Tools and Resources for Practitioners
Being a carer can mean lots of different things - for young people caring for a member of their family could make them a young carer. Young carers are people under 18 years old who look after a family member who has a disability, illness, or is affected by drug and alcohol use. Caring can include cooking, cleaning, helping with bills or providing emotional support.
If you work with young people, then it is highly likely that you work with young carers too!
We are all responsible for ensuring young carers in Manchester are providing a level of care that is appropriate; know what their rights are; and are not spending so much time caring for someone else that it impacts on their school work, having time to relax or seeing their mates.
Please view the downloads section for tools and resources available to practitioners supporting Young Carers, including:
Manchester Young Carers Strategy and Pathway to Support
Manchester’s Young Carers Strategy 2017–2019 was co-produced with Young Carers through their ‘Be Bothered’ campaign. To ensure our strategy still reflects the current context and the voice of Young Carers, our refresh builds on the previous work and the learning from it. It has been informed by Young Carers including the Young Carers transition report, December 2018.
The Young Carers Strategy 2020 - 2023 has been developed with young carers and other key partners in health, education and the voluntary sector. The Strategy aims to support young carers to be protected from inappropriate caring, to achieve their full potential and to have access to the same opportunities as their peers.
The Young Carers Pathway highlights the support for young carers as part of the Early Help Offer, this approach will ensure all young carers are identified at the earliest opportunity with seamless pathways to support using a graduated response.
Young Carers in School Award YCiS
Young Carers in Schools is a free initiative making it easy for schools to support young carers.
The Young Carers in Schools (YCiS) initiative is run jointly by Carers Trust and The Children's Society.
By taking part in the programme, schools will be able to show they are meeting the needs of this particularly vulnerable pupil group (specifically mentioned in Ofsted's and Estyn's Common Inspection Handbook, 2015). As many as one in 12 pupils could be a young carer.
Young carers research
- 27% of young carers (aged 11-15) miss school or experience educational difficulties (40% where children care for a relative with drug or alcohol problems) (Dearden, C, Becker, S, 2004).
- They have significantly lower educational attainment at GCSE level – the difference between nine Cs and nine Ds (Children's Society, 2013).
- A quarter of young carers said they were bullied at schools because of their caring role (Carers Trust, 2013).
What you can access through the Young Carers in Schools programme
- Young Carers in Schools Award – enabling your school to gain recognition from several leading charities for effective practice. See the map showing which schools have been awarded a Young Carers in School Bronze, Silver or Gold Award
- Supporting Young Carers in Schools: A Step-by-step Guide for Leaders, Teachers and Non-teaching Staff resource contains essential tools, templates and guidance. With a tool for each step, no school needs to start from scratch.
- A baseline review enabling you to prioritise what to do next, this tool contains helpful signposts to the programme materials a most relevant and useful to you.
- Tools and Steps to gaining an award Webinars, videos and case studies – providing unmissable, expert advice from award-winning schools, unpicking hot topics, and highlighting key guidance on how to apply successfully for a Young Carers in Schools Award.
- Termly eNewsletters – spotlighting key policy developments and new resources, and the very latest programme news.
The impact of Young Carers in Schools
In our latest research, 94% of schools taking part in the Young Carers in Schools programme had a better understanding of the support required for young carers.
Find out more about the programme’s impact.
If you would like to know more about the Young Carers in School Award and support is available to Manchester Young Carers please contact Kelly Hockaday - Young Carers Coordinator at Manchester City Council k.hockaday@manchester.gov.uk
Early Help Training and Development E-Learning section
Effective Early Help is essential to improve the life chances of Manchester’s children, young people and their families.
The Young Carers Pathway highlights the support for young carers as part of the Early Help Offer, this approach will ensure all young carers are identified at the earliest opportunity with seamless pathways to support using a graduated response.
Please see our training and Resource section to access our FREE Early Help e-learning course, there is also the opportunity to gain professional accreditation here
We also utilise tools to aid Young Carer Assessments. These assessment tools are called the MACA (Multi-dimensional Assessment of Caring Activities) and PANOC (Positive and Negative Outcomes of Caring). These tools are quick and easy to complete and are in a questionnaire format.
The use of assessment tools can help us to better understand what practical support a young carer is providing as well as how they feel about it. They can also help the practitioner to identify caring activities that may not be appropriate and require a more targeted response.
The forms are available on one document and include guidance on how to use and score the answers. If you would like further advice and guidance on how to use the MACA & PANOC please contact your local Early Help Hub.
North Early Help Hub - 0161 234 1973
Central Early Help Hub - 0161 234 1975
South Early Help Hub - 0161 234 1977
Engage toolkit, supporting black, asian and minority ethnic (BAME) young carers and their families
This resource from The Children's Society aims to provide practitioners working with children and families affected by ill health and disability with information, resources and links to help develop and implement best policy and practice for services to identify and support black and minority ethnic young carers and their families.
This site was originally funded by the Department of Health in order to provide an understanding of the needs of black and minority ethnic family carers and best practice support.
https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/youngcarer/engage-toolkit
The Whole Family Pathway
Whole Family Pathway
The Whole Family Pathway was developed by The Children's Society and is a resource for all practitioners in every Local Authority across England
Young carers do not care in isolation from the rest of their family. Although they may need support for themselves, their needs should also be considered and met in the context of their whole family.
Using the Whole Family Pathway will help practitioners to implement the changes in legislation for young carers and their families outlined in the Care Act 2014 and Children and Families Act 2014
Young Carers Transition to Adulthood
Developed by The Children's Society this tool ‘Young Carers’ Transition to Adulthood’ is an extension to the Whole Family Pathway. Using this tool will enable professionals to effectively respond to the needs of young carers as they transition to adulthood
The pathway is a resource for all practitioners in every local authority across England and has been produced as part of The Government’s Carers Action Plan, commissioned and funded by the Department of Health and Social Care.
You can access the pathway on the download section on the left-hand side of this page.
The Voices of Manchester Young Carers
We know that for many young carers, seeking help can be difficult and often young carers are hidden from view and are not receiving the support they deserve and need.
There are lots of reasons for this: sometimes young carers don’t recognise that they are carers and might see their caring as just something they do; for others there is a real worry about what would happen if they told someone that they are caring; and for many they worry people just won’t understand their role.
“One of the biggest things we as young carers face, is that no one understand what we do in our caring roles” (A Manchester Young Carer)
Everyone has a part to play in making sure carers are seen, heard, and understood; and helping them to get the support they need to care.
On the 31st of January 2020 we held a Young Carers Awareness event at UKFast to mark National Young Carers Awareness day and celebrate our Young Carers!
The event was co-produced and delivered by a number of Manchester Young Carer and Young Adult Carer Groups, who through a series of letters gave us a glimpse into the lives of young carers and importantly explained how together, we can make a difference and better support them!
Please show your support and take the time to read their letters to you!
These letters are available in poster format, please do get in touch if you would like a copy to display!