CARF Pop Ins to start up again at DPHS High Street office! 
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We are delighted to announce that we are partnering with Citizens Advice & Rights Fife (CARF) to provide Pop Ins at our High Street base on a monthly basis. Our Education Room is a confidential quiet space to spend time with an adviser from CARF. Timely money/benefits advice has helped many of our customers in the past. Stefan will be taking bookings for Wednesday 21st February for the morning on this occasion. These appointments are for current customers, at DPHS or at SDS Options Fife, who can access this assistance by contacting your adviser here (either Housing or Self Directed Support service), or alternatively, asking Stefan to book you a place on 01592 803280
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WE NEED YOU!!
​We are interested in hearing your views on *Personal Assistant employment…..

You may employ someone to support you - we'd be grateful if you tell them about this research!   If you are a Personal Assistant yourself, we'd be grateful for your views:  
 
****  Why do you do this kind of work?  What’s the future for this kind of work?  How well defined is your role? Do you have access to training and ongoing personal and professional development?  Keen to give your views?
Please participate in this online survey by Dr Amy Watson, Strathclyde University for the Scottish Centre for Employment Research.

https://strathbusiness.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e8rvdpcSUZ4gDkh

If you are an employer of a PA, you may wish to give them details of the research so that they can join in.  Similarly if your employment role brings you into contact with PAs or PA Employers you may wish to send the link on to them to ensure Dr Watson and the research team get as much feedback as possible.  We are particularly keen for those in the Fife area to be able to feed into this research.  Dr Watson will be holding a session here at our offices, Law's Close, 339 High Street, Kirkcaldy  on Thursday 18th January  from 2 – 3pm and you are welcome to attend to give further feedback.  You can sign up for the event at the end of the survey.
 
Thank you! 
 
*What’s a PA?
Personal Assistants (commonly known as ‘PAs’) are employed directly by people who need care and support to enable them to live their life independently in the way they choose.
Each role is unique and Personal Assistants carry out a wide range of tasks based on the individual needs of their employer, providing flexible support with things like personal care, healthcare, domestic tasks, employment and social activities.
The overall aim of PA work is to support someone to exercise choice and control and lead a full, active and independent life. Rather than being employed by an agency or other care provider, Personal Assistants are employed directly by the person they provide care and support to (these employers are sometimes known as ‘individual employers’ or ‘Direct Payment employers’).  The employer may use their own monies to pay the person,  they may use a budget via Social Work that they have been assessed as requiring and choose to use the budget to employ a PA (Option One), and they may choose to top this up with their own monies.
 
 YOU CAN FIND OUT MORE ON OUR SISTER PAGE   www.sdsoptionsfife.org.uk