Parent carers provide support to their children, including grown up children who could not manage without their help. The child/adult may be ill, disabled, have mental health or substance misuse problems.
It can be very difficult for parents to recognise that they are also carers as looking after our children is 'just what we do'.
Caring can be physically and emotionally demanding, so it’s important to look after your own health and wellbeing. By identifying yourself as a carer, you can access support and services to help you in your role.
Carer's Assessment
A parent carer, like all carers, is entitled to a Carer's Assessment to find out what help they need and how these needs can be met. In the case of parent carers, the Assessment is known as a Parent Carer's Needs Assessment. The aim of a carer’s assessment is to give you a chance to tell adult social care about the things that could make looking after your child easier for you.
Under the Children and Families Act 2014 local authorities have a duty to assess parent carers on the appearance of need, or where a parent requests an assessment.
When are they carried out?
As a parent you can ask for a separate carer's assessment. However, in many situations, it’s likely that the assessment will be combined with the one for your child, and done by the same person at the same time.
What should be covered?
The assessment must look at:
- Whether you, the parent, have needs for support and what those needs are
- You, the parent’s wellbeing
- Whether it is appropriate for you to provide, or continue to provide, care for your disabled child, in light of your needs for support, other needs and wishes
- The need to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child cared for, and any other child you have.
- Any assessment of your disabled child should take into account the needs of the rest of the family members, including parents and siblings, and consider their needs as a carer and capacity to continue with caring.
It’s important to ensure your needs in relation to employment, training, education, leisure, maintaining relationships, social/ family life are discussed with you and taken into account when planning any package of care for your child, so make sure these are discussed. If you are entitled to social care support, any package of care provided by the local authority should include a break if you have indicated this is something you need.
Contact: Middlesbrough: T: 01642 245432 E: childrenmatter@middlesbrough.gov.uk
Redcar & Cleveland: 01642 130700
What support can I expect after a Parent Carer's Needs Assessment?
The findings and decisions will be put in a report, called a ‘care plan’, describing the support you need, and how the local authority and other statutory and voluntary organisations can help you. You will receive a copy, and the plan should be reviewed regularly to be kept up to date.
Support may include:
Direct payments setups to help you provide care
Financial support for respite breaks (can also come from direct payments)
A one-off payment to meet a specific need, known as the S17 payment (or S17 Financial Assistance). This is a way to access a financial payment to support the welfare of a child. It is usually accessed via something called a "Child in Need" assessment. You can ask your GP or social worker for an assessment.
Other Support Services
Teesside Mind
Teesside Mind offer a range of services for mental wellbeing. Find out more here about Teesside's leading mental health charity and meet the team. Teesside Mind supporting carers across South Tees
Carers Together
Carers Together offer a wide range of services, information, advice and support for carers across the South Tees. Carers Together dedicated to improving the quality of life for carers. Register with Carers Together.
SEND Services
The South Tees SENDiass offers free impartial, confidential information and advice for children and young people aged 0-25 and their parents and carers where a child or young person has or may have special educational needs or disability. Telephone: 07923 241142 Email: southteessendiass@barnardos.org.uk
Daisy Chain provides a range of support services to autistic children and adults, either with a diagnosis or who are undergoing the diagnostic process, their parents/carers and their siblings. Telephone: 01642 531248 Email: info@daisychainproject.co.uk
Contact provides free, confidential 1-1 telephone appointments with a family support advisor for parent carers of children with neurodevelopmental needs looking for emotional support. Book appointment: https://contact.org.uk/help-for-families/listening-ear/ For more info phone: 0800 2540890 or email: south.tees@contact.org.uk
Main offers advice and support to families who have a child or young adult with an Autistic Spectrum Condition and those with disabilities. MAIN also provide short breaks enabling increased chances of independence and reduced reliance on the welfare state. Telephone: 01642 608012 E-mail:info@iammain.org.uk
Glowsticks support children & young people with ASD & ADHD. Based in the Dundas Arcade in Middlesbrough. Telephone: +44 7842 832697 Email: info@theglowsticksproject.co.uk
Family Information Services and Local Offer
A Local Offer is a guide made by your local council.
It tells children and young people with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities), and their families, what support and services are available nearby.
Every council must write a Local Offer and share it so families can find it easily.
In Middlesbrough and Redcar & Cleveland, the Local Offer is part of the Family Service Directory.
Click on the image below for the relevant local authority area to access lots of useful information and contact details covering the range of available support to you and your family.
Short Breaks
Short Breaks are available for disabled children and young people and are intended to have positive benefits for both children and young people and their parents and carers. Short Breaks provision can range from a few hours a week to an allocated number of overnight breaks per year and anything in between.
Short breaks aim to provide parents and carers with:
- A necessary and valuable break from their caring responsibility;
- A chance to rest and unwind;
- To spend time with other members of the family.
Financial Support
Daisy Chain has a Welfare and Benefit Service for Neurodivergent families. For more information, please see poster below and attached. The team can help with:
- Benefit entitlement checks and applications
- Mandatory reconsiderations
- Appeals advice
- Advice and help for access to work applications and disabled students allowance
- Signposting and referral to other services.
For more information complete Daisy Chain's online referral form
For general enquiries about Daisy Chain phone 01642 531248 or email: info@daisychainproject.co.uk
NHS Continuing Care
Where a young person under 18 has needs arising from disability, accident or illness and these needs cannot be met by existing services, they may be eligible for additional funding from the NHS.
The children’s continuing care team in partnership with children, young people, their families and professionals known to them use the National Framework to identify the level of need and eligibility for children’s continuing care.
The team comprises of a children and young people’s health assessor and a clinical nurse specialist who commission packages of care on behalf of North East and North Cumbria ICB to meet the identified health need. This is via a range of options including personal health budgets (PHB’s), notional PHB’s, commissioned packages from complex health care providers and jointly commissioned packages with Local Authority. The aim of the package is to support the child or young person to achieve their outcomes in their Education Health and Care plan and to give their parents a break from their caring role.
To find out if you are eligible for Children’s Continuing Care support, ask the health professional you are under for more information.
Parent Carer Forums
The way parent carers work with service providers is by joining parent carer forums.
A parent carer forum is a group of parents and carers of children and young people aged 0 – 25 with SEND. They gather the views of local families, from all communities, so that they are representative of their local population. They work in partnership with local authorities, education settings, health and social care providers, and other local organisations to highlight where local services, processes, and commissioners are working well, and to provide challenge when changes or improvements need to be made.
In the film below from Contact you will hear about the history of parent carer forums, how they work, who they work with, and why they are so important.
Local Parent Carer Forums
SEND Family Voice Redcar and Cleveland email: info@sendfamilyvoicerc.com
Middlesbrough Parent Carer Forum email: middlesbroughpcf@outlook.com
Support for Siblings
If our disabled child has siblings, it's very likely that they are also "young carers". It's helpful to know this, as it can open up support for them. Find out more about young carers provision across the South Tees.
