SANDWELL ASIAN FAMILY SUPPORT SERVICE

LIAISON AND OUTREACH SERVICE

Since SAFSS founding in 1986, Liaison and Outreach has remained central to our service delivery and how we as an organisation support South Asian families.

Research conducted by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in the 1980’s identified many South Asian families who had a child or adult with a disability were not accessing mainstream care and support services due to the lack of culturally sensitive services and translations services. In 2009 this continues to be an issue for families.

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Our Liaison and Outreach Workers will support families to apply for benefits, including Disability Living Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Child Benefit and Housing Beneift. Our workers will also support families to attend hospital and school reviews, GP appointments and act as an advocate as and when required. A translation service is also available.

For further information on this service please contact Neelam Pallen or Usha Ghai on (0121) 558 2198 safss@btconnect.com or liaison.safss@btconnect.com

HMRC GRANT-IN-AID LIAISON SERVICE
In April 2008 SAFSS were honoured to receive funding through Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Grant-in-Aid Programme. The programme aims to reach individuals, families and communities who are not currently accessing HMRC products and SAFSS’ excellence in reaching out to families was recognised through three years of funding.

Our Liaison and Outreach Worker works closely with families who have a child or adult with a disability to identify HMRC products that are relevant to them. This includes Child Benefit, Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit and Child Trust Funds. During the financial year 2008-2009 we worked with 58 South Asian families and gained an incredible £362,804 of income or families. Sixty-five percent of our activity on this project was for Child Tax credit and 28% for Child Benefit.

If you have a child or adult with a disability and need help with completing HMRC forms please contact Usha Ghai on (0121) 558 2198 or liaison.safss@btconnect.com