Young Carers

SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER

This chapter provides guidance on identifying and supporting young carers. Since April 2015, local authorities have had a duty to take 'reasonable steps' to identify children in their area who are young carers, and to determine if they need support. Local authorities must carry out an assessment whenever it appears that a young carer has a need for support (this could be either in their capacity as a young carer or in a more general sense as a child or young person). This assessment is called a Young Carer's Needs Assessment.

AMENDMENT

This chapter was refreshed in May 2024.

1. Background and Definition

The Children and Families Act 2014 amended the Children Act 1989 to make it easier for young carers to get an assessment of their needs by introducing 'whole family' approaches to assessment and support. Local authorities must offer a Young Carer's Needs Assessment where it appears that a child is involved in providing care for a family member and requires support. A similar provision was introduced in the Care Act 2014, requiring local authorities to consider the needs of young carers if, during the assessment of an adult carer or adult with care and support needs, it appears that a child is providing, or intends to provide, care and support.

Under the Children and Families Act 2014, a young carer is defined as:

'A person under 18 who provides, or intends to provide, care for another person. The concept of 'care' includes practical or emotional support, and 'another person' means anyone within the same family, be they adult or child'.

Young carers undertake a wide range of caring roles and responsibilities in the family home including providing emotional support and personal care, undertaking housework and budgeting. The duty on local authorities to identify and assess the support needs of young carers applies regardless of the type of care and support they are providing.

The Children and Families Act definition excludes children providing care as part of contracted work or voluntary work unless the local authority considers that the relationship between the person cared for and the young person under 18 is such that it would be appropriate for him/her to be regarded as a young carer.

2. Identifying Young Carers

Local authorities are expected to take 'reasonable steps' to identify children in their area who are young carers. The local authority must carry out an assessment if it appears that the young carer may have needs for support and, if so, should identify what those needs are.

The duty to assess applies where there is an appearance of need i.e. there does not have to be a specific 'request'.

Identifying young carers is not always easy. Research has found that a significant proportion of young carers do not disclose their caring responsibilities to their school, and that often young people (and their families) do not recognise themselves as 'young carers'. Furthermore, parents and carers can be reluctant to disclose information about caring responsibilities for fear of repercussions, including children's social care involvement and potential family separations.

Adopting a whole family approach is recommended as the best way to identify young people who are caring for a family member. This means that whenever an adult is receiving social care and/or support, any assessments undertaken should always include discussions about children in the household to identify if they have caring responsibilities, what their wishes and feelings are and may, therefore, require support as a young carer. Providing the right care and support to adult family members at the right time is vital, and helps to ensure that children are supported. The need for children to provide care is increased when services to ill or disabled adults (or other family members) are inadequate, inappropriate or missing and when family-based interventions are not provided.

Schools also have a vital role to play in identifying and supporting young people who are helping to care for family members.

3. Assessing Need and Providing Support

The local authority must carry out a Young Carer's Needs Assessment whenever a young carer is identified and it appears they may need support. The assessment must consider whether the care and support being provided by the child is excessive or inappropriate and how the child's caring responsibilities affect their wellbeing, education, training, work, recreational activities and development.

Clear communication between professionals and families at the start of the assessment process is important to allay any concerns parents and young people may have about the assessment and its likely consequences.

Local authority adults' and children's services should work together to offer young carers and their families an effective service which avoids the need for multiple assessments. The Needs Assessment should be carried out in a manner which is appropriate and proportionate to the needs and circumstances of the young carer to whom it relates.

Assessments of young carers and the people they care for are intrinsically linked, and the regulations allow local authorities to combine assessments. Whoever carries out the assessment must:

Be appropriately trained;
Have sufficient knowledge and skill to be able to carry out the assessment; and
Be an appropriate person to carry out the assessment having regard to the young carer's circumstances, in particular the young carer's age, sex and understanding.

Ideally assessments should be carried out promptly following identification or disclosure of a young person's caring responsibilities.

In carrying out the assessment, the local authority must, in particular, have regard to:

The young carer's age, understanding and family circumstances;
The wishes, feelings and preferences of the young carer;
Any differences of opinion between the young carer, the young carer's parents and the person cared for, with respect to the care and support which the young carer provides (or intends to provide); and
The outcomes the young carer seeks from the assessment.

In order to ensure full and meaningful participation in the assessment process, the following people must be provided with age appropriate information about the manner and form of the assessment prior to the start of the assessment:

The young carer;
The person cared for;
The young carer's parents; and
Any other person whom the young carer or a parent of the young carer requests should participate in the assessment.

('Parent' includes:

a parent of the young carer who does not have parental responsibility; and
a person who is not a parent, but has parental responsibility.)

