Domiciliary Care Allowance

Katie10 · 03-09-2011 11:46am #1

My son has been diagnosed with Aspergers, Dyspraxia, Sensory Processing Disorder and ADHD. He was refused DCA on lack of medical evidence. I am trying to lodge an appeal but does anyone know what the rate of success of these appeals are? I just feel like I am going around in circles- from trying to get a diagnosis to trying to get him extra help in school. I had to go private for everything. Any advice what to put in an appeal?

rebelgirlin · 03-09-2011 10:38pm

Hi Katie10,we had the same problem nearly 2 years ago with our eldest. He was diagnosed with autism and trying to get anything from the state was an up hill battel. They don'tgive anything out on the first application. Everything must be appealed and re-reviewed. In our 2nd attempt for the DA we got a letter of support from his teacher,speech & language therapist,GP and the Brothers of Charity (Who diagnosed him initially). All the letters told how bad autism affected him,hissibling and us and how the allowance would benefit us(parents) becauseof the extra outgoings. The letters told the truth,all be it a darker picture of it. Goodluck

aare · 05-09-2011 5:14pm

Katie, to my certain knowledge it is the old Robert the Bruce story:

Try, try and try again...

I give you my personal assurance that it seems not a month passes without an acquaintance getting DCA and/or carers awarded on appeal.

I am no expert but it seems you need to document EVERYTHING you need to do for your son that is beyond the normal duty of a parent, you also need as much medical evidence as you can get to support these needs, as well as in support of the existence of his various conditions.

Also document all the therapies he needs, and how many appointments you have to attend with him.

Good luck

Katie10 · 08-09-2011 12:01am

Thanks everyone for the encouragement. Am currently writing up my appeal letter. But I have heard from others it will be 15 or 16 months before my appeal is heard.

aare · 08-09-2011 1:29am

Don't be too discouraged, what I hear seems to suggest more like 6-8 months...

But better to brace for a longer wait just in case...

smelly sock · 22-11-2011 1:00pm

Hello,

Apologies for dragging up an old thread. We have been told that my son will need to attend early intervention services for the next 18 months. We have not yet got a diagnosis but feel that we need to avail of state benefits in order to support and ensure that he has the best of medical services available to him. We are on a low income. I have the form for the DCA in front of me and also the carers allowance as my partner cannot work.

Can anyone who has gone through this process please give me some advice etc?

Anything at all would be great.

Thanks.

nowyouresix · 25-11-2011 7:05pm

OP: I brought my child with me to the interview for the D.C.A. He has severe autism, and made a total mess of the office....and I sat there and let him. My application was successful.

nowyouresix · 25-11-2011 7:10pm

Smelly Sock... where to start...firstly you NEED the diagnosis on paper before you can get anything. Your public health nurse should have the numbers of the early intervention team in your area. If you can not get your child in to a suitable preschool, then you may qualify for home tuition for your child. I'm sorry I have to tell you that there are rafts of paperwork in front of you.....I found the dept of education very difficult to deal with re the home tuition payments.
There is lots of advice on the irish autism action website.

Best of luck.

aare · 25-11-2011 7:10pm

nowyouresix wrote: »

OP: I brought my child with me to the interview for the D.C.A. He has severe autism, and made a total mess of the office....and I sat there and let him. My application was successful.

This is not unusual.

smelly sock · 29-11-2011 5:41pm

Thanks very much for the replies. He will be starting in the early intervention in Jan 2012. I'm of the thinking that intervention is better than cure so we should be entitled to help now. Rather than having to wait until we get the diagnosis. If we get the all clear I would contact welfare myself and have them stop the payment. I have the dca form and have an assesment report (filled out by a psychcologist) stating exactly what treatments he will be undergoing in the 18 months to help him over come his difficulties.

smelly sock · 29-11-2011 5:43pm

nowyouresix wrote: »

OP: I brought my child with me to the interview for the D.C.A. He has severe autism, and made a total mess of the office....and I sat there and let him. My application was successful.

