Carers - What will happen next?

If you have contacted Cumbria County Council's Adult Social Care or Children's Services, the social worker who visits you will offer you, as a carer, an assessment of your ability to care or continue to care for the person you look after. This assessment will normally be done when we assess the needs of the person for whom you care. However, if:   

• the person you look after does not wish to have an assessment of their needs or 
• if you would prefer for your assessment to be carried out at a different time or place,                     

your social worker will arrange this. (Note under the Acts, parent carers of disabled children will not be offered a separate assessment of their needs). Your assessment does not have to be a ‘one off’ - you can ask for a follow up assessment at another time if you want this. Your social worker will also tell you what arrangements they will make to review any services they have arranged.   

There could be three possible parts to your assessment:   

• the needs of the person for whom you care (if they are having an assessment), 
• your needs to enable you to care or continue to care for the person you look after and 
• your needs in your own right if you are elderly or disabled.                     

Your social worker will most likely be from our Adult Social Care social work teams. However, if you are a young person looking after an adult, we may involve staff from our Children's Services social work teams in your assessment. If you are looking after a disabled young person, we may involve staff from our Children's Services Children with Disabilities teams. 

Some carers who are elderly or disabled may be eligible for an assessment of their needs in their own right. 

If you have contacted your local Carers Association, someone from the Association:   

• will discuss with you what sorts of help you think you need and 
• can put you in touch with other people who may be able to help you.                     

While they cannot offer you an assessment (only a social worker can do this) they can run through with you a lot of the things an assessment would include. They can even fill in the same assessment forms used by the social workers. Once they have done this, they can then talk to the social workers about the sorts of help you might need.