I am a young carer and I need help with
Understanding my rights
Find out what you should expect as a young carer, and what you’re entitled to
You are entitled to and should be offered an assessment of need. The aim of the assessment is to have a supportive conversation with a professional about your situation and work out together if there is any support you need in any area of your life. The assessment should help you to talk about the following things:
- The things that you enjoy and the things that you don’t enjoy about your caring role
- Whether your caring role is stopping you from doing anything that you need or want to do, like fully participating in school, college, university, leisure time, time with your friends, employment
- How your caring role makes you feel
You should leave your assessment with a plan for how your needs are going to be met. You should be given a copy of your assessment after it has happened. Your assessment should be reviewed regularly.
If you have not been offered an assessment, you can speak to someone in your school that you trust and ask them for one. If you want to speak to someone outside of your school, you can contact Anne Longstaff who is the Young Carers’ Link Worker for North Tyneside on Anne Longstaff on anne.longstaff@ntcarers.co.uk
Other important points about your rights
- You should not be relied on to keep someone safe on your own. The Local Authority must find a way of changing this if this is the case.
- Your caring role should not have a negative impact on your health, wellbeing or education. The Local Authority must find a way of changing this if this is the case.
- If your circumstances change, you are entitled to have another assessment.
- You should also have what is called a ‘transition assessment’ before you turn 18, to make sure that the Local Authority is appropriately planning for your support as you become an adult.
If you would like more information about your rights or you want to talk about anything that is related to this, North Tyneside Carers’ Centre has a team of specialist staff who you can talk to.
Contact The Young Carers’ Service: