Our eligibility criteria

Definition of a young carer:

A young carer is a child or young person under 18 whose life is significantly affected by caring for a family member who has a physical illness or disability, mental health difficulties, sensory or learning disability or has a problematic use of drugs or alcohol.

Eligibility criteria:

To meet eligibility for a service, children and young people must meet our definition of a young carer. At referral stage you will be asked to identify the care responsibilities (practical and/or emotional) undertaken by the child or young person as well as the impact those responsibilities are having upon at least one of the following, their:

• physical/mental health
• education
• emotional and behavioural development
• identity
• family and social/peer relationships.

If referrers are not clear on either of these points (ie care responsibilities and impact on the child of those care responsibilities), they will be asked to assess/collate this information and then re-refer to CareFree.

Children and young people will not be eligible if:

• they are care providers but caring does not significantly impact on their health or development
• care tasks are age appropriate and do not exceed what an ‘average’ child of their age would undertake eg. a teenager helping with some house work, walking to the local shop etc
• they are helping to support a primary adult carer with care tasks ie they are a secondary carer
• their lives are adversely affected by living with a family member with poor health (as outlined above) but are not providing care for that person

Sibling carers:

Children and young people supporting an adult primary carer to care for a sibling with disabilities will not normally be eligible for a service from CareFree. In exceptional circumstances a sibling may be in the role of joint primary carer, usually in situations where a lone parent is caring for a child with complex needs. Such situations may result in the young carer being eligible for a service from CareFree but the emphasis should be on a full package of support being provided from the relevant social and health agencies.

Parents with mental health difficulties/problematic drug/alcohol use:

The complexities of the situation of young people living in households where a family member has mental health difficulties/problematic use of alcohol/drugs will need careful examination. Although the strain and anxiety which can result from such circumstances may impact negatively on the child or young person’s health or development, CareFree can only offer support if the young person provides care for that person, as detailed above, and those care responsibilities have an adverse impact on the child or young person’s life. The parent must also be committed to a alcohol/drug treatment programme. In either case, the emphasis should be on a thorough assessment of need from social services.

‘Absentee’ adult family members

If an adult carer is regularly absent from the home due to work commitments, leaving a child or young person in sole charge of care provision (eg after school, in the evenings, at weekends), then the young person may be considered a joint/ primary carer and may therefore be eligible for a service from CareFree. Non-disabled adults who are regularly in the home but leave significant care responsibilities to a child or young person rather than undertaking this role themselves, should be assessed and supported by social services to enhance their parenting capacity. A referral to CareFree would not be appropriate in such circumstances.

Accelerating access to support from CareFree:

The process of accessing young carers to our services may be accelerated by sharing with us (with the family’s permission) any recent ‘child in need’ assessment on the young carer as long as it, or a covering letter from the referrer, clearly identifies the care responsibilities undertaken by that child or young person and the impact those care responsibilities are having on the child’s health and development. In such circumstances we would not reassess, but meet with the family to discuss needs and offer support.

Referrals:

Telephone referrals should be made to either a city or county CareFree project worker on (0116) 2867182, ‘child in need’ assessments may subsequently be faxed to us on (0116) 2752481:

Referrals for asylum seeking, refugee and newly arrived young carers should be made to Josie Bevin-Nicholls on (0116) 2867182

Outcome:

The relevant project worker will inform you of the outcome of our assessment (or the outcome of our home visit to discuss services if you have provided us with a ‘child in need’ assessment). This will outline for you the services we have agreed to co-ordinate for the family and/or provide directly. If we have decided the child or young person is not eligible for a CareFree service we will explain why this is to both you and the family and attempt to sign post them to a more appropriate agency.

Review:

Every young carer accepted for a service will have their circumstances and service package reviewed six months after assessment and annually thereafter. Referrers will not automatically be informed of the outcome of these reviews.