After the assessment, the council will decide if your needs are eligible for support.
In general, this means:
- your needs arise from providing necessary care for an adult
- because of these needs you cannot achieve specified outcomes such as:
- being able to continue being a parent for a child
- maintaining family and personal relationship
- engaging in recreational activities
and
- as a result of this there is likely to be a significant impact on your wellbeing
If you are a young carer, or if you are a parent caring for a disabled child, you have similar rights to assessment and support but they are covered by the Children and Families Act, not the Care Act.
If you or the person you are caring for is about to reach 18, you will be given an assessment which will confirm whether you or they are likely to continue to be eligible for support as an adult.
Support plan
We'll use what you tell us during your assessment to produce a support plan to help you.
This will detail what help from the council you are entitled to, as well as other places to get help.
This might include help with housework or helping you become a member of a gym so that you can look after your own health.
It may be that the best way to meet your needs is to provide care and support directly to the person that you care for. For example, by providing replacement care to enable you to take a break. It is possible to do this as long as the person needing care agrees.
Personal budgets
Carers should receive a personal budget, which is a statement showing the cost of meeting their needs as part of their support plan. Carers will be offered a direct payment, which will give them control over how their support is provided.
Financial assessments
Our current policy is that we provide services to carers which are not subject to charging. No financial assessment is required for services provided directly to carers
What to do if you're not eligible
If you are not eligible for support, you may find the following organisations are able to help you: