If you are eligible for our financial help towards the cost of your care, an individual service fund (ISF) is one of the ways you can choose to receive your personal budget.
A personal budget is the amount it costs to cover your care needs and support plan. This will have been calculated when you had a Care Act needs assessment.
An individual service fund provides you with flexibility. It is like a direct payment but in addition, offers third party help to find care and support to meet the outcomes of your support plan. It is also a way of having the money managed on your behalf.
We can give your personal budget to an individual service fund provider or broker. They will work with you to organise your care and support.
These are the steps you will need to take to get an individual service fund:
You will then need to decide which provider you would like to work with.
Your ISF provider/broker will help you to work out what support best meets your needs and interests. They will then manage the arrangements on your behalf. This can be flexible and may vary from week to week.
Support available that could meet your needs, and in your area, can be found on our Community Directory of Services in Dorset on the Help and Kindness website. Our brokerage team can also offer guidance.
The provider of your choice will work with you to deliver your care and support plan, using a mixture of:
Together you can agree how you would like your outcomes delivered. For example, you could use:
To find out more about how an ISF could work for you, speak to your social worker if you have one. You can also find out more about individual service funds from Skills for Care.
Individual service funds (ISF) providers can deliver some of your care and support plan.
Individual service fund (ISF) brokers will only source the support necessary and not provide the day-to-day plan. This could be one of our brokers or an external provider.
You can only use your ISF to pay for things in your support plan such as:
You cannot use an individual service fund for:
If you are unsure about something you want to buy, ask your social worker.
There are some rules you must follow. We will explain these when you have chosen a provider. You will also have to sign an agreement with us.
We will pay your individual service fund direct to your ISF provider/broker every two weeks. This will be in advance of when you need to spend it.
The ISF provider/broker will use your ISF to buy your care and support on your behalf.
They must keep individual records of spending against your ISF. This is to show it has been used for things outlined in your support plan.
