Disability Access Fund (DAF)
Disability Access Fund (DAF) is available to support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in their childcare setting.
Childcare providers can receive £828 per year for every child who meets the eligibility criteria.
To be eligible your child must be:
- aged 3 or 4 years old and
- using Funded Early Education and Childcare and
- receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA) - GOV.UK.
Your child does not need to be using all of their funded early education and childcare hours for their childcare provider to be able to receive the full £828 of funding.
Four-year-olds in primary school reception classes are not eligible for DAF funding.
What can the funding be used for
The DAF funding is available to help your childcare provider make reasonable adjustments at their setting to improve your child’s access to funded early education. It will be paid directly to the childcare provider, and they will be able to decide how it should be spent.
The funding cannot be used towards childcare fees.
How to apply
You can apply for the funding by completing the Disability Access Fund application form with your childcare provider. You will have to provide a copy of your child's Disability Living Allowance (DLA) eligibility letter.
If your child attends more than one childcare setting, you will need to choose which provider you want to receive the funding.
The childcare provider will then email or post the application to the Early Years Service.
If your child moves to another provider part way through the year
The funding is not transferable, so if your child moves to another childcare provider, it will stay with the original setting for the remainder of that financial year.