Can I ask what age your child is?

aare · 29-11-2011 6:47pm

smelly sock wrote: »

Thanks very much for the replies. He will be starting in the early intervention in Jan 2012. I'm of the thinking that intervention is better than cure so we should be entitled to help now. Rather than having to wait until we get the diagnosis. If we get the all clear I would contact welfare myself and have them stop the payment. I have the dca form and have an assesment report (filled out by a psychcologist) stating exactly what treatments he will be undergoing in the 18 months to help him over come his difficulties.

Same old stupid cycle...I actually have a friend caught in a similar trap, now a bit late along the road...dragging up your initial post:

smelly sock wrote:

We have been told that my son will need to attend early intervention services for the next 18 months. We have not yet got a diagnosis.

If, instead, you had been told that your son needed to attend the local hospital to have his appendix removed you would get the diagnosis and the assessment together (hopefully still fairly immediately) so that treatment could proceed asap, with whatever costs you were entitled to born by the state.

...and would be a good strategy to apply to ASDs, because it rolls together the cost of needs assessment in with the cost of multidisciplinary assessment (the standard for Autism diagnosis for a child and seems to cost €1800+ ) and gets it all as thoroughly defined and identified as possible, once and for all, as soon as possible. For some obscure reason it doesn't seem to happen this way.

However, you do not get DCA for Autism, you don't even get it topay for early intervantions, you get it for ( http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Publications/sw127/Pages/1WhatisDomiciliaryCareAllowance.aspx ):

***
a severely disabled child who is under age 16 and needs full-time care and attention far beyond what is normally required by a child of the same age.
***

That is what you need to establish, no more, no less, to get DCA.

Good Luck

PS. Try getting in touch with these guys http://www.specialneedsparents.ie, they can give you loads of information and advice.

Jasssss · 19-12-2011 6:50pm

Hi can someone who has been down the road of applying for DCA please help.I applied a year and a half ago and got turned down because of lack of medical evidence.I appealed and was also turned down.I am about to do this all over again.I have phychologist report,OT report,phychiatrist report and letter of support requesting the Domiciliary allowance from phychiatrist and another letter requesting Domiciliary for my son from my GP. Can someone tell me is this enough medical evidence or what in gods name are these people looking for.

aare · 19-12-2011 7:04pm

I think it COULD be a lack of medical evidence that SPECIFICALLY relates to the reasons why DCA would be appropriate?

Jasssss · 19-12-2011 8:43pm

My sons phychatrist has done up a letter as well as his report requesting that my son be awarded the DCA and his reasons why.My GP has done the same .Do you think this along with all the reports will be enough. Thanks in advance.

aare · 19-12-2011 9:10pm

It should be...all you can do is make sure the letters all relate to establishing the conditions of DCA as they are written.

There are no guarantees I am afraid.

Jasssss · 20-12-2011 11:19pm

Tks poster for your reply.I now have a top doctor telling me that there is no reason why my child should be refused but I wonder at this stage is this a doctor looking at this or a senior civil servant.But sure hey I can only try again.I will keep this forum posted on how i get on.

smelly sock · 09-01-2012 3:21pm

Hello.

I have eventually got a letter from the HSE saying that under the disablities act my child has a disability. However we still have not been told or he has not been diagnosed with a specific disability. However we had a meeting with a private phsycologist who has pretty much told us between the lines that he may have autism or another intellectual disability.

Hopefully with all the reports and this letter from the HSE it will be enough to get what he's entitled to. Will be sending the form in next week. I have also done out a diary type document. This shows the extra attention he needs during the day. Fingers crossed.

