Make a Referral

SRCR Young Carers offers non-time bound support to young people which is reviewed quarterly against individual support plans. 

 

Who we support

Children and young people aged 8-18 who are living in Scarborough, Whitby & Ryedale areas, who are and caring for someone at home, usually a family member, with physical or mental illness and/or a disability.

They might be helping look after a brother or sister, parent or grandparent with an illness, disability, mental health problem or a problem with alcohol or drugs.

 

The Referral Process

Step 1:  If you’re working with a young person who is in a caring role, please complete a Young Carers Referral Form with a whole family approach to find out what they need to make life easier.

There may be some simple measures that could really help without needing to refer them to us. Please see our 'Help Zone’ - resources to support young people' section which has lots of useful websites and resources to support you in this.

If the referral form highlights they would benefit from additional support through our service, please tell them and their family about what we offer. If they decide that they’d like our support, please complete our referral form with them and email it to admin@carersplus.net

Step 2: Once the referral form has been received, the family will receive a call from one of our young carer support workers, as a confirmation of a receipt of the referral. Within this call it is an opportunity to discuss the next steps for support and for the family to ask any questions that they may have about the service. At this stage the family will be advised of timescales and the waiting list for support. A letter will be sent to confirm this.

Step 3: Once your referral reaches the top of our waiting list, one of our workers will get in touch with you, the family, to arrange a joint home visit. This will be, where appropriate, a joint home visit with you to meet the young person and, where appropriate, the parent or person they care for, to talk through the support we can offer them. 

Download a Referral Form here...

SRCR under 18's Shorten Ref Form Mar20.docx (40.5KB)

 

Identifying Young Carers

Young carers are children or young people who provide care for one or more family members who have disabilities, long-term physical illnesses, mental health difficulties or who misuse drugs or alcohol. They may be taking on physical, personal, financial and/or emotional care.

1 in 12 children and young people provide mid to high-level care for someone in their family (BBC, 2010)

Many of these remain hidden however, either because they don’t see themselves as young carers (having done it all their lives) or because they feel too worried or frightened to ask for help.

Early identification is vital to reduce negative impacts on young carers and improve outcomes for them and their families. The key to identifying young carers is raising awareness and being proactive, to give children and young people the chance to recognise their caring and to feel safe enough to talk to someone about what is happening at home.

The impact of on a young person can be significant if their caring roles remains hidden. This can include factors such as:

Emotional well-being – stress, worry, tiredness, depression, insecurity, anxiety.

Social isolation – lack of access to social activities, bullying, destructive behaviours, isolation from peers, and increased risks of criminal behaviour or child sexual exploitation.

Education – low attendance and attainment, lateness, behavioural issues, lack of concentration, unable to access extra-curricular activities.

Training and employment – low aspiration, reduced access to voluntary experience or personal/skills development, barriers caused by poor flexibility in work practices.

Physical health – injuries, strain, lack of exercise, unhealthy diet, lack of access to appropriate healthcare, or use of drugs, alcohol or self-harming or other potentially harmful coping strategies.

For more information about the impacts of caring on young people, visit our 'Help Zone' for national reports and guidance.

 

Supporting Young Carers 

When a young carer has been identified, and a referral has been made, we will offer a Young Carers Assessment. It provides us with a guided conversation to help young people talk about their home life and their caring and agree actions that will help.

Every young carer is different but they often need things like:

• Information about the illness or issues affecting their family
  
• A chance to ask questions about support and help 
  
• Someone to talk to who they can trust in a safe space 
  
• Information about what to do in a crisis and signposting to ongoing support 
  
• To know that their situation is not uncommon and there is other young people going through the same 
  
• To have a break and the chance to be children / young people
  
• Understanding at school that they may need additional emotional support and access to a NYCC Young Carers Card. 
  

This is offered on a one-to-one basis with an allocated support worker, or through group work, if young carers feel comfortable with this and targeted activities.