Identifying eligible children

Early years providers are responsible for identifying eligible children.

Providers are encouraged to speak to parents in order to find out who is eligible for the DAF.

Parents of children qualifying for disability living allowance are required to provide documented evidence of this entitlement.

How early years providers will receive DAF funding

• The local authority will fund all early years providers providing a place for each child eligible for the DAF in their area at the fixed annual rate of £910 per eligible child
• The DAF will not be offset against any other funding which the local authority may ordinarily be providing for children eligible for the DAF
• The DAF is payable as a lump sum once per annum per eligible child. If a child eligible for the DAF is splitting their funded entitlement across two or more providers, the local authority will ask parents to nominate the main setting
• The local authority will ask providers for information about how they intend to spend the funding to ensure that it is not duplicating any other funding which they may receive to support the child
• If a child receiving the DAF moves from one provider to another within a financial year, the new provider is not eligible to receive the DAF funding for this child within the same financial year. DAF funding received by the original setting will not be recouped by the local authority
• Where a child lives in one authority area but attends a provider in a different local authority, the provider’s local authority is responsible for funding the DAF for the child and eligibility checking
• All early years providers who are eligible to receive funding for the two-, three- and four-year-old early years entitlement are also eligible to receive the DAF

How early years providers claim DAF funding

If a child has been nominated for DAF at a particular setting, providers will need to indicate this on their termly headcount submission to the local authority, via the Early Years Provider Portal. There is no longer a requirement for a separate DAF application form to be submitted.

Providers need to select ‘Yes’ to the ‘Child Nominated for DAF’ field on their Actual headcount form, for the child/children they wish to claim DAF for. Providers will also be required to upload proof of the child being in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA), i.e. a copy of their DLA award letter, via the ‘Documents’ tab on the Portal.

Approved DAF payments will then be included in with the actual payment run to providers for that term. DAF is payable as a lump sum once per annum per eligible child.