Jasssss · 10-01-2012 10:51am

Smellysocks, I wish you all the best with your application.This letter you got from the HSE Has to be a good thing.I applied back in 09/2010 for this and I was refused.I appealed and I was refused. I spent months looking at where my application might have went wrong.I rang support groups all over Ireland to get as much information as i could. This is the story. You will need as much medical evidence as possible that states that your child not only has a disability but that they need care and attention above that of a child of the same age.These reports and letters have to nearly tell these people in the Dept that.Its not about the disability as far as they are concerned its the care that you have to give to this child.My advice is torment everyone that you have seen to write these letters.I paid out thousands to professionals over the years for my child and I am now going back to them for letters as I am about to apply again.Can anyone tell me what the waiting time is at the moment.

smelly sock · 10-01-2012 12:52pm

Jasssss wrote: »

Smellysocks, I wish you all the best with your application.This letter you got from the HSE Has to be a good thing.I applied back in 09/2010 for this and I was refused.I appealed and I was refused. I spent months looking at where my application might have went wrong.I rang support groups all over Ireland to get as much information as i could. This is the story. You will need as much medical evidence as possible that states that your child not only has a disability but that they need care and attention above that of a child of the same age.These reports and letters have to nearly tell these people in the Dept that.Its not about the disability as far as they are concerned its the care that you have to give to this child.My advice is torment everyone that you have seen to write these letters.I paid out thousands to professionals over the years for my child and I am now going back to them for letters as I am about to apply again.Can anyone tell me what the waiting time is at the moment.

I don't have a clue what the waiting time is at the moment tbh. I presume they issue you with an case number though and you can trace it with this. This country is an absolute disgrace though when it comes to getting financial support for children with disabilities. I love the stipulation " A child with a disability so severe that they need more attention and care than a child of the same age".

Of course a child with a disability needs a hell of a lot more attention and care than a child without a disability of the same age. It's common sense for crying out loud!!

I have an assesment of need report stating that my child will be brought in for early intervention. I have been told by a couple of private psychologists that my child probably has autism and sensory proccessing disorder but I will have to have that assesment done. ( Could be talking 1800 euro.)

The HSE sent out a letter stating that under the disability act my child has a disibility.

I have no letter from any medical professional stating that my child needs extra care and attention. I'm thinking of leaving these until the appeal stage?

Jasssss · 10-01-2012 1:48pm

Smellysocks you would imagine this would be enough but I just dont know what in gods name is going on..I remember talking to another parent at a workshop that i attend with my child and she seemed very well informed on her rights.She told me that she was granted DCA because her son had got the same letter as you from the HSE.Let us know how you get on and I will also get back on when i hear something.

smelly sock · 10-01-2012 3:12pm

Jasssss wrote: »

Smellysocks you would imagine this would be enough but I just dont know what in gods name is going on..I remember talking to another parent at a workshop that i attend with my child and she seemed very well informed on her rights.She told me that she was granted DCA because her son had got the same letter as you from the HSE.Let us know how you get on and I will also get back on when i hear something.

No problem.

Hopefully I will be in touch sooner rather than later. I presumed that the letter from the HSE stating that my child has a disibility under the disibility act was standard after an assesment of need? Can anyone tell me if this is correct?

Thanks,

ledser9 · 20-01-2012 11:10am

I only joined boards this morning while looking for information on domiciliary appeals this thread appeared thank god ! While i know now i have a big fight on my hands to get this, i have at least got some great info now of what letters and what way to approach my appeal. My son has autism but i was told as many others from this thread he does not qualify, its very hard to take someone telling you this who does not see the care he needs daily. Thanks to all posters its being a big help to get this information, hope everyone will be successfully with their appeals. Will let you know how i get on.

smelly sock · 20-01-2012 11:17am

ledser9 wrote: »

I only joined boards this morning while looking for information on domiciliary appeals this thread appeared thank god ! While i know now i have a big fight on my hands to get this, i have at least got some great info now of what letters and what way to approach my appeal. My son has autism but i was told as many others from this thread he does not qualify, its very hard to take someone telling you this who does not see the care he needs daily. Thanks to all posters its being a big help to get this information, hope everyone will be successfully with their appeals. Will let you know how i get on.

