Agenda item

Report CS17098

The Committee received a presentation from Tracey Parry, Young Carers Service Manager and Lynne Powrie, Chief Executive Officer of Carers Bromley on the experience of young carers in the Borough and the services provided to them by Carers Bromley, which included a number of case studies and a video of the Young Carers Performing Arts Event in 2015.  Members also considered a report providing an overview of the Local Authority’s work to identify, support, assess and promote the needs of young carers and their families in the Borough. 

The classification for being a young carer in the Children and Families Act 2014 was a person under 18 years who provided or intended to provide care for another person.  Carers Bromley had widened this definition to being a young person aged between 4-18 years, who lived in a family where someone was affected by a long term illness, disability, mental health issue, alcohol or substance misuse or HIV.  Between April 2015 and March 2016, 97 children in Bromley had been identified in Social Work Assessments as meeting the Children and Families Act classification for being a young carer, and 1011 young people with caring responsibilities were known to Carers Bromley as at September 2016.  A range of support services, resources and plans were provided to assist young carers by the Local Authority, Carers Bromley and other agencies, and the Local Authority continued to work with partners to promote early identification of young carers and their needs, in particular by schools and health services, and to signpost children and families to support services. 

The Head of Safeguarding, Care Planning, Specialist Support and Disabilities advised Members that a Steering Group had been established to review a number of issues relating to young carers including how best to undertake assessments.  The Steering Group was working with Adult Social Care services to develop a joint strategy for carers and enable shared packages of support to be developed for families.  Work would also be undertaken with key partners in health and education to raise awareness of the issues impacting young carers and equip them to identify and refer young carers to support services.  An online resource was being developed to assist teachers to identify young carers, and the Chairman requested that this be provided to the Care Services PDS Committee for Members’ comments prior to launching. 

In considering schools, the Head of Safeguarding, Care Planning, Specialist Support and Disabilities confirmed that a number of schools had family support workers who assisted families to access local support such as breakfast clubs and could make referrals to Carers Bromley or the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub where more serious concerns were identified.  A Co-opted Member noted that young carers could have unrecognised mental health support needs as a result of their role, and requested that work be undertaken in schools with Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators.

The Chairman highlighted that many families chose to conceal their circumstances through fear that a young carer might be taken into care.  There was a need to reassure families that the aim of support services was to keep families together, and the Chairman suggested that mental health services be invited to participate in the Steering Group.  A Co-opted Member felt that the terminology of a Child in Need Assessment was unhelpful, and the Head of Safeguarding, Care Planning, Specialist Support and Disabilities confirmed that the assessment process started with an initial assessment, and if a Child in Need Assessment was found to be required, it would be fully explained to the family.

The Chairman led Members in thanking Tracey Parry and Lynne Powrie for their excellent presentation.

RESOLVED that the report and presentation be noted.