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Carers

Young carers

Who is a young carer?

A young carer is a child or young person aged 18 or under who looks after someone in their family who has a disability, an illness, mental health difficulties, or drug or alcohol issues. Young carers may have more responsibility with the daily household chores compared to their friends. This might include cooking, cleaning, doing the shopping, helping someone to get dressed and move around, collecting prescriptions or helping with medication.

Most young carers provide support to parents, brothers, sisters or grandparents and live in the same household as the person they care for.

There are many disabilities which are not obvious and not present all of the time, and we understand that this may have an impact on those in the household who are in a caring role. We know that caring for someone can sometimes be difficult, but it can also be a rewarding experience.

How we can help young carers

If you think you or a child you know has a caring role at home, we can offer a Young Carers Assessment. The assessments are completed by one of our Family Support Workers with the input of the young carer and their family.

This assessment will look at the young carer’s role in their home and what impact their responsibilities have on their daily life and any difficulties they may be facing. Our Family Support Worker will discuss ways to make things easier and how to access further support. The recommended support from this assessment will be added to an Early Help Support Plan to ensure there is a plan in place to support the young carer and their family.

If a need for support is identified during the assessment, the Family Support Worker who completes the assessment will continue to work with the young carer and their family to ensure they receive consistency.

The Family Support Worker will arrange ‘Team around the Family’ meetings for everyone to come together to discuss and review how things are going. Young carers are encouraged to attend these meetings should they wish to. Other professionals may attend if they are involved with supporting the young carer and their family. These meetings will provide updates about the support that is being provided and to assess whether it is making a positive difference. The group will also discuss whether there is any further support that can be accessed by the young carer and their family.

The support we offer may include:

  • One to one targeted support for the whole family. Helping the young carer to identify things in their life that they may like to change or develop
  • Meeting with the young carer at a place that suits them. This could be in their school, at home or out in the community
  • Signposting to advice and guidance and getting in touch with other organisations that can support the young carer and their family
  • Understanding the young carer’s interests so that we can find local groups and clubs that they might want to attend
  • Joining a young carers group that can help support them to spend positive time outside of their home with other young people who understands the responsibility of caring for a relative

Make an enquiry or referral

If you are a young carer or the parent of a young carer, then you can refer yourself to find out more about what support we can offer you and your family.

If you are a professional wanting to refer a young carer, then you will need to gain the consent of the parents and young carer before you refer them to our service.

For more information, contact one of our Advanced Practitioners by email on:

Earlyhelpadvancedpractitioners@herefordshire.gov.uk

Alternatively you can call our Children’s Help and Advice (CHAT) Team on 01432 260261 and they will talk you through the process.

Some of the organisations we work with to support young carers and their family members are:

Download an information leaflet about the Early Help Young Carers Service