Hi Ledser. It's a shocking state of affairs in this country. The way they treat kids like ours with these difficulties is criminal. But I'll tell you now that if your son has autism HE DOES qualify for this payment. I am going through the proccess now.

What you need to do is take a bad day and make it ten times worse. Write everything down and compile a huge report.

The stipulation is " A disability so severe that your child requires substantially more care and attention than a child of the same age".

If he is autistic it is a given that he will require substantially more care and attnetion.

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT for what your child is entitled to. Sorry for any spelling mistakes. Bit of a rant!!

smelly sock · 20-01-2012 11:20am

ledser9 wrote: »

I only joined boards this morning while looking for information on domiciliary appeals this thread appeared thank god ! While i know now i have a big fight on my hands to get this, i have at least got some great info now of what letters and what way to approach my appeal. My son has autism but i was told as many others from this thread he does not qualify, its very hard to take someone telling you this who does not see the care he needs daily. Thanks to all posters its being a big help to get this information, hope everyone will be successfully with their appeals. Will let you know how i get on.

You should also be entitled to the incapacitated child tax credit. Google it. Get a letter from your GP with the diagnosis in it. It's not a huge amount but every little help when it comes to gettin the best treatment for your youngin.

lucyjoc · 20-01-2012 11:22am

hi there, the waiting list for appeals is 18mths at the mo, i sent in appeal in Oct after been refused on review and rang them during the week to see how things were coming along and thats what the man on the phone told me. The trick is to get your TD involved as soon as you get refused and get him to intervene during the review process and before it gets to the appeal officer. They're also reviewing on a yearly basis from now on and it will only take a few weeks to do the review if you request it yourself, if you wait for them to review you then the process can take months and if you get refused then you have to go through the appeals process and you're dca and carer's allowance is stopped while all this is going on!! Its ridiculous!

LozAnn · 15-02-2012 9:40pm

Hi I'm new to this, I was looking for advice on DCA but I'm at the other end of the road-my son was 16 last week and is now too old for DCA apparently. He has been getting DCA since he was 4. I rang Citizen's Information today to find out if I can apply for Disability Allowance for him while he is still at school. I was told that the age limit for DCA has changed to 18. Not having heard anything from the DCA crowd I rang them, I was told that although it had been mentioned in the budget the age limit had not actually been changed yet and it was a 'bit of a foggy area'. So I am still none the wiser as to whether he is still eligible for DCA or if he can claim Disability Allowance when he is still at school....Again this country is a joke when it comes to getting anything for disabled children.
Does anyone know if I can claim Disability Allowance for him while he is still in school?

smelly sock · 26-03-2012 2:48pm

I applied for the DCA last week on the basis my son has severe global developmental delays. The doctor doesn't think there will be a problem with getting it. I included the reports and akso the letter from the HSE stating that he has a disibility. I also compiled a diary style letter on how bad a day is.

Anyone got anymore info on how long the waiting lists are currently at?

Jasssss · 26-03-2012 4:25pm

Smellysocks.I was finally granted it.It took four weeks to process.I wish you all the best.I know how hard it is.

smelly sock · 26-03-2012 4:31pm

Well done jass. Delighted for you. Can you tell me what exactly you put in the application? (reports etc) PM if needs be.

Was that four weeks from the first applicatiion you sent in?

thanks

Jasssss · 26-03-2012 9:13pm

Smellysocks,it took exactly four weeks from the day I applied.I have heard people say that they where waiting weeks but not in my case.I sent in all my child's medical reports and application form that I and our Doc filled in.Smellysocks,the section that the Doctor fills in is very important i.e the section that request's the Doctor to tick how severe your child's condition is i.e mild,moderate,severe and profound etc.Mine ticked severe and profound which is exactly the problems my child's difficulties are.Can you remember what your Doctor ticked for these boxes.

smelly sock · 27-03-2012 9:24am

He didn't tick profound or severe for all of them but did for some as far as I can remember. On one fo the reports it says that my son 28 months old but his speech and communication is that of a 10 month old child. It says that his social skills is that of a 15 month child and his eye hand coordination is that of a 15 month old child as well. Hopefully this will show themn how bad things can be.

