Types of assistance6.

(1)

Assistance out of a welfare fund may be provided by way of—

(a)

a crisis grant; or

(b)

a community care grant.

(2)

A crisis grant is assistance for the purposes referred to in paragraph (a) of section 2(1) of the Act.

(3)

A community care grant is assistance for the purposes referred to in paragraph (b) of section 2(1) of the Act.

(4)

A community care grant may be provided where it appears to the local authority that the grant will—

(a)

enable a qualifying individual who falls within paragraph (5) to establish or maintain a settled home and that without the grant there is a risk that the individual will not be able to do this;

(b)

enable a qualifying individual to maintain a settled home and that without the grant there is a risk of the individual needing to go into a care institution;

(c)

enable a qualifying individual to establish or maintain a settled home after being homeless or otherwise living an unsettled way of life;

(d)

enable a qualifying individual to maintain a settled home in a situation where that individual, or another individual in the same household, is facing exceptional pressure; or

(e)

assist a person to care for a qualifying individual who has been released from prison or a young offenders’ institution on temporary licence.

(5)

A qualifying individual falls within this paragraph if the individual—

(a)

has been in prison or a care institution for a period of at least 3 months, any part of which falls within the period of 9 months preceding the date of the fund application in question; or

(b)

has been in a care institution for two or more separate periods within that 9 month period.