Carers assessment

You may have already talked about your caring role if the person you care for has had an assessment; but you have the right to choose to have your own Care and Support Assessment.

The purpose of a Care Assessment is to provide you with the opportunity to talk about how caring impacts on you and discuss ways in which, what is important for you can be achieved.

You can ask for a carers assessment by contacting Adult’s and Children’s Single Point of Contact Team (SPOC).

If you are a Young Carer the assessment will be carried out by a member of staff from Neath Port Talbot’s Young Carers Service.

All other carer’s assessment will be carried out with you by a member of staff from Neath Port Talbot Carers Service on behalf of the Local Authority.

To help you feel at ease, you can have a family member or friend present if you choose. The assessment will be confidential, the person you care for doesn’t have to know you’ve had a Carers Assessment (you can choose to tell them) or be with you when you have your Carers Assessment.

What you discuss during the assessment is your decision, what is important is that we discuss what is important for you and how you can be supported to achieve this.

If you are a Young Carer looking for an assessment you will need consent from your parent/guardian to participate in the assessment. You can find more information in relation to Young Carers Service in the section below or by contacting:

Following the carers assessment we may be able to make it easier for you to care for someone at home by providing information, assistance or advice and/or practical help to support the person you care for following an assessment.

This might be by looking at what options and choices are open to you following an assessment.

• adaptations to the home - such as handrails or ramps Supported employment opportunities for the person you care for
• Direct Payments (for people to arrange their own care)
• assisted technology- which uses sensors and detectors in the home to raise an alert if, for example they detect a possible problem such as a fall, flooding, smoke or the gas being left on.

We can help you to:

• think about and talk through your caring responsibilities
• get help from other services - health and housing for example
• get in touch with other groups and organisations who understand about caring
• get information and advice, for example on benefits, income and your rights
• one to one youth work support that is bespoke to the individual young carer and best meets their needs
• opportunities for young carers to take a break from their caring responsibilities, spend time with other young carers, learn and have fun
• support for important transition periods, including the transition from young carers service to adult carers service
• advocacy within schools, colleges and other relevant organisations so that professionals can better support the children and young people they work with
• information, advice and assistance to the whole family to identify the services and support they need

After the assessment, we can also consider:

• help to arrange a community alarm
• arranging activities for the person you care for
• registering you for the Carers Emergency Card Scheme
• arranging other services that give you a break - respite, day/night sitting or befriending

There is no charge for the assessment or for any information or advice. There are charges for some of the services that are provided. These usually depend on the individual’s income and any savings they have.

The care manager (Social worker) will make sure that the person has the information they need about any charges, before they agree to a Care Plan.

There is no charge for services provided directly through the Young Carers Service for Young Carers.