I have a acquired brain injury through being involved in a road accident. prior to this accident I had a full time job and a part-time evening job. Since this accident I have found getting work continually difficult.

I first tried working through the therapeutic work scheme and eventually got took on part-time. However the employer found that employing a head injured person was more difficult than they imagined. I eventually left due to depression after having my jobs taken away and being left with nothing to do other than make cups of tea and file magazines. Thinking about it now it was actually constructive dismissal.

Going back on IB due to the head injury and then depression, having anti-depressants and had counselling the DEA at the jobcentre recommended I go to a Work rehabilitation place for people with head injuries and strokes to get back into work. This I did for 7 months, when I was ready, they found me a placement for 2 weeks which was extended to 6 weeks. At the end of the 6 weeks I seemed to be presented with no other options. I liked the placement and environment so I said could I volunteer to further build up my confidence and mental stamina. The people who got me the placement then closed my case and have provided no support and sent me a lovely certificate.

The volunteer manager rang the head injury rehab place and asked what further support they could provide and was told they were not interested. When I have complained to the DEA about it he avoids the subject and all he can say is that the placement is now taking advantage of me and I should be off IB not the fact that I am in a supported working environment building up my confidence and stamina.

The DEA has also tries to fob me off to one of the the Pathway to Works providers but when I contacted them for info they would not give me any info unless I signed up with them which I was not prepared to do. I found them very patronizing i.e. saying that some people have been able to make a job out of a hobby. I feel that if I went to one of these places this would just be starting the whole process again which I have already been through.

I feel that the head injury rehab place did not follow the whole process though and effectively dumped me at the placement. I feel let down as I have neither been helped back into a proper job and have no outside support. I just feel that I have been used. Last week I spoke to an MP who was not very impressed with what I have gone through at the jobcentre and said she would look into it.

I am no nearer to a job than I was when I started other than now having over 3 years voluntary work experience. I get no support other than from my supervisor. I still do not have the capacity to work full-time. My voluntary manager realizes this and would not be able to pay me what I currently receive on IB and I would be worse off in work. I do not have to have another medical until 2013 allegedly. I am petrified of what is going to happen in the future and possibly being thrown onto JSA.

These were the people who I trusted to help me. What do I do now?. Do I just sit and wait until I get swallowed up into the ESA?

Is it worth complaining about either the DEA giving me false hope and failing to follow the thing through, and the rehab place just dumping me and not providing any further support?. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

From DWP website:

Incapacity Benefit is intended for people who, due to the effects of their illness or disability, are not expected to work or seek work as a condition for receiving benefit. As such, benefit cannot be paid to people who work, as this basic entitlement condition is not satisfied.

It is recognised, however, that allowing some work can help improve a person’s medical condition and in some cases help the chances of a return to the labour market.

Permitted Work and Voluntary Work
A customer who is receiving Incapacity Benefit may only work in permitted circumstances.

Permitted work introduces more flexible rules for people who want to try paid work while still getting Incapacity Benefit because of illness or disability.

You can:
work for less than 16 hours a week, on average, and earn no more than £92.00 a week for 52 weeks, or
work for less than 16 hours a week, on average, and earn up to £92.00 a week for as long as your illness or disability is considered sufficiently severe that you meet the threshold of incapacity without undergoing a medical assessment, or
work and earn up to £20 a week, at any time, for as long as you are on benefit, or
do supported permitted work and earn no more than £92.00 a week for as long as you are on benefit.

We use supported permitted work to mean work that is supervised by someone who is employed by a public or local authority, or a voluntary organisation, whose job it is to arrange work for people with disabilities. This could be work done in the community or in a sheltered workshop. It also includes work as part of a hospital treatment programme.

You do not need your doctor's approval to start permitted work.

Linking Provisions
Incapacity Benefit recipients who take a job, and leave benefit, may be able to return to the same rate of Incapacity Benefit if they return to benefit within 104 weeks.

DEA setup place at rehab centre, they know all about me and where I do my voluntary work. Thought of permitted work but it was limited to a year so seem pointless as I wasn't well enough to progress into a job after the year. it was so much better before it was restricted because you could go at your own pace. After being at placement everything went quiet and rehab centre closed my case and all i got was a certificate. I did not know this was going to happen and i thought they might track my progress. My manager noticed how quickly they dumped me and was surprised. DEA was asked to see manager at voluntary work and said would send info but nothing materialised. next time speak to DEA he says voluntary place is now taking advantage of me now [which they are not] and I should be off IB. the voluntary work place have done more for me than the jobcentre. Put off by negative vibes from DEA and avoided DEA. carry on doing voluntary, next time speak to DEA he says I should now go to Pathways to work, I like where I volunteer but no job available put possible in future. Manager doesnt want me to go on JSA but could not pay me as much as IB. I have built up trust and friendships and more confidence. Petrified of going to pathways to work and can't see the point as I would be starting all over again. It is like I have been left in limbo and they haven't followed it through.

I feel like I have been used in like a transaction between the jobcentre and the rehab centre as they obviously wouldn't do it for nothing. It is like I have just been dumped there and forgotten but I have made some progress but I am still not well enough to work full-time.