The doc didn't seem to think there would be a problem with getting. Have to just wait and see now I suppose. It's a bit of a lotto really.

RowenaK · 14-04-2012 2:49pm

lucyjoc wrote: »

hi there, the waiting list for appeals is 18mths at the mo, i sent in appeal in Oct after been refused on review and rang them during the week to see how things were coming along and thats what the man on the phone told me. The trick is to get your TD involved as soon as you get refused and get him to intervene during the review process and before it gets to the appeal officer. They're also reviewing on a yearly basis from now on and it will only take a few weeks to do the review if you request it yourself, if you wait for them to review you then the process can take months and if you get refused then you have to go through the appeals process and you're dca and carer's allowance is stopped while all this is going on!! Its ridiculous!

Are you serious!!, 18 months is outrageous, my DCA was revoked on review in December, they received my appeal on 9th Dec and I rang up last month and was told my appeal had moved from a queue to another queue and a deciding appeals officer hadn't been attached to that queue yet, so we have to wait for that!- I asked how long will this take he says "how long is a piece of string"

Maura74 · 15-04-2012 9:35pm

Get in contact with the autism society. Also there is a program on BB2 about this condition next week, but not sure what day it is on.

Best of Luck

http://www.autism.ie/

http://www.autism.org.uk/about-autism/autism-and-asperger-syndrome-an-introduction/what-is-autism.aspx

lucyjoc · 17-04-2012 6:30pm

RowenaK wrote: »

Are you serious!!, 18 months is outrageous, my DCA was revoked on review in December, they received my appeal on 9th Dec and I rang up last month and was told my appeal had moved from a queue to another queue and a deciding appeals officer hadn't been attached to that queue yet, so we have to wait for that!- I asked how long will this take he says "how long is a piece of string"

they send the appeal back to the dca section to review again before they look at it so i'd ring them and ask them for an update and if the file has gone back to the appeal officer yet, keep ringing for regular updates (not that its doing me any good! Ive started emailing the appeals office now so at least i have a record of correspondence with them!)

Maura74 · 19-04-2012 8:26am

lucyjoc wrote: »

they send the appeal back to the dca section to review again before they look at it so i'd ring them and ask them for an update and if the file has gone back to the appeal officer yet, keep ringing for regular updates (not that its doing me any good! Ive started emailing the appeals office now so at least i have a record of correspondence with them!)

The program on BB2 tonight at 9pm is convening autism and the preview I saw of it looks very informative. Therefore you should tell the health people to watch it as they may learn something ie how difficult it is for parents with children with this condition.

Also next week at the same time it is dealing with dementia. That one I will be watching it as I got family suffering with that condition and I know from experience that the health professions do not understand that condition.

Jasssss · 25-04-2012 8:56pm

Smellysocks, have you heard anything back yet.

smelly sock · 26-04-2012 10:06am

Hi Jass,

Nothing yet. They recieved the form 23/3/12. Rang them tuesday and they said it would be another 3 weeks at least. At least the proccess has been kicked off though.

smelly sock · 11-05-2012 10:27am

Well guys,

Got a letter back today from them. Not entitled to dca. Needless to say I'll be putting in an appeal. Great little country we live in here.

misscolt · 15-05-2012 9:11pm

I was turn down july 2011 for dca and i never appealed .. reapplied in march 20th 2012 didnt think i would get it but got a letter today saying i was granted it so if u get turned down dont give up

smelly sock · 16-05-2012 9:47am

misscolt wrote: »

I was turn down july 2011 for dca and i never appealed .. reapplied in march 20th 2012 didnt think i would get it but got a letter today saying i was granted it so if u get turned down dont give up

