Young carers care for a friend or family member who due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or a substance misuse issue cannot cope without their support.

Young carers are responsible for providing support to the person they care for, such as:

• Practical Cleaning, cooking, laundry, paying bills, collecting prescriptions
• Physical Lifting and moving, responsible for shopping for food
• Personal Assisting in bathing, washing, dressing, feeding, medication
• Emotional Listening, comforting, coping with mood changes
• Sibling care Helping them to dress, cooking meals, homework help, taking to school

Consider the following points before proceeding with this referral:

• Is the young person aged between 5 and 17?
• Does the young person and/or the person they care for live in Sefton?
• Does the young person have caring responsibilities?
• Has the young person been spoken with about being referred as a young carer?
• 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?

The referral steps are:

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