What is a young carer’s assessment?
A young carer’s assessment is a conversation to talk about your caring role and how it affects your life. It looks at what could help you carry on caring – it is not an assessment of how well you care for someone.
Who is a young carer?
A young carer is a child or young person aged under 18 who provides regular and ongoing care to a family member who has a physical or mental illness, disability, or substance misuse issue.
What is a young carer’s assessment?
There are two types of carer’s assessments, an adult carer’s assessment (for carers aged 18+) and a young carer’s assessment (for young people aged
under 18).
A young carer’s assessment is a conversation to find out what support you may need in your caring role. It will look at the ways in which caring affects
your life and what support you might need to continue in the role.
A young carer’s assessment is completed by a young carer’s assessor. They are professionals who work with young people and their families to address
the support needs of young people in a caring role.
How is a young carer’s assessment carried out?
A young carer’s assessor will speak to your parent or guardian to arrange to come and see you in person, or if you prefer, we can arrange to speak to
you via a phone call or video chat. This could be at home or school, or at a different place that you are happy with. They may want to speak to you alone for at least part of the assessment, without your parent or guardian around, to make sure that your voice is being heard properly.
They might speak to other young carer experts and other people who know you, like your teachers, to find out a bit more information; this is in line with our Privacy Notice.
A young carer’s assessment is a conversation to talk about your caring role and how it affects your life. It looks at what could help you carry on caring – it is not an assessment of how well you care for someone.
During the assessment, they will ask you about what type of jobs you do in your caring role and how often you do them. They are also interested to know the impact that being a carer has on you, particularly on your physical and emotional health, your schoolwork, your recreation time, your future employment opportunities and your wider development.
They will also want to find out how you feel about your caring role, and whether it is right for you to keep doing all of the jobs that you are doing.
We apply the Children and Families Act 2014 and the Care Act 2014 (for young people aged 16-18) to decide if you are a young carer with support
needs.
Even if it is decided that you are a young carer but do not have support needs, we will still consider what help might be available to support you in your caring role.
Some information that we ask about is of a sensitive nature, but we use this to make sure we’re helping you in the best way possible.
What happens after a young carer’s assessment?
If it is decided you are a young carer with support needs, we will work with you and your family to agree a support plan, which will show what support
you need, who will provide it, and your personal goals.
- You will have a review of your support plan to make sure it has met your needs.
- If you do not have support needs as part of your caring role at this time, we will provide information and advice about other types of support available.
- You can come back to us at any time if your needs change by contacting Staffordshire Cares on 0300 111 8010.