Hi Misscolt. Delighted for you. Did you put in any extra info etc? Just trying to get my appeal together. Not sure what else I can put in it. They said I didn't have enough medical evidence. I had a phsycologist report, OT report and the section filled out by the GP. They also told me that my childs disability is not in question. They said that it's obvious that my child needs extra care and attention but not substantially more care and attention. Sickening really.

misscolt · 20-05-2012 11:18am

thats wat they said to me the first time ..but i have since learned that most ppl get turned down first time anyway .best thing to do is get reports from everyone ur child see and put in everything u do for ur child from when they get up till they go to bed .and if needs be get letters of support from ur doctor stating why u should b granted it ..:) gud luck

smelly sock · 23-05-2012 12:32pm

I pretty much done all of that already. Had o/t, phsycologist reports and Gp reports. Had a letter from HSE saying that my child has a disibility. Wrote out the extra care and attention from the minute he wakes up and goes to bed.

Don't know what else I can do. Will just get on with it and send the appeal in. Write a letter why I feel we should be granted it I suppose.

smelly sock · 26-06-2012 11:51am

Well,

I couldn't get a letter from my GP for the appeal. But I have since received a report from his EIT (Pshycologist and Occuptational therapist) saying that they believe my child is entitled to it and that they have seen first hand the extra care and attetion he needs. Hopefully this will do the trick.

"Lack of medical evidence" still sickens me.

People like us can only get so much evidence because of the shocking state of the HSE.

MarkR · 03-07-2012 4:57pm

Got a letter today, finally got allowance. This is after initial rejection, second rejection which went then to an oral hearing. We'd written out what an average day is like for him, how much extra care and attention he needs. Every single receipt from hearing tests, mri's, and two years of speech therapy, occupational therapy etc.

They couldn't not say that he needed additional support. Took a while though, started December last year.

smelly sock · 04-07-2012 10:12am

Well done. At long last!!

I have been chasing it up everyday with a lot of people both in the department and in my local community. Should have an answer within 10 weeks hopefully. I have a letter now saying from my childs early interventing team that he needs the extra care and attention and that they also fully support the request for dca.

I mean, the kid has been diagnosed with a profund intellectual disability. Not mild ,not severe, but profund.

It's just blatantly clear that they are denying people what they are entitled to. And it sickens me.

smelly sock · 04-07-2012 10:27am

The dept. has pretty much said that they can see it's clear my son needs extra care and attention but they feel due to the lack of medical evidence that they think he doesn't need substantially extra care and attention.

Jasssss · 29-08-2012 9:49am

Smellysocks, you need to get to a child pediatrician or consultant in a hospital who can do up a report on your child.In my experience i too sent in OT,Speech Therapy reports etc however they were not worth the paper they were written on.It was only after getting refused once and then on appeal again and really at the stage where i could take no more that my GP referred to a consultant who assessed my child fully .It was only then that i received the Dom.Over the years i too like many parents had spent all of my savings on reports so that my child could access the treatment he needed. Dont waste any more time going around in circles get your Doctor to refer you is my advice.

smelly sock · 29-08-2012 10:33am

Hi Jass. Thanks very much. Got approved for the dca last month!! So happy days.

Just waiting on the carers allowance now. Fun and games.

Thanks for the advice though.

Jasssss · 29-08-2012 11:05am

Ah Smellysock thats great.Now dont get me started on the Carers Allowance.I am now on week 30 and was told to add another 12 to that yesterday when i rang.But good luck.

lionheart09 · 31-08-2012 4:19pm

smelly sock wrote: »

The dept. has pretty much said that they can see it's clear my son needs extra care and attention but they feel due to the lack of medical evidence that they think he doesn't need substantially extra care and attention.

hi, i have been following this board for some time now but never messaged anyone. i applied for Dom,s on 5th july and received a letter last week with a refusal which said exactly the same as your letter. my son has autism and was wondering what you did on your appeal that you were granted next time round. i have been taking advice from everyone when i applied by writing the daily routines etc. i am now waiting for letters from people stating his does need the extra care, is there anything else i need to do any advice is great thanks

Domiciliary Care Allowance

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