We are investigating the possibility of a student who needs "24 hour care"
going on a 5-month exchange visit to a university in USA. A partner
university is willing to consider this, but has indicated it would cost
nearly 80,000 US dollars for the semester to hire staff to give him
round-the clock attention. They also asked if the UK government would fund
a 2-day visit to UK by a member of their staff to observe the student's
day-to-day living arrangements before they can decide whether they would be
able to accommodate him.
The student receives funding for his personal care needs from his Social
Services and ILF.
I do not have details of the level of funding currently available to him,
but anticipate that it is considerably less that £80,000 US dollars.
Have anyone found a way forward in a similar situation? Would it be
realistic to expect Social Services/ILF to increase their funding to meet
the extra costs of a placement in USA? What other approaches might be worth
investigating?
Clare Davies
|