Caring about young carers Paul Brownlee Service Manager Young - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Caring about young carers

Paul Brownlee

Service Manager Young Peoples Services

England and Wales

• 177,918 young (5 to 17 years) unpaid

carers

• 54% girls and 46% boys
• Increase in the number of young unpaid

carers between 2001 Majority of young carers contributed between 1 and 19 hours

• f unpaid care per week

Source: Census 2011, Office for National Statistics (ONS)

North East

• 7943 young (5 to 17 years) unpaid carers
• Majority were girls
• Increase in the number of young unpaid carers

between 2001 and 2011

• Majority of young carers in the region

contributed between 1 and 19 hours of unpaid care per week

Source: Census 2011, Office for National Statistics (ONS)

Newcastle

Source: Census 2011, Office for National Statistics (ONS)

Newcastle

Source: Census 2011, Office for National Statistics (ONS)

Young Carers Strategy

• Ensure that young carers are not

disadvantaged by their caring role and responsibilities

• There is early identification and intervention

to prevent children and young people taking

• n inappropriate levels of care
• To ensure that children and young people

have the best possible chance of fulfilling their potential

Key principles

• To safeguard children
• Develop a whole family approach to needs led

assessments

• Young carers and their families are the experts in their own

lives

• Young carers will have the same access to education and

career choices as their peers

• To continually raise awareness of young carers and, to

support and influence change effectively

• To provide safe, quality support to those children who

continue to be affected by any caring role within their family

Introducing

Amelia’s Story

Children and Families Act 2014

• Consolidates and simplifies the legislation relating to

young carers assessments making rights and duties clearer to young people and practitioners

• Extends the right to an assessment to all young

carers under the age of 18 regardless of the level or type of caring

• Requires a Local Authority to carry out an

assessment of a young carers need for support on the appearance of need

• Provides the appropriate links between children’s and

adults legislation to enable local authorities to align the assessment of a young carer with an assessment

• f the person they care for

In practice, a local authority must

• Take reasonable steps to identify the

extent to which there are young carers within their area who have needs for support

• Assess whether a young carer within their

area has needs for support and if so, what those needs are

LA carrying out the young carers needs assessment must consider and decide

• Whether the young carer has needs for support in

relation to the care they provide or intend to provide

if so

• Whether those needs could be satisfied by services

the LA may provide under Section 17 Children’s Act 1989 and

• If they could be satisfied, whether or not to provide

any such services in relation to the young carer

In practice

• Assess the needs of the adult or child who needs care and

support

• A whole family approach is key
• Assessments should ascertain why a child is caring and

what needs to change in order to prevent them undertaking excessive or inappropriate caring responsibilities which could impact adversely on their welfare, education or social development

• Consideration must be given to whether a young carer is a

‘child in need’ and whether their welfare or development may suffer if support is not provided to them and/or their family

NSCB – February 2014

Continuum of Help and Support

Thank you