Disability Access Fund (DAF)
The Disability Access Fund (DAF) is funding available to an early years provider to support the inclusion of children with special educational needs and/or disability (SEND) to access their universal government funding entitlement.
It can be used to support providers in making reasonable adjustments to their settings and/or helping with building capacity.
Eligibility
Each child needs to be aged three to four and receive:
and the child receives one of the following:
- the universal 15 hours entitlement for 3- and 4-year-olds
or
- the 15 hours entitlement for families receiving additional forms of government support
or
- the 15 hours entitlement for children aged 2- years of working families.
- The child does not have to use the full 570 hours of entitlement.
The child does not have to use the full 570 hours of entitlement.
Four-year olds in primary reception classes are not eligible for DAF funding.
How the Disability Access Fund is paid
£910 is paid once, annually to the early years provider for each eligible child.
If the child uses more than one early years provider to access universal 15 hours entitlement, the parent must choose which provider gets the funding.
If the child moves setting in the same financial year, the fund will stay with the designated early years provider, and the child will not be eligible for a new payment until one year on from the first payment in the next financial year.
How to get the Disability Access Fund
Early years providers are responsible for identifying eligible children.
For each eligible child, the early years provider will need to provide the following to the local authority:
• a copy of the eligible child’s Disability Living Allowance (DLA) letter
The nominated early years provider will then need to email eysenteam@hounslow.gov.uk stating that they have a child in their provision who is eligible to access Disability Access Fund. They will then be sent information on next steps to access the fund.
In cases where a child who lives in one local authority attends a setting in another local authority, eligibility checking and funding the DAF for the child is the responsibility of the local authority in which the setting is based.
Contact us
If you have any questions about the Disability Access Fund please email: eysenteam@hounslow.gov.uk