Your Support Plan
Your Support Plan is the document that describes the support you need that has been agreed.
Different councils sometimes use different names for a Support Plan. Depending where you live, it might be called something like:
- Outcome Plan
- Care Plan
- All About Me
- My Life
- My Life, My Plan.
What is in a Support Plan?
Your Support Plan should include all the details about your support that have been agreed with your social worker.
It should say:
- What is important to you (sometimes called your Outcomes)
- What types of support you need to help you achieve this
- How your support budget will be spent
- How much control and responsibility you will have for arranging your support
- How your support will be arranged and managed.
What does a good Support Plan look like?
Your Support Plan can be recorded in any way, whatever suits you best. It could be written down, on film, drawn, or displayed in another way.
A good Support Plan should be based on a description of the support you need and not the amount of time you have been given for you to receive support each week.
A good Support Plan should be positive, and not just based on what you cannot do. It should include information about what you can do, and what else you want to do with help.
A good Support Plan should include details of what informal support you already get as well as formal, funded support.
A good Support Plan should include details of how your support should be provided.
For example, if you need support showering, this should include details of how you should be supported to take a shower. It should not say just ‘shower’.
You should get a copy of your Support Plan (if you want it) and it should be an accurate summary of what has been agreed with you.
Will my Support Plan change?
A Support Plan should change as you go through life. It should be reviewed and updated regularly by you and your social worker.
Find out more about reviewing your support in this article: Reviewing your support
Next steps
You can get an idea of what a good Support Plan should include in the Resources section below. This is just one example – everyone is different so every Support Plan will be different.
You can also read the guide that describes what a good Support Planning process should look like in the Resources section below.
There are local Independent Support Organisations who can help you when it comes to creating a Support Plan. You can find their details on using the Find Help search tool.
Read the next page: Your support budget
Many people are able to make a Support Plan that works for them, but we know that some common issues come up for people.
Here is what do to if any of these things happen to you.
I do not understand my Support Plan
Your Support Plan should be written or created in a way you understand. The law says your council has to do this.
If you do not understand your Support Plan, you can go back to the person who created it with you and ask them to change it.
You can also get help from a local Independent Support Organisation or Advocacy Service to understand your Support Plan.
You can find details of your local Independent Support Organisation using the Find Help search tool.
You can find details of a local advocacy service here.
I do not agree with my Support Plan
If you do not agree with your Support Plan you can go back to the person who wrote it with you and ask them to change it.
Your Support Plan should be an accurate record of what you have discussed and agreed with your social worker.
You can also get help from a local Independent Support Organisation if you want to challenge your Support Plan. You can find their details using the Find Help search tool.
I need to change my Support Plan
Your Support Plan should be regularly reviewed – at least once a year.
If your needs or circumstances have changed and you need to change your Support Plan, you can ask your council for a review.
Find out more here: Reviewing your support
The SDS Standards give guidance to local councils to help them deliver social care support well.
These SDS Standards are not laws, but they describe what good Self-directed Support looks like. Councils should work towards these Standards.
When it comes to creating a Support Plan, here is what the Standards say:
- Your strengths, assets and talents, human rights, existing networks and community supports should be recognised and included in your support plan. (3.1)
- What matters to you is central to agreeing outcomes which are developed in the plan. (3.2)
- You should know you have a plan and that you have ownership of your plan. You should also have a copy of your plan and be able to access it. (3.2)
You can find the full SDS Standards here.
The law about social care support is called the Social Care (Self Directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013.
It says that:
- You must have as much involvement as you want to when it comes to assessing your needs and deciding what types of support you need.
- Your council should work together with you when it comes to assessing your needs and creating a support plan.
You can find the full text of the law here.
The SDS Statutory Guidance is legal guidance written for local councils to tell them how social care support (Self-directed Support) should work.
It says:
- The Support Plan is a key document which is a personalised record of what matters to you, including your personal outcomes and how these will be met.
- Your Support Plan should talk about your strengths, the help you already have in your life, and your human rights.
Your Support Plan should cover:
- the things that you have agreed are important to you (your personal outcomes)
- the resources (money and other things) which will help to meet your outcomes
- the choices available to you to arrange your support.
- Your Support Plan may be developed in any type of format that you understand.
- You should be able to use your Support Plan as a reminder of what has been agreed. Your council should also use your Support Plan as a reminder of what has been agreed. Other people involved in your life should also be able to access your Support Plan (if you are OK with this).
- You and anyone involved in your Support Plan should be able to review it, add to it, and make changes over time.
- Your Support Plan should focus on what you want to achieve with the right help, rather than simply putting arrangements in place to stop things from getting any worse.
You can find the part of the SDS Statutory Guidance that talks about this here.