Help for parents and carers of young adults

As a carer of a young person over the age of 18, you have the right to have an assessment of your needs.

If you would like an assessment, you have two options:

• You can have a separate carer’s assessment. You can have this assessment even if the person you care for doesn’t have any care or support needs. The person you care for doesn’t have to agree to you having this check and doesn’t have to know about it if it isn’t appropriate.
• If the person you care for has a care needs assessment, you can choose to have an assessment of your needs made at the same time. Your needs will be looked at together in one process as a combined assessment. This will usually be done through social care services.

A young carer is a person under 18 who provides or intends to provide care for another person. This can relate to practical support, personal care and/or emotional support for any family member or friend of the family who is physically or mentally ill, frail,  elderly, disabled or misuses alcohol/ substances.

For more information talk to a teacher in school or contact the Access and Referral Hub on 0300 300 8585.

CTR is a meeting to check that a person’s care and treatment is meeting their needs. It aims to answer these questions:

Is the person safe?

Are they getting good care now?

What are their care plans for the future?

Can care and treatment be provided in the community?

A Care and Treatment Review (CTR) may be held for anyone with learning disabilities, autism or both who may be at risk of admission to, or who is already in, a specialist learning disability or mental health hospital.

There are now two versions of the Care and Treatment Review:

• One is for adults and is still known as a Care and Treatment Review (CTR).
• The other is for children and young people and is called a Care, Education and Treatment Review (CETR).

You can request a CETR and the care co-ordinator will identify the key concerns. A responsible commissioner would then ensure a CETR takes place, if appropriate.

If you care for someone over the age of 18 you could be eligible for some financial support in your own right.

Find out more about allowances, credits, Council Tax reductions and carers parking permits on the support for carers page.

‘Mental capacity’ is the ability to make decisions. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 applies to everyone aged 16 or over and protects and empowers all those who may lack mental capacity to make their own decisions about their lives or their care.

For more information please see the following easy read guide to the Mental Capacity Act.

What is meant by ‘capacity’?

Capacity refers to a person’s ability to make a particular decision at a particular time. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 says that a person’s capacity to make a decision may fluctuate based on their wellbeing at a particular time. If there is doubt that a person has ‘capacity’ to make a particular decision at a particular time, a mental capacity assessment will be undertaken by either a health or social care practitioner.

You can apply to become someone’s deputy if they ‘lack mental capacity’ – this means they can’t make a decision for themselves at the time it needs to be made. They may still be able to make decisions for themselves at other times. People may lack mental capacity because:

• they’ve had a serious brain injury or illness
• they have dementia
• they have severe learning disabilities

You can apply to be just one type of deputy or both. If you’re appointed, you’ll get a court order saying what you can and can’t do.

You can find more information about becoming a deputy on the government website.