Young Carers Service

Service Information

The young carers service aims to:

• Support children and young people (under 18 years) who have caring responsibilities
• Assess the needs of young carers via an Early Help Assessment (EHA)
• Promote the recognition of young carer’s needs and achievements
• Work alongside other agencies and services to support young carers
• Provide transition assessments for young adult carers transitioning to adulthood and adult services

The official definition of a young carer is:

‘…. A person under 18 who provides or intends to provide care for another person (of any age, except where the care is provided for payment, pursuant to a contract or as voluntary work).’
Children and Families Act 2014 Section 96.

Assessments which determine if children under the age of 18 have caring responsibilities (for a family member) can be completed by any professional who comes into contact with a child or young person. This assessment is either the Early Help Assessment (EHA) or Child and Family Assessment (C and F). The adult framework is also compliant with young carer legislation.

For children who do not have a Social Worker or a Family Intervention Worker already in place, the Family Front Door Practitioners will consider the needs of the family alongside our pathway for Primary and Secondary School age children. They will communicate with the family once a request has been received regarding the best service to provide their Young Carers Assessment. If a child is identified as a young carer a support plan will be agreed with the family and this will include being offered a statutory young carer assessment review. This takes place an annual basis to determine if children and young people have continuing caring responsibilities and to consider if the appropriate support needs are in place. This is typically provided by the Family Intervention Service (FIS).

The young carer’s assessment will identify support needs and lead to an action plan of what needs to happen next and include the outcomes the young person wishes to achieve. The plan should include the actions of those people present at the assessment but also those who are already involved with the family and those to be involved moving forward.

In considering whether the child or young person has a carer role, think about:

• Person for who the caring role relates
• Relationship – such as mum, sibling, grandparent

Are there other people who should be consulted in considering whether a child has a young carers role?

• The young carer
• The young carer’s parent(s)
• Any other person who the child or young person or a parent of the child or young person requests the authority to involve

Service Criteria to include in the EHA

The information below is required in addition to the information already requested in the EHA.

Section 7

What caring are they doing? Caring tasks could be:

• Cleaning, hoovering, dusting, washing, drying up, tidying kitchen, cooking and preparing food, washing, drying clothes and ironing
• Shopping for food or household items
• Gardening or outdoor work
• Managing money or bills
• Getting up in the night to help (broken sleep)
• Help with washing, bathing and dressing
• Helping with management of medication
• Organising things such as appointments
• Cheering up and calming down – emotional support
• Making sure they are safe when out – road safety for example
• Helping them with lifting a person or equipment
• Helping to care for a sibling
• Help with walking or moving around the house
• Pushing a wheelchair or buggy
• Caring for pets
• Interpreting and sign language

The assessment should consider how any lack of care by the child or young person would impact upon:

• The person being cared for
• The wider family’s ability to maintain the wellbeing of that person