Young adult carers have responsibilities for providing help to the person they care for, such as: 

• Practical help like cleaning, cooking, laundry, paying bills, and collecting prescriptions. 
  
  
• Physical support like lifting and moving, and shopping for food. 
  
  
• Personal care like assisting in bathing, washing, dressing, feeding, and administering medication.
   
• Emotional support like listening, comforting, and coping with mood changes. 
  
  
• Sibling care like helping with dressing, cooking meals, homework help, and taking to school.
   
• Financial support by working to provide extra income to bring into the family home.

Every young adult carer situation is unique, and this can make it difficult for carers to be identified and supported.  Sometimes it is clear to see that there is a caring role, and sometimes it is not. Sometimes a caring role is constant, and sometimes it is not. Sometimes a person will see themselves as a carer, and sometimes they will not.

There are countless situations where can find themselves in a caring role and having to take on caring responsibilities.  For us, the amount of time spent caring each day and the type of care that is being provided are not the most important aspects of carer identity. What matters most to us, when thinking about young adult carers, is that a young adult is doing things or behaving in ways that support the cared for person’s health and wellbeing.

The young adult carers team support carers through big milestone life changes as they go from childhood to adulthood. These can include moving from high school to college or apprenticeships, going from college to university or going out into the world of employment. These life changes bring up a range of challenges for everybody, and we understand that our young adult carers are also needing to balance their caring role as well.

Our aim is to give support to ensure that our young adult carers can remove barriers in accessing and staying within education and employment. We also understand the importance of emotional support through these life changes, and this can be accessed in the form of one-to-one informal meetings with us, supported referrals to other services for more specific help, and helping to ensure our young adult carer voices are heard at all times.

We understand that occasionally it can be difficult to talk to professionals within education, employment and other services, and we can provide advocacy support so that views and wishes of young adult carers are heard.

• Is the person aged between 15 and 24? 
  
  
• Does the person and/or the person they care for live in Sefton? 
  
  
• Does the person have caring responsibilities? 
  
  
• Has the person been spoken with about being referred as a young adult carer? 
  
  
• If under 16, has parental consent been given for the referral to be made? 
  
  
• Does the person in need of care have an illness, a disability, a mental health problem or a substance
  misuse issue?

• New referral received and allocated to a staff member 
  
  
• Contact made with referrer and/or parent 
  
  
• Introductory meeting with the young person arranged, normally taking place in school, college or in the community
  
  
• Discussion of the person’s caring role and their needs 
  
  
• Explanation of our services and the work we do with and for young adult carers in Sefton 
  
  
• Discussion of the introductory meeting with staff team and actions agreed 
  
  
• Referrer, family and young adult informed of outcome 
  
  
• If agreed, the person will be registered as a young adult carer and can access support 
  
  
• If not eligible, other support options will be discussed

To engage with the service, young adult carers must be registered with us. Carers can be referred by anybody – parents, other family members, professionals, or by themselves.

If you are thinking about referring somebody to our service, we encourage you to contact us on 0151 288 6060 or email yc@carers.sefton.gov.uk  for an informal conversation about our support.