Support to Young Carers - Change
Stakeholder Briefing – A new Integrated Young Carers Support Service from 01 April 2019
Background:
The current service model for supporting young carers under 18 in Hertfordshire involves a split in the delivery of support to this group, based on levels of need:
- An externally commissioned service (Carers in Hertfordshire) registers, assesses and supports young carers and their families requiring universal support or with emerging needs (lower level of need).
- An internal team within Hertfordshire County Council Children’s Services (Young Carers Team) registers, assesses and supports young carers and their families with a higher or complex level of need.
To ensure the Council is able to continue to meet its statutory duty and improve outcomes for young carers under 18, the current young carers service delivery model was reviewed, in consultation with young carers and wider stakeholders to assess its effectiveness in meeting needs and ensuring the Council is able to meet its statutory duty to young carers in a sustainable way, value for money and integrates Children’s Services Outcomes Framework.
The outcome of this review, which was agreed with young carers, stakeholders and CS Core Board, was to commission an integrated service delivery model for young carers under 18 in the county, enabling the Council to meet all its statutory duty to young carers, by increasing identification of young carers and providing age appropriate support to reduce the negative impact of caring on young carers’ education, wellbeing and life outcomes.
Following a public procurement exercise and Tendering process, Carers in Hertfordshire have been awarded the contract to deliver an integrated support service for young carers under 18 in the county, for a period of three years commencing from 01 April 2019.
The commissioning of an integrated support service for young carers under 18 in the county will ensure the Council continues to meet its statutory duty to young carers and improves outcomes for a vulnerable group of young people. The new model outlined below, is for one integrated service to provide support for young carers across all levels of need.
New Integrated Support Service for Young Carers
This contract now encompasses both Carers in Hertfordshire existing contract as well the Hertfordshire County Council led Families First Young Carers Team and from April 2019 the whole service will be amalgamated into one holistic and user focused service and delivered by Carers in Hertfordshire.
The service will ensure young carers are identified, registered and receive a whole family assessment under the statutory duty of the Council. In doing so, the service will contribute to improving health, education and social outcomes for children and young people who are identified as being a young carer, and reduce inappropriate caring roles undertaken by young carers.
The service will comprise four components:
- Identification of young carers – increasing identification and registration of young carers using a range of approaches to maximise coverage across the county; and increase awareness of young carers needs and issues across the statutory, public and voluntary/community sector in order to improve early identification of young carers (make supporting young carers ‘everyone’s business’).
- Voice of young carers – giving young carers a voice that is recognised and valued by all services providing support to young carers, and helps to shape and design local provisions.
- Whole family assessment and support for young carers – providing identified young carers with personalised support sustainable change through a whole family coordinated assessment to prevent inappropriate caring and the negative impact of providing care so they can achieve outcomes which support them to learn, develop, enjoy their childhood and achieve their full potential,
- Preparation for adulthood and transition – delivering seamless support for young carers through key transition points between services including from primary to secondary, secondary to college or university, and into adult services.This service aims to achieve the overall outcome that young carers are healthy, safe, ambitious, resilient, independent and happy; and that their caring roles do not prevent this, in line with the Hertfordshire Outcome Bee’s Framework which is the foundation of all outcomes we want to achieve for young carers, set out in more detail in the Young Carers Outcomes Framework below:
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