When you turn 18, if you continue being a carer, you will move from receiving young carer’s assessments to instead receiving what are known as simply ‘carer’s assessments'. There will be quite a few things that will feel familiar about these assessments, but also a number of differences too.
As previously, the person who conducts the assessment will probably be a staff member from the local authority. Unlike the people who do young carer’s assessments, however, they will probably not generally work with children, and will mostly be used to dealing only with adult carers. You therefore may be treated much more like a grown-up than you might have been previously. You should still always be treated with complete respect and professionalism throughout the experience though.
Whereas previously you may have been used to your parents or guardians automatically being involved in the assessment, this will no longer be the case. If you would still like them to be there though, you can request that they are able to accompany you. But you may just feel comfortable doing it by yourself now.
Like with your previous young carer’s assessments, the council will still be interested to hear about your personal experience of the caring that you do and how it impacts you, in your own words. They will still be keen to understand whether you need their support, and in what ways. Whereas previously they wanted to make sure that being a carer wasn’t stopping you from having a normal childhood, they will now be more focused on making sure your wellbeing isn’t being impacted so that you can stay fit and healthy and able to keep caring.
At the end of the assessment, if they decide you do have needs that they should help you with, you will still receive a support plan. It will be a little different though, in that now they may also consider whether you are in a position to pay for this support yourself or whether they will cover some or all of the costs for you. The types of support they offer you are also likely to be slightly different, and now could include things like arranging a cleaner to help you with housework, providing you with a gym membership or giving you training to help with your caring role.
To find out everything else you might need to know about this type of assessment, take a look at our more comprehensive ‘Carer’s assessments’ guide.
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