Where the child requiring a young carer's assessment is under the age of 16 and is not competent to consent, a person with parental responsibility will need to be involved in their assessment wherever possible. If there is no person with parental responsibility available, consideration should be given to whether there is another person who could facilitate the young carer's involvement in the assessment. If not, an independent advocate must be provided.

Overall, the Young Carer's Needs Assessment must consider the impact of the needs of the young carer's family on the well-being of the young carer and any child in that family and, in particular, on their education and personal and emotional development. The assessment should take into account the strengths of a family, as well as identifying any challenges faced by its members including any safeguarding issues.

The local authority must consult with persons with expertise and knowledge in relation to the young carer as part of the assessment process, including teachers, health workers and other relevant adults. It is important to speak to the child alone, wherever possible, to gain their views around their caring and support responsibilities and to observe how they relate with their parents and siblings.

The assessment must consider the following:

The amount, nature and type of care and support which the young carer provides (or intends to provide); the extent to which this care and support is (or will be) relied upon by the family, including the wider family, to maintain the well-being of the person cared for;
Whether any of the tasks which the young carer is performing (or intends to perform) when providing care and support are excessive or inappropriate having regard to all the circumstances, and in particular, the carer's age, gender and the young carer's wishes and feelings. Inappropriate tasks could include:
- Personal care such as bathing and toileting;
- Running the household such as housework, cooking and shopping;
- Physical tasks such as lifting and helping the person move;
- Administering medication;
- Maintaining the family budget;
- Providing emotional support to the adult;
- Looking after siblings.
How parental health impacts on their capacity to meet the child's needs;
Whether any of the young carer's needs for support could be prevented by providing services to:
- The person cared for; or
- Another member of the young carer's family.
Whether the young carer's needs for support could be prevented if the carer were relieved of part or all of the tasks the young carer performs (or intends to perform) when providing care and support;
Whether any other assessment of the needs for support of the young carer or the person cared for has been carried out (and if it has, to take this into account);
Whether the young carer is a child in need;
Any actions to be taken as a result of the assessment; and
The arrangements for a future review.

Also to be taken into consideration is the impact of the needs of the young carer's family on the well-being of the young carer and any child in that family and, in particular, on their educational and personal development. For example:

Whether the young person's caring role limits their educational opportunities, perhaps because it means they have more absences from school; or
Whether caring prevents the child from building relationships and friendships; or
How caring affects the child's physical and emotional wellbeing.

Throughout the assessment process, the professional responsible must identify the impact on the child of what is happening in the family.

A copy of the written record of the assessment must be given to:

The young carer;
The young carer's parents; and
Any person to whom the young carer or a parent requests the authority to give a copy, e.g. the Young Carers Service.

The support plan should be reviewed at regular intervals as set out in the Assessment of Need.

An assessment can be refused if:

The young carer does not appear to have needs for support;
The local authority has already carried out an assessment of the young carer's need for support connected with their care and support for a particular person and circumstances have not changed.

Where the assessment identifies that the young carer is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm, London Safeguarding Children Procedures must be followed immediately.

4. Transition

Sections 63 - 64 of the Care Act 2014 introduced duties towards young carers making the transition to adulthood. This is called a Young Carers' Assessment (YCA) in transition. The Act requires local authorities to seek the agreement of the young carer to undertake an assessment if they are likely to have needs for support when they reach eighteen, and if the timing of the assessment offers 'significant benefit'.

The timing of any assessment should be discussed with the young carer and their family. Much of the information necessary to complete a transition assessment may have already been collected as part of the Young Carer's Needs Assessment.

Transition assessments for young carers must also consider whether the carer is able to offer care and support now and whether they are prepared and willing to continue to be a carer after they reach adulthood at eighteen. This transition assessment should consider the outcome, desires and goals the young person wants to achieve in adulthood such as employment, further education, friends, relationships and independent living.

From the age of 18, the Care Act allows for the charging of carers. It makes clear that a local authority must not charge a carer for care and support provided directly to the person they care for. Those charges, if they apply, must be levied on the person to whom the support is delivered (even if that person does not have eligible needs). Local authorities should consider how to align personal budgets where they are meeting the needs of both the young carer and the adult needing care concurrently.

5. Moving Areas

If the person with care and support needs moves, there are provisions in the Care Act to make sure that there are no gaps in care and support when the move happens. The person with care and support needs should inform the second local authority of their intention to move and of their wish to be assessed along with their carer.

If the second local authority does not make a decision about care and support before the move takes place, they must meet the needs that the first local authority had previously identified until they have made their own decision. If they then make a different decision about eligible needs to the first local authority, they must explain why. The first local authority is responsible for making any arrangements needed on the day of the move itself.

6. Further Information

Carers UK - resources and information on young carers

Barnardo Support for Young Carers