The carers' guide to support

A carer provides regular, unpaid care to a family member or friend, who needs a significant amount of help due to their health, disability or special educational needs. While all parents must provide care to their child, parents who have a child with disabilities or special educational needs may have additional care responsibilities. Parent carers are entitled to support which will benefit both the carer and the child/young person.

Assessing your needs as a carer

Parent carers of disabled children and adults are eligible to have support for their own needs. Either social care services or early help services can assess the needs of the child or young person and their family, to determine what support could be useful. There are different types of assessments depending on the age of the cared for person.

If you are caring for a person over 18 years of age:

  • A Carers' assessment by Adult Social Care will find out what support you need in your role as a carer. A checklist is available online to determine if you are likely to be eligible for support.
  • Speak to your GP about joining their carers register. This ensures that they consider how your health could be affected by your caring responsibilities. Some GP practices are signed up to schemes which offer respite funding for carers.
  • A Transition process takes place with disabled children who receive health and social care support from Children's Services and need to continue receiving this support from Adult Social Care. This process can begin as early as age 14 to make sure the transition is made smoothly. The needs of the carer will also form part of the assessment.

If you are caring for a child under the age of 18:

  • A Needs assessment by Children's Services will look at the needs of a child under 18 years old, to see if they require specialist support. This will also take into account the needs of the parents/carers and other members of the family.
  • Your child's school or childcare provider can do an Early Help Assessment with your family. As part of this assessment, an Action Plan will be created where identified support services can be matched to your needs. Regular meetings can be held to monitor how the Action Plan is helping and these are called 'Team around the Family' (TAF) meetings. A representative from all the services you engage with can be invited to take part, with your consent.
  • Action for Carers run local carer support groups and can help you access emotional, practical and financial support.
  • Your GP can assess how your health is being affected by your caring responsibilities and will refer you to appropriate support. Most GP practices have a carers register, which you can ask to be added to.

Practical support for carers

Support can be offered directly by Surrey County Council (when assessed as being eligible), or through organisations that are voluntary or funded by the local authority.

  • Action for Carers is the main carer support network in Surrey and they provide emotional and practical support for adult carers and young carers.
  • Register with your GP as a carer so they can monitor your own health and refer you to appropriate services.
  • Short Breaks for disabled children give children the opportunity to try new activities and have a break from their carer, and their carer gets some respite from their caring responsibilities.
  • NHS Flu Vaccination is available for free to people in receipt of Carer's Allowance.
  • Carers UK provides carers in Surrey access to a wide range of digital tools that may help make your caring situation easier. You can access the digital tools, for free via the Carers UK Digital Resources website (Your Free Access Code is: DGTL3562)

Financial assistance and entitlements

Some children and their carers will be eligible for means tested benefits, due to the impact disability or special educational needs has on family finances. This impact could be due to a decrease in the hours the parent carer can do paid work, or the cost of resources needed to support the health and wellbeing of the person needing care.

If you are unsure of what benefits you are entitled to, you can use a benefit checker. Benefits that you could look into include:

  • Disability Living Allowance can be claimed on behalf of an eligible child under 16 years old.
  • Carer's Allowance can be claim by a parent when the child gets Disability Living Allowance.
  • Carer's Credit is used to top up National Insurance when you provide care for over 20 hours a week.
  • Income Support for some adults who are not available for work due to their caring responsibilities.
  • Child Tax Credit is a universal benefit for families with a child under 16.
  • Council tax discount is used to ensure disabled residents do not have to pay more council tax if they require a larger property to meet their needs.
  • Disabled Facilities Grant can be provided by your local district or borough council, to be used towards adaptations to your home.
  • Carers Trust - provides information about grants, funds, and charities that may be able to help if you or the person you care for require extra help to pay for something.
  • GP Carer's Break Payment is available through participating GP practices. The GP can prescribe a break from caring responsibilities, worth up to £300 when they feel the caring duties are having a negative impact on the carer's health.
  • Parent Carer Break Grants are available to support parents whose disabled child is not currently receiving support from Children's Services.

Funding to pay for support

For young people with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), it will be calculated how much money is needed to provide the identified provisions in their plan. Personal budgets and direct payments are designed to give families more choice and flexibility over how that money is spent.

  • Personal budgets are allocated to people with an EHC plan or social care plan to cover the cost of all support deemed necessary.
  • Direct payments allow the young person or family to manage part of their personal budget

Transport assistance

Assistance is available for carers to travel with their cared for person.

  • The Blue Badge Scheme allows people with disabilities to have the car they are travelling in to be parked nearer to amenities.
  • Free Bus Passes for disabled people. If the bus pass holder requires support to travel, their carer is also entitled to a companion permit. A letter evidencing this need should be submitted with the application form.

Carers' emergency planning

If an emergency occurs and there is no one available to look after the person you care for, then the Crossroads Care Emergency Plan Service can help to make sure they receive support for up to 48 hours. This will give time for you, family, friends, or other relevant organisations to consider the best options should you not be able to return to caring after this time

I have a question. Who can I contact?

Contact Surrey's Local Offer Team on 0300 200 1004, or by using our contact form if you would like help in finding out what support is available to you.

For questions about the support outlined in your child's Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP), you should contact your local area SEND Team or email your caseworker directly.

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