing people directly.